TORONTO - Rocco Baldelli did something that surprised Terry Francona yesterday while they walked off the Rogers Centre field together. Baldelli apologized.
"Rocco," Francona told him, "you just dove into the wall."
Baldelli wants to maximize his chances on the field, because misfortune has made them rare at this stage of his career. Aside from the cellular disorder that hangs over him, Baldelli spent 15 days on the disabled list this season with a strained left hamstring, an injury that had flared up in recent days. It healed by yesterday, so he could face a lefthanded pitcher, Brian Tallet, and give J.D. Drew a day off from Toronto's turf.
He started his day with a two-run home run, his second of the season, so something finally had gone right for Baldelli. Before the game ended, though, he was headed back to the bench with another helping of bad luck.
Baldelli bruised his left knee and left the game after he crashed into the wall chasing a foul fly ball in the fifth inning. Baldelli will not play today, but the Red Sox feel this setback will be relatively minor, a relief given how frightening the crash looked.
"I think we dodged a bullet," Francona said.
As Baldelli walked out of the game, though, that didn't lessen the sting of leaving.
"When you don't play every day, you want to go out there and help your team when you get the chance," Baldelli said. "When you go out there and you have to come out of the game, I don't want to come out of the game. For any reason.
"I know no one does, but when you're not out there every game, you don't want to come out of any game. You want to take advantage of your opportunity."
Baldelli had been an everyday player early in his career, and despite mounting injuries, he remained in the lineup when healthy. He is a backup now, and the transition has been a challenge, but Baldelli had been improving on it.
Baldelli snapped out of a 1-for-15 funk last Monday with two hits. His hamstrings sidelined him until yesterday, when he blasted a home run through a swirling wind in the second inning to give the Sox a 3-1 lead.
"It's just a completely different experience," Baldelli said. "When you play every day, you get that feeling at times where you're locked in. You're seeing the ball very well.
"When you're playing once or twice a week, I don't know that you necessarily get that feeling at all throughout the entire season."
Baldelli's day took a painful turn in the fifth, when Aaron Hill lofted a fly down the line. Baldelli didn't think the ball would slice into the stands, and he thought he had a chance from the moment it left the bat.
A breeze pushed the ball toward the seats, but Baldelli still figured he could catch it. Five feet from the fence, he realized the ball might reach the stands.
In his pursuit, Baldelli had lost track of the wall. He tried to slide and slow his momentum, but "I guess I slid a bit too late," he said. His left knee banged the wall before he even hit the ground.
Brad Penny could hear the boom from the pitcher's mound and thought Baldelli may have broken his ankle. Hill recoiled in the batter's box. Francona sprang from the dugout, thinking Baldelli may have dislocated his kneecap, or worse.
Baldelli lay still on the ground while Francona and trainer Paul Lessard jogged to right field. He had been focused on catching the ball, and the collision occurred in a blink.
"It kind of caught me by surprise a little bit," he said.
Lessard checked his left knee, over which Baldelli wore a pad. His knee already had swelled and bruised. Baldelli wanted to stay in the game but quickly realized the folly of that. He would have X-rays, which came back negative.
Baldelli maintained an optimistic outlook, insisting he should be able to play by Tuesday (tomorrow is an offday). But he couldn't help feeling just a little snakebitten.
"Trust me," Baldelli said. "I didn't wake up this morning thinking this was going to happen."
Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com 
