Ellsbury a bottom-line guy

Rookie gets his game in order with three hits

Jacoby Ellsbury had a productive night at the plate with three hits, and he also contributed defensively, robbing Derek Jeter of a potential extra-base hit in the first inning. (JOHN BOHN/GLOBE STAFF)

By the sixth inning last night, after Jon Lester had wriggled out of an ugly fifth by allowing only two Yankees to score, the game was squarely in Boston's favor, given the 7-2 score. But given how the bottom of the sixth unfolded, it may have been a snapshot of how the Boston offense might click down the home stretch.

Jacoby Ellsbury, facing reliever Dan Giese, led off by cracking a 1-1 single into right. Four batters later, Ellsbury was crossing home plate with Boston's eighth run, driven home by a David Ortiz sacrifice fly.

"I think our best lineup is when Ellsbury leads off," manager Terry Francona said before last night's 9-2 victory. "When he's on base two or three times a game and he's running like he is, that's when we're playing our best baseball."

The thing, however, was that last night, Francona slotted Ellsbury in the No. 9 hole, hopeful that the rookie can find his stroke - and cause pitchers headaches while on base - by hitting somewhere other than at the top of the lineup.

Ellsbury, given Saturday off against Andy Pettitte, hasn't had the efficient swing he showcased earlier in the season. Entering last night, Ellsbury was stuck in a 20-for-86 skid (.233) in his last 19 games. Ellsbury went 0 for 4 in the series opener on Friday, looking overmatched against Joba Chamberlain. He managed only three hits in the recent three-game series against Seattle. Ellsbury had only one hit during last week's three-game sweep against the Angels.

Last night, Ellsbury might have taken the first steps toward busting out of his slump, going 3 for 4.

"I didn't really do anything different," Ellsbury said of hitting ninth. "Just tried to see a couple pitches and get a pitch to hit. Fortunately they found some holes. But I really didn't do anything different."

Ellsbury started his night with a sparkling play on Derek Jeter. In the first inning, after Lester caught Johnny Damon looking at a 1-2 curveball, Jeter muscled a fly ball to deep center. Ellsbury tracked down the ball, sprinted back to the warning track, and leaped to snatch Jeter's swat before falling backward into the wall, stealing at least a double away from the Yankee shortstop.

"I never let my offense carry over to my defense," Ellsbury said. "It's two separate things, offense and defense. I never try to correlate the two. But yeah, it's nice to maybe save a hit, maybe a double that can lead into a rally or something."

At the plate, Ellsbury was just as crisp. In his first at-bat, hitting behind Alex Cora, Ellsbury took a 1-1 Sidney Ponson fastball the other way for a double into left field.

Ellsbury grounded to second in the fourth inning, but he returned to his base running threat in the sixth with his leadoff single. After Dustin Pedroia flew out to center, Giese threw a first-pitch strike to Kevin Youkilis. On the next pitch, mindful of Ellsbury's speed, catcher Jose Molina called for a pitchout. Ellsbury, who has been caught stealing in three straight attempts and four of his last five theft tries, wasn't on the move.

On the next pitch, Molina called for another pitchout. Again, Ellsbury didn't stray away from first. After throwing another ball to make it 3-1, Giese was forced to throw a pitch in Youkilis's zone. As Giese delivered, Ellsbury broke from first and sprinted to third after Youkilis singled to left field. Then when Ortiz lifted a fly ball to deep right, Ellsbury skipped home for his 63d run of the season.

The game plan is for Ellsbury to gain some confidence at the plate and become enough of a threat to get on base that Francona can put him back in the leadoff slot. Then the Sox could drop Pedroia to the No. 2 hole and slide Youkilis into the No. 7 spot behind Mike Lowell. Not only would the Sox get Ellsbury's speed (35 steals) at the top of the lineup, but they'd get some extra thump lower in the batting order.

"I think ultimately, that is our best lineup," Francona said. "You have him leading off, getting on base, and running like he can. All of a sudden, you have some pretty good hitters trickle down to hitting sixth and seventh. That's hard for pitches to take a blow. That's been part of our success. Not necessarily because of all his speed, but couple [balance] with a guy who can really run, and that's a good lineup. But for the moment, that's not our best lineup because he's scuffling."

A few more three-hit nights, however, wouldn't qualify as scuffling anymore.

"It's nice to get on base and contribute," Ellsbury said. "The win's the most important thing. So I'm happy about that."

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at FShinzawa@globe.com.