Manny Playing Today?

[Salisbury Stakes]

Is Manny playing today? I need to know if I should start him or not today? If anybody has any information, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks WHIR.

Salisbury Stakes.

[Marino's Isotoners]

After being penciled into his regular cleanup spot earlier in the afternoon, Manny Ramirez was scratched from tonight’s lineup with soreness in his right knee.

In his pregame meeting with the media (which took place before Manny was scratched), Red Sox manager Terry Francona -- who had Ramirez in his original lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Yankees -- said Ramirez's knee was still bothering him from time to time and that the he had asked the slugger to tell him if he couldn’t play tonight.

After Francona's meeting with the media, and just before the Red Sox clubhouse closed, the new lineup was posted without Ramirez's name in it. What is still unclear is whether Ramirez spoke with Francona between the time the manager talked to reporters and when Ramirez was taken out of the lineup. Ramirez also missed Wednesday's game with a sore knee.

Manny scratched

Red Sox chariman Tom Werner declined to comment on Manny Ramirez's late scratch from the lineup tonight against the Yankees.

"I just heard about it," said Werner, who said he would wait to talk to Ramirez himself before passing judgement on the situation.

Team president and CEO Larry Lucchino simply said, "No comment," when asked about Ramirez.

Werner and Lucchino, along with principal owner John Henry, huddled together under the center field bleachers and spoke for about 10 minutes before the start of tonight's game. The trio were there for the grand opening of The Bleacher Bar, the new Lyons Group establishment just outside the Fenway Park gates.

Lucchino, Werner decline comment on Manny