Varitek saw it through despite eye infection

Busting out Red Sox captain Jason Varitek talks about his 2-run home run, the performance of Jon Lester, and the Red Sox defense.

SEATTLE - How hard is it to get Jason Varitek out of the lineup? He'll play even when he can't see.

Varitek said yesterday when he caught Daisuke Matsuzaka in the last game before the All-Star break, he'd developed an eye infection so bad he couldn't see out of his right eye.

"It was the scariest game I've ever played," Varitek said.

He's not sure how his eye became irritated, but it took a couple of days for the infection to clear. The first day he was in New York for the All-Star Game last week, he said, it was still a little "foggy," but had improved sufficiently to allow him to make an appearance in the game.

Varitek just chalks it up to some of the other physical weirdness he's dealt with this season, including two bouts of illness that drained him earlier this year.

Varitek also is dealing with a hellacious slump, one that has lasted more than a quarter of a season. Prior to breaking out last night with a two-run homer, a single, and a walk in the Sox' 4-0 win over the Mariners, Varitek was batting .135 (18 for 133) since May 31, his average dropping from .295 to .214.

"There are certain things I know what I have to do, but it's hard," Varitek said. "I was starting to have some good at-bats before the break, and I got on base a couple of times, the other day, even if it wasn't with a hit."

Despite his slump, manager Terry Francona said he is not going to start pinch hitting for Varitek. He could have done so Saturday, when the Sox were down a run and had two runners on base in the eighth, but he elected to let Varitek face Angels setup man Scot Shields. Varitek walked.

"We need him," Francona said yesterday. "I believe in him. I will always believe in him. Sometimes when things are going tough, you don't bury him. It would be the easy thing to do, but I don't think it's right.

"There's a reason he's got that captain's 'C' on. Our faith in him will bear itself out. I've seen him too many times swing at [and miss] two pitches, then all of a sudden go 400 feet. We've seen it, and we'll see it again."

Varitek came into last night with just one hit in 14 at-bats against the Mariners this season. He brought a .240 average (6 for 25) against lefty Jarrod Washburn, who started last night, but he singled against Washburn in the third and took him deep in the fifth.

Faith rewarded, Francona was asked after Varitek's breakout game?

"I think it will be when the season is over," the manager said.

No change at top

In a similar vein, Francona said he had no immediate plans to drop Jacoby Ellsbury out of the leadoff spot, despite his .234 on-base percentage over the previous 26 games. He singled in four at-bats last night.

"He's going through the normal growing pains players go through," Francona said. "When we played them, everyone was raving about Arizona's young players, and you look now and they're hitting .250, .260.

"In Boston you're not supposed to do that. The more he gets on base, the better we are. I have enough faith in him to let him work this thing out."

Bowden hit hard

Michael Bowden, the Sox' prized 21-year-old righthander, made his Triple A debut last night. Pitching in Columbus against the Clippers, the Triple A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, Bowden gave up three runs in four innings and was pulled after allowing a leadoff double in the fifth. He allowed seven hits, five doubles, walking none and striking out four. He threw 84 pitches, 57 for strikes. In addition to his whiffs, he recorded six outs on ground balls, two on fly balls . . . Bartolo Colon played catch yesterday and is scheduled to throw a side session in Boston Thursday, Francona said.

Gordon Edes can be reached at edes@globe.com.