01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, April 20, 2006

BOSTON -- Make them make a play. Doing so can pay huge dividends.

That was Kevin Youkilis' philosophy as he steamed around second base on Mark Loretta's single to center with one out in the third inning.

Tampa Bay center fielder Joey Gathright charged the ball and fielded it cleanly, but uncorked a throw that sailed in the 21 mph wind, way over the head of third baseman Sean Burroughs and into the stands on one hop.

The error gave Youkilis home plate and Loretta was awarded third base, setting in motion what became a seven-run inning and a commanding 8-0 lead.

The usual enthusiastic sellout crowd began howling after Youkilis' hustle forced Tampa Bay into a run-producing blunder. Not only did it put Boston on top, 2-0, but it brought the Sox' big bats to the plate, and the next thing the Devil Rays knew they were buried for the evening.

The Ortiz shift

The Devil Rays' shift -- with the third baseman going out to left field, giving Tampa Bay four deep outfielders, along with the second baseman and shortstop playing shallow outfield in center and right -- does not mess with his head, insisted David Ortiz before the game.

"I can't change anything," said Ortiz.

Maybe more easily said than done.

In his first at-bat yesterday, Ortiz fanned on three pitches, looking unusually uncomfortable. He also struck out in his second at-bat with the shift, this time on an ugly swing on an outside 3-and-2 pitch, the bat falling out of his hands and dropping onto the dirt in front of home plate.

Ortiz walked on five pitches in the eighth with the shift in play.

In Ortiz's other at-bats, without the drastic shift being employed (there were runners on base), he was walked intentionally and flied to right.

'Climbing the ladder'

The expression is "climbing the ladder," and it's done by a smart pitcher facing an overly aggressive hitter.

Curt Schilling offered a perfect example of that particular art of pitching in punching out the Devil Rays' Ty Wigginton in the second.

Schilling zipped a 91 mph thigh-high fastball past Wigginton, knotting the count at 1 and 1. Then he threw a 93 mph heater a bit higher, a shade above belt high, that eluded Wigginton's swing. And Schilling's final pitch of the at-bat was a 95 mph fastball about chin high that had Wigginton "climbing the ladder" unsuccessfully, unable to catch up to the pitch with a futile swing.

Grounders save pitches

The solid defensive plays in the Red Sox' infield are almost becoming taken for granted.

And because Boston's infielders are so adept at making the routine plays and the spectacular plays, it does a few things for the pitching staff.

Pitchers aren't afraid to "pitch to contact," as the new terminology goes. Let them hit the ball, the fielders will make the plays.

Also, turning grounders into outs greatly helps the pitcher in yet another important statistic -- pitch count. Schilling certainly had his share of defensive help before the offense made it an easy night on the scoreboard.

In the first inning, Loretta, the Sox' second baseman, robbed Jorge Cantu of a single up the middle with a diving stab of a grounder. Loretta popped up and threw out Cantu. Travis Lee followed with a double, but Loretta's play saved Schilling several pitches.

In the third, with Boston ahead by only 1-0, third baseman Mike Lowell moved in a half-step and made a nice short-hop pickup of Tomas Perez's hard chopper, turning it into an out. That play was followed by a double and a walk before Schilling got out of trouble.

By the end of three innings, Schilling had thrown 52 pitches, but without the plays by Loretta and Lowell, it could have been a lot more. And on this night, Schilling needed that help because he struggled a bit with his command at times, lasting only six innings, through which he had thrown 108 pitches.

Time for levity

Even when you're losing, and you've had a bad day, you still have to have some fun.

Wigginton, a converted infielder playing left field for the Devil Rays, was guilty of two errors in the fifth inning. He bobbled a carom off the wall, giving the runner an extra base, and then dropped a routine fly ball as he tried to position himself for a throw home on a sacrifice fly possibility.

In the eighth, Adam Stern lofted a fly ball to him. Wigginton got under the ball and made a little bit of a snatch catch, poking fun at himself a bit. The crowd in the left-field seats roared, the ovation getting so loud he played along, turning to them and touching the bill of his cap in acknowledgement.

skrasner@projo.com / (401) 277-7340