More than happy to follow his lead

Johnny Damon is quickly becoming Mr. Automatic. He leads off and he gets on base.

Yesterday, in the first inning of the Red Sox' 7-2 win over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park, he did it without talking the bat off his shoulder. Four pitches, four balls from Miguel Batista.

It was the fifth game in a row the one-time bearded wonder opened the game by reaching safely, and he's done it in six of the Red Sox' last seven games.

But it's not just the first inning in which he's been getting on. Yesterday he also scratched out two singles and looped a sacrifice fly to center field, giving him two RBIs and two runs. Damon has a .515 on-base percentage over his last seven games, with nine hits and eight walks.

It was the ninth time in the last 16 games he has had a multihit game.

"It was an all right day [for the leadoff hitter], but it was a better day for the No. 3 hitter," said Damon, referring to David Ortiz's three-hit (two doubles and a single) performance. "It was a great day for Tim Wakefield, a great day for the bullpen, a great day all-around."

Damon has had success against Batista. In 14 at-bats before yesterday's game, the center fielder had six hits, including a pair of home runs.

"Off a guy like [Batista], you've just got to go up there and pray," said Damon. "He throws so hard and you don't know what's coming, whether it's a cutter, a sinking fastball, or just a hard 95-mile-an-hour fastball. I have the utmost respect for him. I used to play with him [in Kansas City]. He's got a great arm. I've just been lucky at bat against him."

After walking on four fastballs and scoring on Ortiz's ground-rule double down the right-field line in the first inning, Damon sliced an 87-mile-an-hour splitter through the left side of the infield for a single in the second.

He didn't get any farther. He tried to steal on Toronto catcher Kevin Cash and was cut down. Cash made a perfect throw and shortstop Frank Menechino was waiting with the tag.

"I know one thing, I'm not going to be [trying to steal] off of Cash anymore," said Damon, who had been nailed only twice in seven attempts before yesterday. "Thing is: I got a great jump, and he made it look easy. That's why the Red Sox don't have to be a running team. We have the hitters behind me to drive me in. [The steal attempt] might have cost us a couple of runs."

The Boston game plan was to wait out Blue Jays pitchers and it worked, according to Damon. The Jays yielded 10 walks, six by Batista, who threw 94 pitches and lasted only three innings.

"We accomplished what we wanted today," said Damon. "We were going against a pretty good pitcher in Batista. He's thrown the ball well against us this year. But we were able to lay off some pitches, get some walks, get on base, and make things happen." Batista, Aquilino Lopez, Micheal Nakamura, and Jason Frasor combined for 165 pitches in eight innings. Only 88 were strikes, which included 25 that the Sox put into play.

"They weren't throwing us strikes," said Damon. "This team knows the strike zone. We know we can beat teams with walks and tire out their pitchers. We got to their bullpen every day."

Damon, who improved his average to .286, said he just tries to get on base. "I know how important the guys who hit after me are in the lineup," he said. "I'm not doing anything different. I'm just happening to get on base, just trying to swing the bat and makes things happen."

He said the coming of warm weather and the return of Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon bode well.

"With the weather heating up, and my knee much better than it was the first five weeks of the season, I feel good about this team," said Damon. "We know Nomar and Trot are on the horizon. It seems like everyone is picking up everyone. This is a 25-man team. Tito [manager Terry Francona] has kept it a very positive atmosphere here in the clubhouse. We're having a lot of fun."