I guess the bright side of last night’s loss was that the Red Sox are now one day closer to getting healthy and they didn’t lose any ground to New York or Tampa Bay. I guess.

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* – David Ortiz was thrown out at home trying to score from first base on a double by Kevin Youkilis in the first inning last night. Since the start of the 2009 season, Ortiz has been on first when a double was hit 17 times and last night was the first time that he has been sent home.

His “Try%” (percentage of the time sent home from first on a double) is the lowest in the majors in that span (min. 10 opportunities since 2009):

5.9% – David Ortiz (1-17)
6.7% – Bengie Molina (1-15)
8.3% – Mike Lowell (1-12)

It was the 3rd time this season that the Sox have had a runner thrown out at home trying to score from first on a double, tied with four others for the most in the majors.

It should be noted that they’ve had the most opportunities (91) and the most successful tries (30), although in the AL only Seattle (34%) has a lower “Try%” than Boston’s 36%.

Since the start of the 2007 season, Boston has had 14 runners thrown out attempting to score from 1st on a double, the most in the majors:

14 – Boston Red Sox
13 – Florida Marlins
11 – Seven teams tied

Tampa Bay has had only 3 such runners thrown out in the last 3 1/2 seasons, the fewest in the majors.

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* – Despite Ortiz getting nailed last night, the Red Sox continue to be more aggressive about trying to take the extra base in 2010 than in recent years.

A runner has an opportunity to take an extra base when he’s on first on a single (taking third) or a double (scoring) or when he’s on second (scoring) when a single is hit.

During the five seasons from 2004 through 2008, the Red Sox’ “Try%” was the lowest in the majors every year (between 33% and 36% each year). In 2009, they tried to advance on 37% of their opportunities (3rd lowest).

But so far in 2010, they are trying to advance 41% of the time and 10 teams have a “Try%” lower than the Red Sox.

When you consider that Fenway Park, specifically the proximity of the “Green Monster” in left field, negatively affects their “Try%” every season, their 41% mark in 2010 really stands out.

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* – Last night in Oakland, the Red Sox collected 12 hits with 8 of them coming before the end of the 3rd inning. It was the 16th time this season that Boston has banged out more hits in the first three innings than they’ve gotten the rest of the game, 3rd most in the AL behind the Angels (19) and Rangers (18).

Fortunately, the Red Sox have gone 11-5 in those games, the 2nd best such record in the AL, trailing only the Yankees (9-4) and just ahead of the Angels (12-7).

In 2009, the Sox offense had 32 such games and managed only a 16-16 record. Only Baltimore (33) and Texas (33) had more such games in the AL while the best records in those games belonged to the Yankees (15-4) and the Angels (15-8).

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* – It was the 7th time this season that Boston has not had an RBI after the 2nd inning and the Sox are now 2-5 in those games. It’s the 2nd lowest number of such games in the majors this season (the Yankees have 6). Speaking of the Yankees, did you know that they are 0-26 in those games since the start of the 2008 season, the only team in the majors without such a win.

(Note: I have to use RBI for this stat because my database cannot account for runs scored on errors, passed balls, wild pitches, stolen bases, or balks.)