Francona tweaks the lineup

Ellsbury remains; Crisp in, Drew out

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Red Sox have faith in Jacoby Ellsbury's ability to get things started, even against Scott Kazmir, one of the better lefthanded starters in the American League.

Manager Terry Francona shuffled his lineup in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series last night, but not leadoff man Ellsbury, who was 4 for 14 against the Rays' starter.

"This guy is so tough, he's actually tough on the league, but he's really tough on lefties," Francona said of Kazmir, who allowed five runs and lasted only 4 1/3 innings last night. "But I don't want Ellsbury out of the leadoff spot."

Ellsbury is hitless in his last 17 at-bats after starting the playoffs 6 for 12. But the outfielder - in right field last night replacing the lefthanded-hitting J.D. Drew, with Coco Crisp in center - has an established record of success in the postseason. Over his last seven games, Ellsbury is 12 for 38 with seven doubles, five runs, and eight RBIs.

"There were times when I thought what he did last year was almost detrimental," Francona said. "I'm glad he did [it]. The bar was set high, and probably set unrealistic. When a young kid goes through a whole year, there's going to be growing pains and I think he went through the normal growing pains."

Ellsbury hit .295 against lefthanders this season, with a .728 OPS. Nine of his 41 hits went for extra bases.

"Jake may hit for more power against righthanders," Francona said. "But because of his legs and his ability to hit the ball to all fields, that should never become an issue, a guy you have to protect against lefties or anything like that. He can fight balls off. He doesn't give a lot of ground with lefties. That should never be an issue with him."

Pressure from within
After Game 1, David Ortiz said of the Rays, "I'm telling you, I saw faces different than what I see in the regular season. It's a lot of pressure out there right now, because you have to win; otherwise, you go home." He also recalled his first trip to the postseason.

"When you go back to the first round of the playoffs, and you play like you've got nothing to lose, it's a different feeling than when you play . . . I've got to get it done right now here," he said. "I'm not saying that somebody was scared or anything. It's just like, when it's your first time in the playoffs, you kind of put a little bit of pressure on yourself. I still do it sometimes."

Though Ortiz wouldn't elaborate on how he copes with pressure, he did expand on his first postseason experience, which came in 2002.

"I was playing for the Twins," he said. "You have like 2,000 people at the games. When you go to the playoffs [with the Red Sox], you have 40,000, 50,000 people. They get loud when a lot of people come to those playoff games. It was a totally different feeling."

Homing in
Despite winning just once in nine trips to Tropicana Field in the regular season, the Sox were able to take home-field advantage from the Rays with a victory in Game 1. Dustin Pedroia said the Sox can take confidence from beating the Angels in the Division Series, despite winning just one of nine regular-season games against Los Angeles.

"The game's so tough, you've got the cowbells and all that stuff going on here," Pedroia said. "We try to keep it simple.

"The first game of the series, you always want to get on that good note. This is a tough place to play. With their record at home and what they did to us during the regular season, coming here and winning Game 1 is huge for us."

Lowell likely done
It appears Mike Lowell (hip injury) will not play the remainder of the postseason. Indications are that offseason surgery should get him back to his normal self in 2009 . . . Switch-hitting Jed Lowrie was moved up to sixth in the order with Drew on the bench. Lowrie has done well from the right side against lefthanders, hitting .338 with a .934 OPS. Lowrie was 0 for 2 with three walks against Kazmir in the regular season . . . Crisp wasn't likely to get a warm welcome at Tropicana Field, given the part he played in the June 5 brawl against the Rays at Fenway Park . . . Francona said there was a chance he'd insert Alex Cora on Monday against Rays starter Matt Garza . . . Drew was sore after taking a pitch off his right shoulder Friday night. Francona initially thought Drew had taken the pitch in the face . . . The Sox have made only one error in 195 chances in the postseason, by Lowrie in Game 1 of the ALDS.

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