Backstop's backside an issue

When Jason Varitek grounded a ball to second baseman Jose Lopez in the second inning yesterday and Lopez bobbled it, Varitek had a chance to beat it out. But one look at the Sox catcher -- limping up the line -- indicated he not only would be out on the play but could be out for some time. Not the case, Varitek said.

''Just something I've had to battle for the last couple of months," he said. ''Stiffened up on me [Sunday]."

The issue: He's got a bad gluteus muscle, or, as a reporter pointed out, a pain in the butt.

''I didn't really want to have to say that," Varitek said.

Varitek said he injured himself running the bases during spring training. Yesterday he had only one gear, and it wasn't a quick one. He looked slow and pained running out the second-inning ground out and a double-play ground out in the fourth.

''It just wouldn't let me go," he said. ''It's almost like I have to run with a dead leg at times. I'm actually really encouraged because it did loosen up later in the game."

Varitek looked plenty nimble Sunday, twice diving in attempts to avoid Richie Sexson's tags and once stealing second base.

''I think it was [Sunday's] game [that aggravated it]," he said. ''I think all the running on a windy day, I got real stiff."

Did he give any thought to coming out yesterday?

''No," he said. ''It's something that's been there. If it happened during the game it might be different."

Varitek was 1 for 3 with a tying single in the eighth and an intentional walk. He's batting .270 with no homers and five RBIs.

Quite a performance by Trot Nixon after missing five games with a strained left groin. In the second inning he singled to right. In the sixth, he sent a Gil Meche 1-and-1 fastball screaming into the right-field seats on a hop for a ground-rule double. In the eighth, he began 0-and-2 but worked an eight-pitch at-bat, doubling to right with two outs. He came around to score the run that made it 5-5 on Varitek's RBI single.

''I felt real good," Nixon said. ''No pulling, no tugging. Healthwise, everything went real well today. I was pleased to go up and have good at-bats, to not feel like I was overmatched because I'd gone without really swinging a bat at all."

A sign that Nixon feels pretty healthy: Terry Francona didn't pinch run for him in the eighth, when Nixon represented the tying run.

''Boy he looked good, didn't he?" Francona said. ''It never fails. The one guy you want to protect a little bit is right in the middle of all of the base running."

Nixon even left the park with a spring in his step, to see his wife, Kathryn, who was running the Marathon to raise money for charity, along with Curt Schilling's wife, Shonda, and Mike Timlin's wife, Dawn.

''That's something, to manufacture enough energy to run," Nixon said of his wife. ''It's tough enough for me to run 1 mile, 2 miles."

Francona, despite Nixon's 3-for-4 performance, will rest him today and Thursday, against lefties Casey Fossum and Scott Kazmir, respectively.

''Play, bounce back, play, bounce back," Francona said. ''I just think it's probably the safest way to go."

The Sox managed three wins in the four-game series despite going just 5 for 35 (.143) with runners in scoring position. Yesterday they went 2 for 5 (Alex Cora's second-inning RBI double, Varitek's eighth-inning RBI single). ''It's hard to tell the first month how good your team is," Kevin Youkilis said. ''We've looked good the first 13 games because we've won, but we've also looked bad because we've left runners on base and haven't driven in runners." . . . Lenny DiNardo, in 33 career appearances, including two starts, has yet to record a win (he has one loss). Scott Williamson holds the club record for most regular-season appearances without a win, at 52. DiNardo (5 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs) pitched long enough and well enough to win. ''I'm ecstatic," he said, ''more for the [team's] win than my performance." . . . David Ortiz's second homer of the day gave him 125 home runs and 500 hits in a Sox uniform. He made a legitimate bid for a third homer, though Ichiro Suzuki reeled it in, and replays indicated the ball probably would have fallen just short of the wall. ''I was talking to Theo and Tito," Ortiz said. ''They need to bring the fence in a little more so I don't have to go through that." . . . Yesterday's 11:05 a.m. start, 8:05 in Seattle, was the earliest Mariners game ever. The team's pregame show began at 7 a.m. Pacific time . . . The Sox are now 5-0 in one-run games and lead the majors in one-run wins.

Manny Ramírez singled hard twice, once off the base of the Monster and once nine-10ths of the way up the Wall. He's 3 for his last 7 after going 2 for 21. ''He hit two lasers that are hits, and that's a good sign," Francona said. Ramirez has 11 hits, all singles, through 13 games. Before this season he'd never before gone more than nine games without a double or more than 11 without a homer . . . With Josh Beckett's win Sunday he matched Schilling with 3-0 records. The last time two Sox pitchers began 3-0 was 1995 (Vaughn Eshelman and Tim Wakefield) . . . The Sox and Devil Rays meet today, which could mean the latest installment of Fight Club. They last met March 27, when Julian Tavarez landed a right hook to Joey Gathright's jaw. ''I could care less about Tavarez right now," Gathright told the St. Petersburg Times. ''You know what, I'm thinking about getting a hit. Now, if he's thinking about it and he wants to do something, that's on him." Speaking about the teams, Gathright said, ''We're going to play nice. I think it will be fine." . . . Francona's reaction after watching Gabe Kapler run Sunday: ''Amazing, how when you don't see a guy running every day, it really looked like he's made some leaps and bounds." The manager thinks Kapler, who ruptured his left Achilles' tendon last September, could play in June.