Imitation not always flattering

TORONTO -- A good day to impersonate the Babe? Depends on the Babe.

In David Ortiz's case, it was historic. The Red Sox DH, who hit his 53d home run in the first inning yesterday off Toronto lefthander Gustavo Chacin in the Rogers Centre, tied the American League record for home runs away from home, 32, set by Babe Ruth in 1927, when he was part of the Yankees' famed Murderers Row. Ortiz will have tonight's series finale, the team's last road game in 2006, to try to break the record.

In Wily Mo Peña's case, it was horrific. The Red Sox right fielder, not for the first time this season, did a passing impression of one Floyd Caves ``Babe" Herman, a terrific slugger in the 1920s and '30s for Brooklyn but a guy who was such a poor outfielder that a former teammate, Fresco Thompson, once said of him, ``He wore a glove for one reason -- because it was a league custom."

How bad was this Babe afield? Herman, once informed by a local bank that someone was pretending to be him and passing bad checks, is said to have replied: ``Hit him a few fly balls. If he catches any, it ain't me."

Peña didn't catch many in a 13-4 loss to the Blue Jays, which allowed the hometown team to draw within a half-game of the second-place Sox in the American League East. Peña lost Bengie Molina's fifth-inning liner in the lights. The ball clanked off his glove for what went as a two-base error according to the official scorer, who two innings earlier had shown more compassion for left fielder Kevin Youkilis when he similarly lost a liner in the lights, the ball grazing him in the lip before it sailed past. That ball went in the books as an RBI double for Reed Johnson.

In the sixth inning, with the Sox having just drawn to within a run, 4-3, on a triple by Youkilis and a sacrifice fly by Mike Lowell, Peña made an awkward leap for Alex Rios's drive to the right-field wall, crashing into the bullpen fence while the ball bounded away for a two-run triple, the key hit in a four-run inning.

An inning later, Peña made a mistimed stab at a shoestring catch on Aaron Hill's liner and watched it skip away for what was ruled a double, and soon reliever Lenny DiNardo had a five-run uprising on his hands.

``Wasn't too pretty," Sox manager Terry Francona said of the team's second straight loss to the Blue Jays after Julian Tavarez went the distance in the series opener. ``We have nobody on, two outs in the sixth, we're down by one. Next thing I know, I look up and I'm taking regulars out. That's not good."

Neither, would it appear, is Wily Mo with a glove on his hand, though Francona said this was the wrong moment to ask him to decide whether the Sox could survive with Peña in right.

``It's not easy, five minutes after you've gotten your [derrieres] kicked . . . it's not a good thing to say when your emotions are still running," Francona said. ``You have to sit back, I guess, and take a look at the whole year and then make that decision."

Peña could make that decision immensely easier if the Sox knew with certainty that he one day also would hit like Herman, who modestly called himself a ``pretty fair country hitter" and was much more than that, hitting a career-best .393 in 1930. Herman finished his career with a .383 on-base percentage and .532 slugging percentage, numbers that Peña, still only 24, is not far from replicating this season (.351 OBP, .504 slugging percentage). He singled and doubled yesterday and had extra bases taken away by Johnson, who made a leaping catch at the wall in the second.

Youkilis, meanwhile, is trying to survive while playing out of position. Yesterday was his 15th start in left field, and first on turf, and while he made an outstanding running catch on Johnson's drive to the gap in the fourth, he later watched helplessly as Lyle Overbay's liner dropped in front of him, then took an abrupt right turn past him for what was scored as a double.

``Somebody's gotta play out there in left field," said Youkilis, who found himself in need of an outfielder's glove when Manny Ramírez went down with a sore knee last month. Ramírez yesterday was not in the starting lineup for the 14th straight game and has appeared in just nine of the last 32 games.

``Tito's told me he wants an extra bat in the lineup and needs me to play out in left field," added Youkilis. ``I'm here to play ball. That's all I want to do is play ball. If it means I have to play left field, I'll play left field. [But] I wouldn't say I'm a left fielder by any means.

``I take pride in my infield work, but I also try to do the best I can out there, do my job out there. But it sure wasn't a good day in the outfield today."

Francona said Jon Lester, after completing a cycle of chemotherapy at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has returned home to Seattle, where he will continue treatment at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Lester has been diagnosed with a rare but treatable form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Fans wishing to express their support for Lester by purchasing bracelets, with proceeds going to the Jimmy Fund, can do so by contacting thelesterproject.com. Organizers of the site are four college women from the Boston area . . . Francona said surgery on Coco Crisp's refractured left index finger has been scheduled for tomorrow at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery is to be performed by Dr. Mark Belsky . . . Pitcher Matt Clement is scheduled to be in Birmingham, Ala., today to have his ailing right shoulder checked by orthopedist James Andrews, with exploratory surgery a possibility . . . Kyle Snyder, who threw 61 pitches in the first three innings, only 35 for strikes, took the loss, after a yield of seven hits, two walks, and four runs. The Jays have done a number on Snyder; he's 1-3 with a 7.71 ERA (18 earned runs in 21 innings) in five career games, including four starts . . . Francona on Ortiz's shot at Ruth's record: ``I hope he breaks it. You know what, he just keeps pounding away. As [Jason] Varitek says, `You just keep playing the game.' That's all you can do. Just keep playing the best that you can. And he continues to do that."