Crisp comes back with a vengeance

Suspension served, he leaps into action

NEW YORK - It's not easy being kicked out of the stadium each night, quarantined in one's hotel room for five straight evenings. Batting practice, and that's it? That's no fun.

Perhaps Crisp's joking assertion that his IQ was growing by the day from playing the computer game World of Warcraft helped ease the sting of his suspension, completed as the Red Sox left Florida with their center fielder and a five-game losing streak in tow.

Crisp did look antsy - ready to move from the virtual world to the real - in the batter's box last night, a yen to circle the bases resulting in two singles, a walk, and two runs. Though Crisp downplayed the question when asked before the game if his return would help spark the Sox, he certainly played a role, contributing to a 7-0 win over the Yankees as he abetted a dominant performance from Jon Lester.

"Luckily, I was able to pick up where I left off," said Crisp, who had been punished by Major League Baseball for instigating last month's benches-clearing brawl against the Rays at Fenway Park. "When I started serving the suspension, I was feeling good. I was like, 'Dang, what bad timing that is.' Hopefully, I can continue today and continue to feel good and hopefully keep contributing."

Before he began the suspension Saturday in Houston, Crisp had been 5 for 12 and 13 for 38, with three doubles, a triple, and three home runs in his last 10 games. It seemed to be yet another example of how seemingly each time Crisp gets hot, something happens: an injury, a suspension, something.

Manager Terry Francona was asked before the game about how much better things might be with Crisp in the lineup. "Hopefully," said Francona, "he'll make an impact that'll be even better" because of what he can contribute offensively and defensively.

And after the game? "Things that I say are not always prophetic, but you certainly hope they are," Francona said with a smile. "He made a nice catch early, he got on base, he stole a base, he got some hits. That's a big outfield out there."

Crisp started with two straight hits off Andy Pettitte, against whom he'd been 4 for 16 in his career. After his line single to center field in the second inning, he scored on a double by Jacoby Ellsbury.

But it was after the second hit - another line single, this one to left - that demonstrated exactly what he can mean to this team. He stole second, took third on a ground out by Jason Varitek, then scored on a Julio Lugo sacrifice fly to center. He walked in the eighth but was stranded on third.

Crisp seemed to have little trouble regaining his stroke, his rhythm, his catalyst's flair.

"Not timing-wise," he said of the adjustments he needed to make after five games of rust. "You have to try to control your breathing. The atmosphere here is a little different, especially coming off five days like that. You couldn't pick a more electric atmosphere, unless we're in Boston [against the Yankees]. You've got to focus on your breathing, control that, and hopefully, everything else will fall in place."

At least that atmosphere was a whole lot more electric than he had experienced during his forced time off, during which he had only his father to keep him company in Houston and Tampa, but little else to amuse him.

He couldn't watch the game. It wasn't on TV in his hotel. And, given the threats made against him and Manny Ramírez before the team's stay in St. Petersburg, Fla., Crisp was loathe to stray too far from his room. He'd watch another baseball game, the ticker rolling along, updating him. The Sox were up, down, tied. Loss, after loss, after loss.

"To be honest, sitting in a bed all day long, your legs feel terrible," Crisp said before last night's game. "You get up, you're walking around. Some 80-year-old guys walk around good, but I'm just assuming that most of them don't. I sat there on the computer, watching the ticker, watching baseball games, turn on a movie, order room service. It was really boring."