Patient Snow awaits his turn

TORONTO -- With Coco Crisp on the mend for at least another two weeks, Kevin Youkilis remains the Red Sox' only leadoff candidate, which is quite OK, given that he began the weekend hitting .371 with a .463 on-base percentage when he's batted leadoff. But there is a casualty here, and his name is J.T. Snow.

Snow, who had 367 at-bats (.275, 4 HRs, 40 RBIs) last season in San Francisco, has just 12 at-bats in 12 games, and only five at-bats in his past 10 games. Last night, in the Sox' 7-6 loss in 12 innings, Snow walked in his only plate appearance. He has two singles and five walks on the season. How can the club get him at-bats when Youkilis has to lead off?

''I don't have a good answer," manager Terry Francona said, and that is because there is not a good answer.

Snow, however, appears to have no issue with his situation. ''They were honest with me," he said. ''They haven't done anything they didn't say they'd do.

''Youk's done great. We've all been in that position in our career. Make or break, do-or-die chance, and he's making the most of it, which is good. To [the team's] credit, and I agree with what they're doing, they're letting him play. Nowadays, you don't see that. I'm happy for Youk. It's neat to see."

As for his situation, Snow is working to develop a consistent approach at the plate, something he's finding difficult.

''It's the first time I've really had to [sit this much]," he said. ''Last year, I was platooning but I played four days a week. There's no substitute for at-bats and timing at the plate. I don't know how you really go about it. Do you go up there swinging? Or, do you see some pitches? We'll see how it plays out. I'll do whatever they ask me to do."

He's willing to do this because he was a Giant in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series, with his team leading the Angels, 5-0, in the game, 3 to 2 in the series. He was eight outs away before it all came unraveled.

''If I had a World Series ring," the 38-year-old said yesterday, ''I might be home right now. Hopefully, we can do it this year."

Toronto's combination of Roy Halladay, who pitches today, and A.J. Burnett, who pitched last night, hadn't provided the return on general manager J.P. Ricciardi's investment that Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling had provided GM Theo Epstein. Both Halladay (sore forearm) and Burnett (scar tissue in his elbow tearing away) have missed starts. In fact, Burnett went only four innings last night because of a sore elbow. Halladay and Burnett are a combined 1-2 with a 5.04 ERA.

Beckett and Schilling cleared Canadian customs a combined 7-0 with a 1.65 ERA, although Beckett allowed five earned runs in 7 1/3 innings last night.

But, Halladay and Burnett have done something meaningful: They've bonded. Consider the following tale, as relayed by Blue Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, who also coached Burnett in Florida.

''Having A.J. here has helped open Doc [Halladay] up," Arnsberg said. ''Before, no one messed with Doc. A.J. and Doc were connected at the hip in camp. A.J. never came in at 8:30 [a.m.] with the Marlins. Here, he was coming in at 6 because Doc was coming at 6."

And the team, particularly shortstop Russ Adams and second baseman Aaron Hill, took note early in camp.

''Russ and Aaron got these hats, they put 'Brokeback Mound' on the hats," Arnsberg said, ''and they hung shirts in Doc and A.J.'s locker that said: 'Have You Seen My Friend?' and 'www.ilostmybuddy.com.' "

Revenge came before an exhibition game on the last day of March.

''A plane flies over," Arnsberg recalled. ''It says, 'I love you, Russ. Will you marry me? Aaron.' "

When the team entered the cafeteria for lunch that day, the room was set up for a wedding reception.

''There was a chocolate fountain, strawberries, a wedding cake," Arnsberg said. ''Those guys had coats on. They hugged, they danced, they played 'Forever Love.' They dressed up Hill's car with 'I love you, Russ. I can't wait to turn two with you.'

''You talk about getting laughs," Arnsberg said. ''That's the best I've seen in my years. You don't mess with veterans, and you don't mess with money. It had to be a $10,000 day. This reception was unbelievable. You'd want it at your own wedding."

The three homers Beckett allowed tied a career high, done once before, April 28, 2002, against Arizona in which his opponent, Schilling, fanned 13. Beckett allowed those homers to Mark Grace, Damien Miller, and Steve Finley . . . Beckett didn't need to be told postgame Burnett was hurt. He could see it during his four-inning stint. ''I've got to call him, it's tough," Beckett said of his former teammate. ''I could tell the last inning. He was throwing fastballs at 90 miles an hour [instead of 95-97]. I could just tell something wasn't right. He walked off shaking his hand." Burnett threw just 78 pitches in his second start of the season, leaving because of discomfort in his throwing elbow consistent with what he experienced late in spring training, when scar tissue (he had Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery in April 2003) tore away. Burnett, signed for five years and $55 million, will visit Dr. James Andrews in Alabama . . . Manny Ramírez's two homers give him 49 career home runs against the Blue Jays, the most by any player against Toronto. Ramírez has 44 career multihomer games.

While Keith Foulke is on record this week as saying his knees have ''regressed over the last three weeks," Francona said before last night's game that the club and reliever have ''not yet" talked about another series of Synvisc injections. ''I don't think he's close to the point where he doesn't want to pitch," Francona said. Foulke went into last night with eight appearances and a 3.86 ERA. But, he'd pitched in the following situations, few of them high pressure: Ahead, 7-2. Ahead, 14-8. Ahead, 4-1. Ahead, 5-1. Behind, 8-1. Behind, 5-4. Ahead, 9-1. Behind, 5-1. Last night, Francona was forced to go to Foulke with the score tied after 10 innings, having already used Mike Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon. Foulke responded. In the 11th he gave up a one-out double to Alex Rios, who advanced to third on a flyout. But Foulke calmly fanned Russ Adams with a changeup. He recorded two quick outs in the 12th before walking Troy Glaus, who went on to score the winning run . . . Even with David Wells's future hanging in the balance, Francona has effectively ruled out returning Jonathan Papelbon to the rotation. The skipper was asked yesterday if he'd continue to resist that urge. ''This year, yeah," Francona said. ''It's a long year. Things happen. Sometimes you have to make adjustments. But I like what we have." . . . Dustan Mohr will start today against Halladay.