Boston manager Terry Francona sounded off on interleague play this week, telling Boston Herald sportswriter Jeff Horrigan that American League teams unfairly must play without a key bat in the lineup when they travel to National League cities. The teams play by the home club’s league rules, so either DH David Ortiz or first baseman Kevin Youkilis must sit when the Red Sox take on the Diamondbacks in Phoenix this weekend.

“Somebody’s going to have to sit who we don’t want to sit,” Francona told Horrigan. “Whoever it is is going to be a really good hitter.” The manager would like to see MLB remedy the situation.

“At some point, somebody in baseball will stand up and go, ‘You know, this isn’t right,’ ” he said. “Hopefully, it will be before I’m an old man getting my pension, because it’s just not right.”

Has Francona somehow forgotten that Boston’s competition for a playoff berth is his AL brethren only? All AL clubs face those DH-free games in National League parks, not just the Red Sox. It’s a scenario that doesn’t give any team in either league an advantage in its own playoff race.

Francona overlooked the other side of the matter, when NL clubs play in AL parks. National League teams aren’t built with that extra everyday player on the roster, which leaves them at a disadvantage when it’s time to employ a DH. It’s a roster spot that AL clubs often pay a premium salary to have one of the game’s top hitters. An NL club isn’t going to have a top-flight player who sits on the bench regularly when his team plays NL opponents.

So, how has the AL fared while going up against the loss of the DH in half of all interleague games? Since the start of the 2005 season, the AL is 314-232, good for a .575 winning percentage against the NL. How unfair.