Kotsay in position to play first base just fine

Mark Kotsay grabbed the cup of coffee off the back shelf in the dugout. He would need the caffeine, certainly.

He spent batting practice before yesterday's game taking ground balls at first base, trying to find a rhythm at a position he hadn't played in two years. However, not long after arriving in New York on his first day as a Red Sox last week, he held up his first baseman's glove to a reporter.

"I handled first base OK," Kotsay said. "I didn't embarrass myself. That was the goal today. Any time you get an opportunity to play, you've got to take advantage of it."

And he did. Not just in the field, but with the bat.

On what manager Terry Francona called a "beautiful swing," Kotsay rocketed a triple to deep center in the eighth inning, with David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia scoring. That tied it at 4, as the Sox went on to a 5-4 win over the Orioles.

But the novelty was Kotsay at first base, a position he had not played since Sept. 2, 2006, for Oakland against the Orioles.

"He's got really good footwork," Francona said. "Not like I've spent a lot of time asking him, but I bet you he was an unbelievable athlete in high school. He's just a good athlete. He's a baseball player. He looked fine over there."

Francona said putting Kotsay at first base was nothing like another positional change he seems to remember with a bit of horror. The manager stuck Doug Mientkiewicz at second base on Aug. 16, 2004, a position the first baseman had played just once in his career. (Mientkiewicz did make an outstanding double play in that game, on Vernon Wells.) Kotsay, on the other hand, had 28 games of major league experience at first.

"You don't ever want to put somebody in a position where they make an error because of not inexperience, but he hasn't been out there in a long time," Francona said. "But his actions are fine . . . This isn't like [Mientkiewicz]. My heart was in my throat that night. That was a tough one.

"That was . . . outside the box."

Youkilis scratched

Kevin Youkilis was out of the lineup for the second straight game with a stiff back. He had been pulled before Tuesday night's game and had been labeled 50-50 for yesterday, but he was "not as good as we hoped," Francona said. The team expects Youkilis will be recovered by tomorrow's game, especially with today's day off. "He was down in the cage trying to get loose about 10 minutes before the game [Tuesday]," Francona said. "He felt it the night before but [it was] nothing, really nothing. Toward the end of BP, it really wasn't getting any looser. Then right before the game, it started to grab at him." . . . Justin Masterson took the win (the first of his career in relief) instead of starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, meaning that Matsuzaka will have to wait until his next start to try to jump ahead of Hideo Nomo for the most wins for a Japanese-born pitcher in a season. Matsuzaka was trying for his 17th win, but he allowed four runs over six innings, again racking up a high pitch count. "It was kind of a walk-strikeouts-deep counts [outing]," Francona said. "He threw a lot of pitches, but he worked ahead, threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. But then he got into a lot of deep counts." Matsuzaka threw 112 pitches, including 31 in the fourth inning.

Pedroia still rocking

Pedroia continued his epic tear with three more hits. Pedroia hit his second home run in as many games, and the seventh in his last 17 games. It was his 56th multihit game, the most in the American League, and his 22d game with three hits, the most in the major leagues. Since 1956, Wade Boggs is the only Sox player with more three-hit games in one season. Boggs had four seasons in which he had at least 23 three-hit games. Pedroia is now batting .618 (21 for 34) over his eight-game hitting streak . . . Francona said Sean Casey was improving, taking batting practice and ground balls. He said the team was hopeful Casey would be able to return tomorrow in Texas from the neck stiffness that landed him on the disabled list . . . Coco Crisp had a confusing moment. With Jacoby Ellsbury laying down a bunt to score Alex Cora with the winning run, Crisp lost track of the score. "I forgot [Cora] was the winning run," Crisp said. "I'm running around the bases like an idiot trying to score. [DeMarlo Hale's] holding me up. He's giving me the 'Whatcha doing?' kind of eyes. I think [Aubrey ] Huff gave me those same eyes." Crisp went 2 for 3, making him 11 of 24 (.458) over his last six games. Crisp did commit only his second error of the season, and first since April 25 . . . Jonathan Van Every was optioned to Pawtucket for last night's postseason opener against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and was in the starting lineup. Van Every went 0 for 2 with two walks in the PawSox' 7-1 loss . . . Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley was ejected before the bottom of the ninth by plate umpire Jeff Nelson for arguing balls and strikes . . . This was the Red Sox' 12th sweep of the season, and ninth at Fenway Park . . . It was the fifth walkoff win of the season for the Sox, and their 19th in their final at-bat, tied for the most in the American League . . . Cora is 10 for his last 24 over his last six games with an at-bat . . . Double A Portland lost the first game of its first-round Eastern League playoff series, 2-1, to host Trenton last night.

 

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