BOSTON — Last Tuesday, the Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander lit up the radar gun with pitches of 98 and 99 mph, consistently, with his fastball, once touching 100.

His changeup was clocked at 87, 88. His slider was 91. The right-hander blazed his way through the Red Sox’ lineup for a dominant victory.

Yesterday, Boston trotted out left-hander Kason Gabbard. Compared with Verlander, Gabbard couldn’t break a pane of glass with his fastball.

Gabbard’s fastball was consistently 87 and 88 — the speeds at which Verlander was throwing a changeup. Gabbard’s changeup was 80 mph. And his big-breaking curveball was in the 73- to 78-mph range.

And as Gabbard showed yesterday in his 2007 big-league debut, it isn’t necessary to throw fastballs at 98 mph and changeups at 88 to be successful. Gabbard blanked the Braves for the first five innings before a bloop single and a ground-rule double chased him in the sixth with the Sox on top 6-0.

Gabbard generally had the Braves off-balance in his 100-pitch outing. With the pitch-calling help of captain Jason Varitek behind the plate, one of his most impressive outs came on Chipper Jones, a .309 hitter who had 26 RBI and was leading Atlanta with 12 homers.

In the fourth, Gabbard hit the outside corner with a fastball (88), got Chipper flailing at a curveball (75) in the dirt, missed just outside with a changeup (80) and had him way out in front on another curveball (76) for a weak popup to shallow center.

A step or two behind

He who hesitates is out at the plate.

Just ask Boston’s Kevin Youkilis.

The Sox had runners at second and third with one out in the first inning.

Manny Ramirez smoked a liner up the middle, causing Youkilis to freeze for a moment anyway, so he wouldn’t get doubled up on a line drive. The ball, though, ricocheted off pitcher Tim Hudson’s thigh and glove toward the third-base line.

Youkilis started home, hesitated for a split-second, and then took off. By then, third baseman Chris Woodward was charging the ball. He barehanded it and threw out a sliding Youkilis at the plate by several feet.

While it was a tough play to read for a baserunner, had Youkilis started a tad sooner, Woodward might not have thrown home but to first instead.

Varitek, though, rendered the out meaningless by drilling a two-out, three-run triple into the right-field corner, a shot followed by Eric Hisnke’s RBI single that gave Boston a quick 4-0 lead.

Not his usual self

Atlanta center fielder Andruw Jones is likely to be one of the most coveted free agents to hit the market after this season.

Maybe his impending free agency is at the root of his poor start, a .219 batting average heading into yesterday’s game.

But it was clear he’s frustrated and lost at the plate. With two on and two outs in the fourth, Jones tried to check his swing on a breaking ball in the dirt from Gabbard. First-base umpire Eric Cooper ruled he had gone around. The checked-swing call is a tough one for any umpire. And maybe Jones did check his swing. It was tough to tell on the replay.

It was Jones’ reaction to the call, though, that shows how deeply his slump is in his head. As he stood at the plate, he threw his head back in a gesture that said “You’ve got to be kidding me. How can you put me in a hole like that?”

Jones has had plenty of success in the big leagues. He has been one of the game’s most prodigious home-run hitters. When he’s hitting like he can, he could concede the pitcher two strikes and not worry about.

This year, though, he’s clearly pressing, as that one gesture helps illustrate.

Oh, he struck out in the at-bat, flailing and missing a 73-mph curveball in the dirt. In fact, he whiffed all five times he came up, taking pathetic, has-no-clue types of swings.

Out of position

The Braves, obviously, scouted the Red Sox before they came to Boston.

But it didn’t appear as if they had a good scouting report on the Sox’ Dustin Pedroia, at least not after his first at-bat. Pedroia tends to step in the bucket a bit, pulling the ball to left. When he batted in the second, though, Atlanta left fielder Matt Diaz was pushed over to left-center.

Maybe the Braves were figuring Pedroia wouldn’t be able to pull the ball against Hudson. But Pedroia stepped a bit toward third base and ripped a liner to left. Had Diaz been playing a straightway left, it would have been a single.

Since Diaz was in left-center, however, the ball rolled all the way to the wall for a leadoff double, changing the whole strategy of the inning. Pedroia came around to score on a sacrifice bunt and a fielder’s choice grounder, making it 5-0.

Pedroia lived up to the Braves’ scouting report in his next two at-bats, retired each time on a high lazy fly ball to center.

Goes with the territory

Rookie pitchers have to prove themselves to the plate umpires before they get the benefit of the doubt.

Gabbard learned that lesson in the first inning, if he hadn’t already learned it during his eight appearances last year.

In the first inning, the left-hander threw a nasty down-and-in curveball that fooled Jeff Francoeur badly. Francoeur was unable to check his swing and a strike was called, moving the count to 1 and 2.

Varitek felt Francoeur was set up for an inside corner. Gabbard hit the mitt, stationed on the black of the inside corner. But plate umpire Chad Fairchild called it a ball.

No matter. Gabbard retired Francoeur on a weak bouncer to first on his next pitch.

skrasner@projo.com