Rookie Aaron Bates doubles in the fourth inning Sunday against Royals starter Bruce Chen.

AP photo / Michael Dwyer

BOSTON –– Almost lost in the madness of Saturday’s marathon with the Royals, Red Sox rookie first baseman Aaron Bates collected his first major-league hit.

He made an error in the top of the eighth inning, but answered with an RBI single in the home half.

“I’m glad he got the hit,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona prior to Sunday’s series finale. Watching anybody’s first hit is pretty cool. You can see them come back to first [after rounding the bag], trying not to smile, but they can’t help it. It’s fun to watch that.”

It was Francona who was smiling on Sunday.

Bates, batting in the No. 9 spot, went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles, a single an RBI and a run scored.

“He swung the bat great,” said Francona. “When we called him up, he had had a tough time in Triple-A [Bates was in the midst of an 0-for-29 slump with the PawSox]. He got a hit [Saturday] night, and so often when guys get a hit they loosen up and they feel good about themselves. He took really good swings today.”

Bates is the first Red Sox player since Nomar Garciaparra (September 1996) to record a three-hit effort within his first five major-league games.

“I got some good pitches up in the zone and put some good swings on them,” said Bates. “I was just happy to contribute to a win.”

Bates’ time in Boston will be brief, since Mike Lowell and Jed Lowrie will be activated from the disabled list when the club returns from the break next weekend in Toronto.

“You just try to learn as much as you can,” said Bates. “Off the field you try to stay out of everyone’s way and blend in. You just try to be a sponge as much as possible. You have a lot of unbelievably great players up here and you just try to learn anything you can from them. It’s been a lot of fun.”

The 25-year-old Bates said he will probably give the ball from his first hit to his mother, Jo Ann Santana-Bates, at some point.

“It will mean a lot more to her,” Bates said. “I usually give [my awards] to her and she puts them up on the wall.”

Bruised Bay

Jason Bay had an interesting day Sunday.

The Red Sox’ left fielder reached base five times without recording a hit. He walked three times and was hit twice. In fact, he saw 15 straight balls.

“It was just one of those days," he said. "I didn’t get to swing in my first three at-bats. As long as you get on base five times, it doesn’t matter how you do it.”

There were bruises on his arm and his lower back from being hit by Jamey Wright and Joakim Soria.

Bay is the first Red Sox player since Ted Williams (May 23, 1951) to reach base five times without a hit.

Run Jacoby Run

The Sox’ Jacoby Ellsbury is quickly stealing his way into the record books. With 74 games remaining in the regular season, the speedster needs only 14 stolen bases to tie the club’s single-season mark of 54 held by Ellsbury’s mentor, Tommy Harper.

“The biggest thing is staying healthy,” said Ellsbury, who stole his 40th base in the fourth inning of Sunday’s game. “I just need to continue to do what I’ve done and it’s definitely in sight. We’ll see when I get there. I don’t want to jinx it.”

Harper believes his record is about to fall, and he’s happy about it. He’s said many times in the past that if it were to be broken, he hoped it was by Ellsbury.

During the 1973 season, when Harper set his single-season record with 54 swipes, he only had 17 after 88 games. Once the Red Sox were out of contention that season, he started running wild.

Ellsbury flirted with the mark last season, but finished with 50. He’s the first Red Sox player since Tris Speaker (1912 to 1914) to achieve consecutive seasons with 40 steals.

So long for now

After Sunday’s 6-0 victory, all the Red Sox players were packing their bags and heading to different locations to enjoy the hiatus from baseball.

For the non-All-Stars, the next few days will be nothing but R&R. Ellsbury is heading to the Cape. Rocco Baldelli is going to Florida. Nick Green and Jon Lester are going home to Georgia. David Ortiz is heading back to the Dominican Republic. The rest of the team wasted little time getting out of Dodge.

Robert Lee contributed to this report.

jmcdonal@projo.com