It's a case of catch as catch can

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- It was quite the scramble, Doug Mirabelli trying to see if he could stay in the game, with Javy Lopez looking covetously over his shoulders, Mirabelli's shinguards in his sights. And it remained quite the scramble after Friday night's game, the Red Sox searching through their organization for catchers -- a commodity getting scarcer by the day -- promoting Corky Miller from Triple A Pawtucket to the majors and Alberto Concepcion from Double A Portland to Pawtucket.

With injuries to the top two catchers in the system -- Jason Varitek (left knee) and Mirabelli (left ankle) -- it's been a hectic week with five backstops (Varitek, Mirabelli, Lopez, Miller, and Ken Huckaby) donning the major league uniform. But it seems likely that the Red Sox will return to a semblance of normality in the next three or four days, the timetable Mirabelli and manager Terry Francona spoke of before last night's game.

``That's what we're hoping for," said Mirabelli, whose ankle was swollen, even after ice treatments and massage earlier in the day. ``There's no real structural damage or anything like that. We'll get some swelling out of there and get some mobility into the area; we should be good to go."

For now, the team is reliant upon Lopez, whose early offensive returns have been less than advertised. Lopez is 0 for 9 in two games, including two strikeouts and two double plays.

With one out and the bases loaded in the ninth last night and the Sox down, 8-5, Lopez grounded to shortstop, as he had in two previous at-bats, to start a game-ending double play .

``When I see the shortstop again, I'm like, `No, that cannot be happening again,' " Lopez said. ``It seems like I've been hitting fungoes to the shortstop all night. Oh, well. Tomorrow's a different day."

A day that still won't feature Mirabelli, who is walking without a crutch -- which means he's down to one fewer than Varitek, who had surgery Thursday -- and still estimating that his injury is no worse than one he suffered in 2002, when he didn't miss a Tim Wakefield start.

``That's a bad angle anyway, so I'm at least trying to get a foot in the way," Mirabelli said, acknowledging the play by Carl Crawford Friday was a clean one. ``I can't tell how far he is from me. I just know he's going to be close. I'm just trying to put a foot out there. You catch a hand from sliding across the plate. I'm doing my best to block the plate. The timing was just bad."

The timing on the play, sure. The timing for the team, no question.

So Miller was notified that he had to stay around McCoy Stadium for a little longer Friday night. And that made the day very long, indeed. After catching both ends of a doubleheader since he was the only catcher left with the PawSox, Miller was told to wait around for a little while and, having seen the collision on a clubhouse TV, he anticipated the move.

``Under unfortunate circumstances, I'm here," Miller said. ``You never know how Dougie's going to come out of it, and hopefully it's soon."

When Mirabelli returns, Miller will likely be sent back to Pawtucket, something understood by the 30-year-old who has 244 major league at-bats with the Reds and Twins from 2001-05.

Though he is a bit lacking in major league experience, Miller's recent production has endeared him to fans of the PawSox, with the catcher hitting his eighth home run (and 11th of the season) since the All-Star break Friday.

Meanwhile, it will be Lopez behind the plate, assuming the role he asked for with the Orioles and was denied when they signed Ramon Hernandez. Lopez, who had to borrow Mirabelli's mask and shinguards and Alex Gonzalez's bat Friday, will need to be physically ready in a hurry. A few minutes picking the brain of Mirabelli -- which was scheduled for yesterday afternoon -- wouldn't hurt, either.

``The responsibility here is going to get even bigger," said Lopez. ``It makes it more interesting, more exciting for me, I guess. This is the opportunity that I've been waiting for."