OAKLAND, Calif. - The players who were supposed to be Nos. 1 and 1A for the Red Sox at shortstop were on the disabled list, one in Boston and one in Florida. So it was left to the guy who expected to be in Triple A to make the play. Nineteen outs into a no-hit bid by Tim Wakefield yesterday, Nick Green found himself relaxed and ready - and part of the shift on A's lefthanded pull hitter Jack Cust.
"Jack Cust fisted that one to center," said Wakefield. "When it left the bat, I had forgotten we had a shift on. I was like, 'Oh no.' I turned around and saw [Green] doing a bunch of pirouettes and he finally made the catch. It was phenomenal. I thought it was a base hit."
It wasn't, the catch keeping the bid alive until the eighth. And while Green emphasized that the play happened quickly, there was one thing he knew. He had to make it.
"I thought it was to my left, so I ran to my left, but then I realized it was fading," Green said. "So I turned around, and I was like, 'I have to catch this.' You have to. It's one of those where you have to catch the ball."
According to manager Terry Francona, it was "a really good game" for Green, subbing in place of the injured Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo.
Meanwhile, Lowrie got a fourth opinion on his injured left wrist from Dr. Thomas Graham in Baltimore, which confirmed the diagnosis by three doctors in Boston.
"They injected the area at both locations of the discomfort," Francona said. "He's going to be placed in a splint for about five days before he begins his strengthening. He'll potentially be able to resume baseball activities in a couple of weeks. Maybe we'll get him back in three or four. So the news is very good, as opposed to what it could have been. After he got his injection, he immediately showed very good strength, which I think from what these guys are saying is a very good sign."
That leaves Green as the starting shortstop, with Lugo just beginning to play in games in extended spring training. It's an odd situation for a guy who assumed he'd be in Pawtucket - not saving a no-hit bid in Oakland.
"I've seen one guy go down, but two doesn't happen that often," Green said. "You've got to pick up the pieces and go out there and play the best we can."
After Drew took a fastball up and in, the right fielder took it to A's reliever Jerry Blevins. Drew mashed a fastball into the right-field stands, giving the Sox a 5-0 lead with Wakefield still bidding for a no-hitter.
Asked if the chin music inspired him, Drew said, "I think there are a lot of balls up and in that never get followed with homers, but it's a nice retaliation. That ball almost hit me in the face. It was nice to turn it around."
So, do pitches like that fire him up?
"Not usually," he said. "In this case, it did get me a little fired up. The way it came out of his hand, it was tailing toward me. It's the last day of the series and we've got an offday [today]. I don't want to spend it in the hospital with a shiner. I don't think there was intent behind [it]. I just think it got up and away from him."
Tony Massarotti and Adam Kilgore of the Globe staff contributed to this report. 
