They got thrown into fire

"Sunday night game on ESPN against the New York Yankees, pretty close ballgame," Bowden said. "There was a lot of stuff running through my head."

Manager Terry Francona called last night's 4-1 victory over the Yankees "kind of like an organizational win," and he could because of eight outs he got from Jones and Bowden.

Jones, making his second big league appearance, retired both batters he faced in the sixth inning after relieving Justin Masterson with one out and two on.

Bowden woke up yesterday in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, "and that's where I'm going back" today, he said. Bowden arrived at the park at 3 p.m. yesterday, started warming in the sixth inning, and retired all six batters he faced in the seventh and eighth, preserving the victory for Masterson, 24.

During the ninth inning, Bowden and Masterson rode exercise bikes next to each other in the room above the clubhouse. "We were talking about it," Bowden said. "The average age of the staff was 23 years old today. It's just awesome. The organization, they bring up guys, they trust them. They're not afraid to go down and get some guys."

A reporter suggested to Francona afterward that the farm system, stockpiled with arms, might give the Red Sox something akin to a 14-man pitching staff. "Or 18 or 20," Francona said.

He said he planned to call Triple A Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson and director of player development Mike Hazen. "I think there's a lot of guys that were watching the game probably every bit as nervous as we were," Francona said, "that took a lot of pleasure in us getting a win tonight."

Jones had joined the team from Pawtucket before the homestand in Oakland. Bowden had come for only the day. Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, and Ramon Ramírez were unavailable because of their workloads over the weekend. The Red Sox needed Bowden, like last season when he made his major league debut in a start, for only one day.

Francona told Bowden before the game that he would not bring him in during the middle of an inning; Bowden had never entered mid-inning in his career. At the end of the fifth, Francona phoned to the bullpen and told Bowden, "You got the seventh."

On the mound, Masterson allowed a single to Robinson Cano. Jones stirred and started throwing. Masterson walked Jorge Posada. As well as Masterson had thrown, Francona did not want the inning to unravel. He called on Jones and told him, "Pound the strike zone."

Jones met catcher Jason Varitek on the mound, Hideki Matsui at the plate. Jones made his big league debut in a blowout of Baltimore on Patriots Day. He felt more nervous then, he said. He planned on relying on the pitching charts for each batter, except Melky Cabrera - he had faced him a few times last year in Pawtucket, while Cabrera was on rehab assignments, and struck him out on high fastballs.

Matsui lined to right. Cabrera came up, and with one strike Varitek called not a high fastball, but a slider. Jones was thinking fastball, but he complied. "I was like, 'All right, it's 'Tek,' " Jones said. Cabrera chased the slider. On the next pitch, Jones fired the high fastball, and Cabrera struck out. He had thrown seven strikes in eight pitches.

Bowden came on the next inning and couldn't match Jones's efficiency, just his effectiveness. "I think I was throwing two balls to every person before I could get focused," Bowden said. He came back from a 3-and-0 count to strike out Cano. He started Derek Jeter 2-and-0, then came back and struck him out on a fastball to end the seventh. Bowden thought, "That's pretty cool. I struck out Derek Jeter."

Afterward, while his new teammates packed for Cleveland, Bowden prepared for a trip back to the Lehigh Valley.

"It'll be like I never left," Bowden said. "I'll have the same locker, the same teammates, everything."

Not everything. He'll have a few new memories.