Plugging away, chipping in

Drew happy with two hits

By Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff  |  May 28, 2007

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Perhaps the consistency is paying off.

With manager Terry Francona's decision to leave struggling right fielder J.D. Drew in the fifth spot in the order, it was gratifying for Francona (and the team) to see Drew deliver two key hits in yesterday's 6-5 win over the Rangers.

"That's why we got him," Francona said. "I know he's been struggling and I think he's been feeling it. He got the line out in the first at-bat, but then he stayed at 'em and got a couple big hits. That's good to see. We need him. Obviously we need him to hit."

Drew broke a 17 at-bat hitless streak with a fourth-inning single to right field, then completed only his second two-hit game since April 22 with a single that scored the tying run in the eighth. Though Drew had been on base five times in Saturday night's victory (two fielder's choices, three walks), he still hadn't come through with a hit.

And it looked like it might be another frustrating afternoon early as Drew stung a liner to the second baseman in his first trip.

"I hadn't felt terrible the whole time, it's just a matter of trying to put it together, trying to get a situation where you execute your game plan," Drew said. "I seemed to have exhausted ground balls to first and second. I've got that one figured out, now if I can figure out some of the other stuff I might be all right."

Since his last home run, which came April 22, Drew had hit just .141 with 12 hits, three for extra bases. That dropped his average to .227.

"The way I look at is, 'What do you do?' " Drew said. "The team's played so well. I've been in a fortunate situation that, even though I've struggled and can't seem to get where I want to go, the team still has good at-bats and have picked me up in a huge way and we've still won ballgames. We've got great pitching and some timely hitting. I think that kind of lets me kind of battle through some things that I need to get through to try to fall back into place.

"There's still a ton of pressure. I've got high expectations for myself. I think when you have those expectations, you get kind of down and out, you do things that you wouldn't normally do at the plate to get yourself out of it."

Between his hamstrings "barking" -- Francona's word -- and a slight case of dehydration that has dogged him the past week, David Ortiz got a seat on the bench for the series finale.

What the manager wouldn't do was blame Ortiz's homerless streak, which is at 15 games and 52 at-bats, on the health issues. Ortiz is hitting .370 over his last eight games.

"I think on the bases he's feeling the effects, because he's had to do a lot of running," Francona said. "I think at the plate he's taking some good swings. I think that's either just hitting the ball on the end one swing or pulling one foul, because I think he's been taking some real aggressive swings. And that's why, maybe, I haven't been as -- this is going to sound bad -- as concerned as I should be because he's taking some good swings."

Francona did say Ortiz would have been available to pinch hit, though he didn't want to have to do so.

Kevin Youkilis had to hide behind his glove. He used it to block the giant grin he couldn't wipe off his face, eventually giving up and laughing outright. With one out in the fourth, starter Julian Tavarez had picked a comebacker to the mound. But instead of throwing over to Youkilis, he rolled it. "We've seen that before," Francona said. "We're not going to institute that in spring training. It's hard to understand, I mean a guy that can throw 93 [miles per hour] on the black gets a little bit of a bad thought process on throwing to first. Youk made a good stop." . . . It took 12 pitches before Dustin Pedroia finally figured out Eric Gagne. But he got the Texas reliever. Pedroia hit his second home run of the season, marking the first time Gagne allowed a run this season over 9 1/3 innings in 10 appearances. It was the first home run off Gagne since May 14, 2005 (he pitched in just two games in 2006). "I took a strike and then the second pitch he threw me a curveball, and it was real slow," Pedroia said. "I was like, 'Man, this is going to be a dogfight.' "

Mike Timlin pitched two-thirds of an inning for Pawtucket against Syracuse last night, his second rehab start in Triple A. Timlin allowed two hits, one walk, and two earned runs before being replaced by Mike Burns. Burns got out of the inning with a strikeout, stranding the runner left on by Timlin . . . Hideki Okajima picked up the save, his third of the year. Okajima did give up a run in the ninth inning on a single by Victor Diaz, a groundout by Michael Young, and a single by Mark Teixeira . . . Youkilis extended his career-high hitting streak to 19 games with a third-inning single. He followed that with another single, this time of the infield variety, in the eighth. Youkilis has had at least two hits in each of his last seven games, bringing his average to .353 . . . Francona said before the game Jonathan Papelbon was unavailable. He pitched the previous two games . . . The game marked the 33d straight time the Red Sox have won while scoring at least five runs, the team's longest streak of its kind in 60 years . . . The only other time Boston swept a series of at least three games in Arlington was August 20-22, 1973 . . . Before the top of the fifth, the crowd -- including the occupants of the dugouts -- gave a standing ovation to the 1st brigade, 12th infantry battalion, 4th infantry division, visiting from Fort Hood, Texas.

Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com.