BOSTON (AP) – John Olerud hobbled out of the clubhouse on crutches, his left foot heavily wrapped. The New York Yankees’ first baseman sat out Sunday night with a bruised instep, and might be sidelined for a while.

“Just don’t want to put a lot of weight on it. It’s pretty sore,” Olerud said. “We’ll just treat it real hard and hopefully it will loosen up.”

Tony Clark started at first base and batted eighth in Game 4 of the AL championship series for the Yankees, who were going for a four-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

The knob of Olerud’s bat apparently struck the inside of his foot Saturday night as he stumbled out of the batter’s box after grounding out to end the top of the sixth inning. He left Game 3 immediately and was replaced by Clark.

“John is not very mobile,” manager Joe Torre said Sunday. “He’s not available for us today.”

X-rays were negative, but Olerud said he might have more tests soon. For now ice, stimulation and compression wraps.

“It stiffened up pretty good. I feel like I might as well stay off it while it’s tender,” he said.

They’re not really idiots

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said there was no reason to have a team meeting before the game, even though Boston was facing elimination.

The Red Sox trailed New York 3-0 in the AL championship series. No major league team has ever come back to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.

“They know how our staff feels,” Francona said before Game 4. “They know we’re behind them. They have shown us no reason to ever doubt them. They try as hard as they can, even when things are not good. So I don’t think they need to go drop a new rock on them. I know they call themselves idiots, but they’re smart enough to know if they lose, we’ll go home.”

Francona said the team held only two brief meetings during the season, each lasting about 30 seconds.

“There was no throwing any tables or throwing the spread or anything like that,” he said.

In postseason history, only five of the previous 25 teams that fell behind 3-0 avoided a sweep. The Red Sox were swept the only two times they trailed 3-0 in the ALCS. The Oakland Athletics bounced Boston both times, in 1988 and 90.

“If we get a good performance today and we can score some runs, we’re right back where we need to be,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. “I never worry about legacies. I worry about winning baseball games.”

The Red Sox also lost the ALCS to the Yankees in 99 and last year. New York won the 99 series in five games, clinching the pennant at Fenway Park.

Ratings game

Game 3 of the AL championship series got a 9.4 overnight rating, down 2 percent from the comparable game last year, the Chicago Cubs’ 5-4, 11-inning win over Florida in Game 3 of the NL playoffs.

Houston’s Game 3 win over St. Louis got a 5.8 overnight, down 42 percent from the comparable game last year – the Yankees’ 4-3, brawl-filled Game 3 win over Boston.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a broadcast.

Lineup change

Red Sox manager Terry Francona made a slight change to his lineup for Game 4. He dropped struggling second baseman Mark Bellhorn from second to ninth, switching spots with shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

Bellhorn was just 1-for-12 in the ALCS with six strikeouts – four in Saturday’s 19-8 loss. Overall in the postseason, Bellhorn was 2-for-23 (.087) with 10 strikeouts. He set a club record with 177 strikeouts during the regular season, surpassing Butch Hobson’s total of 162 in 1977.

Cabrera was batting .292 in the playoffs with six RBIs, including a two-run double Saturday night that tied the score at 6. He went 3-for-4 in Game 3 and was hitting .455 in the ALCS.

“Cabrera swung the bat so well last night, maybe we could use that to our advantage,” Francona said.

Hoping for a chance

Boston ace Curt Schilling threw on the side again Sunday, testing his injured right ankle.

“He looked good considering the circumstances,” general manager Theo Epstein said. “I’m not going to get into details.”

Schilling hopes to pitch again if the Red Sox can extend the series. Epstein said manager Terry Francona would announce a rotation for the rest of the series if Boston won Game 4.