BOSTON —When you watch a team take batting practice, it all looks so leisurely, with the hitters taking their swings and the infielders taking ground balls while pitchers and outfielders shag fly balls.

But it’s not just fun and games for the players. It’s work time, especially for utility infielders such as Alex Cora.

He fields countless ground balls every day, generally at shortstop and second base, and makes throws to first base. He also practices double plays, which helps explain how, coming in cold yesterday, Cora was able to start a key double play in the eighth when the Orioles were threatening to creep back into it.

Baltimore, trailing by 8-4, had runners at first and second with none out when speedy Corey Patterson hit a bouncer to Cora at second base. Cora, who had entered the game in the previous inning as a pinch-hitter (two-run single), was shading the bag.

The ball barely touched the leather of Cora’s glove before it was out again and on its way to shortstop Julio Lugo at the bag via a backhand flip.

Lugo was able to take the perfect, waist-high feed and make a relay to first that nipped Patterson for the double play, all the more impressive because Patterson did not ground into a twin-killing in 463 at-bats in 2006, nor had he done so in his first 115 at-bats this season.

And it wouldn’t have happened without Cora’s quick hands, or his professional approach to getting his work in during batting practice.

Orioles don’t wait around

In two starts against the Boston Red Sox’ Curt Schilling, the Baltimore Orioles have been very aggressive.

In Baltimore on April 25, the Orioles sent 28 batters to the plate against Schilling, and 16 of the at-bats lasted three pitches or fewer. The O’s put the ball in play on the first pitch six times, and were 1-for-6.

Yesterday, Schilling faced 26 batters, and there were 14 at-bats of three pitches or fewer. More importantly for Baltimore, the Orioles were 5-for-5 when putting the first pitch in play, including singles on Schilling’s first three pitches of the sixth, leading to a game-tying three-run rally and the exit of the ace right-hander.

Split seconds are all it takes

Red Sox first-base coach Luis Alicea holds a stopwatch when he’s on the field, using it to time the seconds the opposing pitcher takes to get the ball to the plate while pitching out of the stretch position.

He relays that information to the runner. If the time to the plate is high enough, say maybe 1.7 seconds, and the runner has some speed and base-stealing skills, such as Lugo, that information can lead to a stolen base.

The Red Sox have been very successful in their stolen-base timing. Entering yesterday’s game, Boston runners had been successful on 22 of 26 stolen-base attempts.

Lugo, 10-for-10, thought the factors were in his favor for a stolen base after his leadoff single yesterday. After the first pitch from Baltimore starter Steve Trachsel to Kevin Youkilis (a called strike), Alicea took a look at his stopwatch and sauntered close to Lugo.

Lugo took his lead before the next pitch, apparently primed to steal second.

He took a quick jab step to his right with his right foot as Trachsel’s body began to move, anticipating a pitch to the plate. But Trachsel, a right-hander, pivoted quickly and threw to first, his throw perfectly placed, low and in front of Lugo as he tried to dive back to the bag.

Aubrey Huff caught the ball and tagged Lugo, who was unable to even get his hand to the bag for a pickoff.

It was the second straight game in which Lugo had been picked off first, though Friday night’s pickoff was more understandable, coming against a left-hander. The pickoff move by a left-hander is more deceptive.

The Orioles aren’t so high tech. Their first base coach, Sam Mejias, does not carry a stopwatch. Baltimore had been successful on 23 of 28 stolen-base attempts.

Lugo, though, did claim stolen base number 11 in the sixth. Lugo was at second and Youkilis at first when David Ortiz came to the plate. The Orioles put a shift on Ortiz, pulling third baseman Melvin Mora over toward shortstop.

Lugo took off for third, and Baltimore made no attempt to throw him out. He stole the bag, standing up. While it looked to be “defensive indifference,” a call you see late in a game with the team in the field ahead and not caring whether the runner takes an extra base, this was correctly ruled a stolen base.

The rulebook on this issue looks at the “totality of the circumstances,” notably the score and the inning. Boston had a 5-4 lead and it was only the sixth inning, so Lugo received credit for another stolen base.

Fake-a-roo fools Patterson

The Orioles were unable to score in the third, thanks in part to a successful bit of gamesmanship.

Patterson took off for second on Schilling’s 1-and-2 pitch to Brian Roberts. And though Roberts drilled a liner over shortstop for a base hit, Red Sox middle infielders Lugo and Dustin Pedroia made it appear as if a throw were coming from the catcher.

So Patterson got confused, hearing the ball off the bat and seeing the infielder’s reactions. As a result, he had to stop at second base. The speedy outfielder likely would have been able to turn the bag and make it to third with none out had he not been confused by the Sox infielders.

Instead of first and third and none out, it was first and second with none out. Nick Markakis hit into a forceout at second, which would have delivered Patterson had he reached third on Roberts’ single. Patterson did not score as Boston turned an inning-ending double play on Miguel Tejada’s grounder to third baseman Mike Lowell with runners at first and third and one out.

Huff no Golden Glove

Huff has never been known as a defensive wizard, which has been why, in his career with Tampa Bay, Houston and now Baltimore, he has played outfield, third base and first base.

Yesterday, one bad play and a questionable decision in the fifth contributed to the Sox’ tie-breaking three-run outburst that provided Boston with a 4-1 advantage.

The problems began on the first batter of the inning, when Huff, playing first base, didn’t stretch far enough to catch a tailing throw from third baseman Mora after Mora had made a sweet barehand pickup of Pedroia’s bouncer.

Then, after a balk, Huff elected to pick up a sacrifice-bunt attempt by Lugo as the ball rolled down the baseline, clearly heading to foul territory. Huff tagged out Lugo, but instead of making Lugo try again, Pedroia was at third with one out and the inning unraveled from there for the Orioles.

Good pitch, perfect bunt

Patterson’s timing was excellent in bunting for a base hit, leading off the third.

Patterson, a left-handed hitter batting ninth in the Orioles’ order, guessed first-pitch fastball, which he got from Schilling. He dropped down a drag bunt between the mound and first base, something you don’t see much anymore.

And even though it wasn’t the greatest placement, it was good enough for him to easily beat Schilling and Youkilis, who had fielded the ball, to the bag for a single.

Missed opportunity for Payton

Ex-Soxer Jay Payton did not have a good at-bat in the fifth.

With a runner at second and none out and the Orioles trailing, 1-0, Payton’s job was to hit the ball to the right side and move the runner to third with one out. He got a pitch on which to do it, too, a fastball on the outer half of the plate.

But Payton was unable to push the ball to the right side. He hooked it on the ground to shortstop, and was thrown out at first with the runner having to hold.

Roberts took him off the hook, though, floating a two-out game-tying double off the Green Monster.

skrasner@projo.com