07:57 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 12, 2006

BOSTON -- Kevin Youkilis was installed in the leadoff spot in the Red Sox' batting order because of the injury to Coco Crisp.

One reason for moving him up to the top spot in the order was to take advantage of his great eye. Youkilis has been known to be a very patient hitter.

So what happened yesterday? Youkilis didn't show a great deal of patience. He saw a total of only four pitches in his first two at-bats.

The good news was that he was 2-for-2 with an RBI.

Youkilis took Toronto starter Josh Towers' first pitch of the game for a ball. He crushed the next pitch out of the ballpark foul down the left-field line, and smacked Towers's third pitch for a single to center. In his second at-bat, Youkilis swung at the first pitch, and grounded an RBI double inside the third-base bag.

Youkilis saw more pitches in his other at-bats, but without success. He flied out in a five-pitch at-bat in the fourth and was called out on a tough pitch in a seven-pitch at-bat in the sixth.

"I'm not going to change my approach," said Youkilis of his lineup shift. "You go up there to hit. If they throw it down the middle, you hit it."

The right move

Toronto's defensive shift cost David Ortiz a hit in the first inning, but he exacted his revenge later.

The Blue Jays overloaded the right side of their infield with a runner at first and one out in the first. Ortiz banged a hard grounder past first baseman Shea Hillenbrand, but second baseman Aaron Hill, swung way over, fielded the ball and recorded a forceout at second base, with third baseman Troy Glaus taking the throw.

Big Papi, though, got back at the Jays in the fifth, thanks in part to curious pitch location and Ortiz's ability to go the other way.

Towers pitched Ortiz outside, even though the infield and outfield were swung around toward right and the wind was blowing toward left-center. Ortiz, who has power to all fields, reached out for an outside-corner fastball and sizzled a line-drive single to left.

And then there's the best way to beat the shift -- hit the ball over it, which is what Ortiz did in the seventh, crushing a 3-and-0 pitch from Vinnie Chulk into the right-field seats to the right of the Toronto bullpen.

A job well done

Mark Loretta, the Sox' new second baseman, passed all three fielding tests that came his way in the second inning.

He moved a couple of steps to his right for a backhand play on Benjie Molina, he went a step and a half to his left to make a play on Eric Hinske's grounder and expertly fielded Russ Adams' two-hopper right at him.

And even when the Jays tested his leaping ability, Loretta proved more than equal to the task, if his part in a highlight-reel of a play in the fourth was any indication.

With a runner at first and one out, Molina scalded a liner that seemed destined to sail over Loretta's head, but Loretta jumped, reached as high as he could and had the ball in his glove for an instant.

As he came down, the ball flew out of his glove, but it rolled to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who alertly scooped up the ball, stepped on the bag and fired to first for the inning-ending double play.

How about that?

Bunts? The Boston Red Sox? Squaring around and dropping down sacrifice bunts?

Clearly, that's going to be more of a part of the Sox' arsenal this season, given a lineup that doesn't have quite as much thump as in the past.

On Sunday, Gonzalez moved the runners up with a bunt in Baltimore. Yesterday, Gonzalez squared in the second with a runner at second and no outs and Boston already ahead, 3-1. He didn't have to bunt, though, as Adam Stern stole third base, another dimension that hasn't been utilized much in Boston recently.

Stern was called upon to bunt with runners at first and second and none out in the sixth, but he popped up his bunt to third for an out.

Hot stuff

Josh Beckett was consistently hitting 95 miles an hour on the radar gun in the first inning, even if he did have trouble throwing strikes. Beckett was able to maintain his velocity, throwing fastballs of 94 and 93 in the seventh, the final inning in his 105-pitch outing.

Saving grace

Another defensive gem, this one turned in by Youkilis at first base, helped out Beckett. With a runner at first and none out in the fourth, Youkilis made an NFL-receiver-like, diving, over-the-shoulder basket catch of a foul popup hit by Sean Hillendbrand, tearing skin off his left knee and elbow in the process as he skidded in the dirt with the ball safely in his glove.