Varitek had catching up to do

Having served a four-game suspension stemming from a July 24 ejection against the Yankees, Jason Varitek returned to work. It would have been an understatement to say the Red Sox catcher was happy to be back in his familiar spot, crouched behind the plate at Fenway Park, for last night's 5-3 victory over the Tigers.

"I mean, of course it is," said Varitek, who was back in manager Terry Francona's lineup as the No. 5 hitter after missing a three-game set in Toronto and the first game of a 10-game homestand. "But it's not about me."

With September fast approaching, it's about helping the Red Sox. It's about staying in front of Anaheim and Texas in the AL wild-card race and it's about mounting a charge on the Yankees, who remain 5 1/2 games ahead of the Sox in the East.

When Varitek was hit with a suspension after his altercation with Alex Rodriguez, he eventually opted to do the time instead of appealing the penalty.

"It was a decision that started from up top and worked its way down to me," said Varitek, who had a fielder's choice that broke a 1-1 tie in the first, a double in the third, and walked in the fifth. "We talked about going ahead and getting it out of the way. It allowed us an opportunity to go ahead and get it [over] with." It was a strategic move aimed at keeping Varitek in the lineup during an important stretch of the season with upcoming games against the wild-card-contending Angels (Aug. 31-Sept. 2) and Rangers (Sept. 3-5), and a huge series against the Yankees in the Bronx (Sept. 17-19).

"Believe me, we just didn't do it on a whim," Francona said. "We thought it through and tried to figure out when the best time would be to do it."

The timing of the decision might have been questionable, especially after Varitek had gone 7 for 13 (.538) with 2 homers, 2 doubles, 3 runs, and 4 RBIs in a three-game set at Chicago last weekend. But with the dutiful Doug Mirabelli in reserve, it seemed last week's set in Toronto was as good a time as any to have Varitek serve his suspension.

"Mirabelli did a great job, we knew he would," said Francona. "He's a veteran backup catcher and he could probably catch more than he does. He's good enough to do that, and we know that. But on our team, because we have Varitek, that's his job [as a backup]."

In his four-game stint as the replacement, Mirabelli went 5 for 16 (.313) with a homer and four RBIs. He matched his season high with three hits in Tuesday night's 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays, hitting a three-run homer off Miguel Batista to erase a 3-2 deficit in the sixth inning. Last night Mirabelli returned to his role as super sub.

"The baseball player in me would love to play more, but the team player in me knows that I'm glad Jason's back," said Mirabelli, who will be behind the plate tomorrow as Tim Wakefield's backstop. "Everybody on this team knows how much [Varitek] means to the team. Obviously, I love playing, but it was fortunate for me to even get these four days, so I'm happy with these four days and I'm happy to contribute, but I'm glad Jason's back."

Asked for an assessment of Mirabelli's performance, Varitek said, "It's the same job Doug always does. He hit a big home run for us in the second game [at Toronto]. It was huge. He just does what he always does. It's not about the two of us right now, it's totally about us winning ballgames, and we've been able to do that over the long haul and we continue to do that."

But, Varitek acknowledged, it was difficult to sit out.

"Oh yeah, but it wasn't so difficult because we were winning games," he said. "That made it really easy. It was difficult the first day [when the Sox lost Monday at the SkyDome, 3-0], but after that it got better. I bit my nails the second day and I was able to relax the next two."

So how did he pass the time?

"The same things I always do," Varitek said. "Go hit early off [Dale] Sveum, take BP, run around a little bit, go catch a couple of bullpens, play a little long toss, get my workouts in . . . same ole, same ole."

Varitek, though, stepped up his normal routine Thursday in anticipation of his return. "I made sure I ran a little bit more," he said. "I ran some sprints and made sure I tried to catch somebody in the pen.

"I did some footwork and made sure that I got back in a squat," he added. "Some things you just don't want to lose touch of."