Sox and bonds

There are games in which players renew their vows as teammates, and last night's 8-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays was one of them. It may not have been as clear as it was in the Yankee-Red Sox brawl game back in late July, which produced an obvious bond.

This one was more subtle, but not lost on the participants.

It was a Red Sox team moment when a Gold Glove first baseman, Doug Mientkiewicz, was willing to play out of position at second base. A team moment when a pitcher, Derek Lowe, took it upon himself to hit the Blue Jays slugger, Carlos Delgado, who had cleanly but forcefully leveled Mientkiewicz on the basepaths in the second inning.

It was Keith Foulke understanding that he may have to pitch multiple innings down the stretch because the relievers in front of him are beginning to show signs of fatigue. And Foulke came up big, recording his 20th save with two scoreless innings, stranding a runner at second in the eighth.

Though it was a victory, there weren't many style points; in fact, there were some very sloppy moments.

Orlando Cabrera had as many RBIs as errors (2), and afterward declined comment, saying only, "You can write what you want about me." Teammates said a wet infield caused by a steady and sometimes heavy rain made the going tough.

"All but a 20-minute stretch [in the seventh inning], and it was pretty good," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "Derek had his sinker working -- you know, the swing-and-miss sinker. And a good breaking ball. A better breaking ball than I've seen for a while."

Francona inserted Mientkiewicz at second in part because of a depleted infield and in part because he wanted a lot of lefthanded hitters in the lineup. Toronto starter Justin Miller, a righthander, was allowing lefthanded hitters a .389 average. As it turned out, four of the five runs off him were knocked in by righthanded hitters (two by Cabrera and two by Kevin Millar). Johnny Damon had a two-run triple in the eighth to extend a 5-4 Sox lead, and Dave Roberts drove in Damon with a double for more insurance. The other run came via a Jason Varitek sacrifice fly.

"The one constant on this team is effort," said Roberts. "It's a bunch of unselfish players. We all want to win a baseball game. Everybody wants to do their part."

Lowe, who improved to 11-10, did the honorable thing to start the seventh, throwing at Delgado's back. Delgado had leveled Mientkiewicz in the second inning after Mientkiewicz fielded Frank Catalanotto's grounder and tagged the onrushing Delgado. The Sox thought Delgado's actions were excessive, and it was only a matter of time before Lowe would retaliate.

"On the one hand, he played the game hard, nothing dirty, but I didn't appreciate the fact that he knew I'm a first baseman and he took advantage of it," Mientkiewicz said. "I wouldn't have done that to a guy playing out of position if I was coming down to second base like that."

Concerning Lowe's retaliation, Mientkiewicz said, "It's part of the game and Derek took it upon himself."

The problem with retaliation is that it gave the Jays a runner, even though they trailed, 5-1. After one out, Eric Hinske singled to left, and Delgado then scored when Cabrera Bucknered a routine grounder by Chris Woodward. After a stolen base, Cabrera stumbled on a slower grounder hit by Gabe Gross. It was ruled a hit and drove in the Blue Jays' third run.

But instead of unraveling, Lowe stopped the rally one run short of disaster. He had Gross picked off first, and in the ensuing rundown, Woodward broke for the plate and didn't draw a throw. Lowe was involved in the rundown, and he elected to focus on Gross, who was retired. Lowe then got Gregg Zaun to ground out, ending the inning with the Sox still ahead, 5-4.

"We didn't execute like you want to in spring training," Francona said of the rundown, "but at least they kept their heads enough to know we have a two-run lead and we'll take the out. I'll take nobody on with two outs any time. If they hit another ball through, we're in trouble."

Foulke allowed a one-out double to Orlando Hudson in the eighth, a liner down the first base line. But Foulke escaped the inning, striking out the difficult Catalanotto on a foul tip. He got the three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, then went 1-2-3 in the ninth.

"I think it'll be good for me to get stretched out," said Foulke. "I'd like to be able to get out there and pick up the other guys who have been doing it all season by returning the favor.

"I've done this quite a few times in the past. The big thing for me is for my body to get adapted to it. I can do bullpens until I'm blue in the face, but I just have to get accustomed to it by doing it."