Drew feels the pinch, but he understands it

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It appeared in the box score like a normal switch. One hitter for another. Jason Varitek, from the right side, for J.D. Drew, a lefty, against the lefthander Alan Embree.

Except Drew isn't a normal lefty. This isn't Trot Nixon, a guy burdened with the platoon label for much of his career. This is J.D. Drew, a guy given a mega-contract to be the everyday, every-at-bat right fielder for the Red Sox.

"The fact of the matter is, I'd like to be doing a lot better, to the point where that decision didn't even have to be made," Drew said yesterday. "But no, not any disappointment whatsoever. I think it's completely understood."

He spoke with equanimity, sounding perfectly at peace with the decision to allow Varitek (.341, 15 for 44, against lefties, as of yesterday) to take his (.227, 10 for 44) place, especially after Varitek's single to right scored David Ortiz to bring the score to 4-3 in the ninth inning of the Red Sox' 5-4, 11-inning loss to the A's Monday. He is operating under no illusions. He knows his batting average (.224). He knows his home run total (2). He knows his slugging percentage (.311).

He will be 32 years old in November. He made his major league debut nearly a decade ago (September 1998). He knows he isn't hitting.

"I knew it was a situation where it could happen," Drew said. "I thought it was the right move, Varitek coming off the bench and swinging the bat well in a key situation like that. Gave us a chance to ultimately tie the game up. Gave us a chance to win. Unfortunately, we didn't do that, but I understood the move totally."

He's not alone.

"I don't think you're going to see a manager alive who says, 'I can't wait to pinch hit,' " manager Terry Francona said. "As a guy who got pinch hit for a lot, I understand it. We pinch hit for [Alex] Cora, too. Try to always do it, tell guys ahead of time. But it's the game, you have to play the game.

"J.D.'s just been struggling. That's not going to happen very often. But Jason's such a good righthanded hitter and he was available and that doesn't happen very much. It just all worked out where it's worth a shot -- and it actually helped us."

But it's not something that is likely to be done very often, or at least that's the hope around the Red Sox clubhouse. They hope the hits will start coming, the slump will end, the Drew that they anticipated will emerge. To that end, Drew has spent day after day working with hitting coach Dave Magadan, doing everything he can to work his way out.

"I've done my share of extra work, and probably too much at some point," said Drew, who revealed over the weekend that he is also working through a problem with his right hamstring that has bothered him for almost two weeks. "Really trying to get yourself out of something, you do too much extra work.

"I realize I've dug myself into a hole. Really just battling out of it. And having some injuries that are bugging you doesn't help a lot, so trying to get those things healed up, as long as you have a guy like Wily Mo [Peña] that can go in there, it works out well."

So Drew sits.

"We're facing a couple lefties," Francona said of his decision to give Drew a day off yesterday, with perhaps another one coming today. "He's obviously struggling. I just thought, you know, Wily Mo swung the bat good.

"We've got a chance to maybe let him get his legs under him. Thought about maybe even moving him down in the lineup tonight or something like that."

But he didn't do that. He kept Drew out entirely.

And so Drew sits, with at least the bonus that Francona won't be pinch hitting for him.

And, perhaps, as he sits there, he thinks too much.

"That's exactly what happens," Drew said. "That's why slumps happen; you really think yourself right into it. It's just been a mental battle to a point where you've kind of got to forget everything and start over and not really look at the past, but look at it on a daily basis and only to the future."

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