francona

BOSTON — Coco Crisp’s postseason struggles, which culminated in three hitless games in Cleveland and was capped by his failure to lay down a sacrifice bunt in the second inning Thursday night, have prompted the Red Sox to make a lineup change.

Jacoby Ellsbury will replace Crisp in center field tonight for Game Six of the American League Championship Series against the Indians. He’ll bat eighth, which was Crisp’s spot in the order.

The Sox had also mulled putting Alex Cora at second base in place of Dustin Pedroia and placing Ellsbury in Pedroia’s leadoff spot in the order. But Pedroia’s bat has come alive in the series — he had two hits in Game Five Thursday night and has hit the ball well recently — and the Sox decided against the Cora/Pedroia switch.

Crisp is hitting .143 (3-for-21) with six strikeouts in the ALCS. This came on the heels of a 2-for-10 showing against the Angels in the American League Division Series, giving him a .161 average for the postseason.

“Yeah, he’s really having a tough time. I agree,” manager Terry Francona said at his news conference yesterday at Fenway Park. “Even trying to get that bunt down you could see him trying to maybe be too fine, do too much. He’s gotten himself into some things mechanically where he’s not been able to make some adjustments.

“Any time the ball is moving and the hitter is moving it’s tough to make adjustments. I think he understands what (hitting coach Dave Magadan) is telling him. I think sometimes taking (the advice) into the game gets a little tougher than people realize.”

Ellsbury has been limited to pinch-running and late-inning defensive duties so far in the postseason; he’s hitless in his only playoff at-bat. During the regular season — which he started at Double-A Portland before being promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket, and which included three separate stints in the major leagues with the Red Sox — he hit .353 (41-for-116) in 33 games with Boston. He also stole nine bases without being caught.

Pitchers on short leash

Inclement weather forced the Red Sox inside for their workout yesterday at Fenway Park.

It was an optional workout, but most of the team’s everyday players and several pitchers were on hand, including Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will be Boston’s starter for Game Seven tomorrow if the Sox win tonight.

The rain stopped as the afternoon went on, so Dice-K was able to take his workout outdoors, participating in an extended long-toss session.

Pitching coach John Farrell said he has faith in Matsuzaka, but that in a win-or-go-home circumstance, which is what it would be, Dice-K and all pitchers used in such a game would be on a short leash.

“We’re confident he’s going to be able to provide us quality innings to get us hopefully into the sixth or seventh inning. We will go in with an attitude that all hands are on deck. Pitch execution is going to be the key, regardless of who’s on the mound,” said Farrell.

High expectations

Francona has come to the realization that expectations on managers and organizations in New York and Boston are different than in other cities.

“(General manager) Theo (Epstein) and I have talked about this a lot lately,” said Francona. “Because of the money that’s spent and all the passion that’s (in Boston) . . . things have gotten a little bit skewed around here. Sometimes the big fight for me and (for) Theo . . . too, is not losing sight of what’s important, what’s meaningful to you.

“Being part of what we’re doing, I absolutely love and I really love who I’m doing it with. But it is a fight sometimes to keep the perspective. I mean, we’re sitting at 101 wins (regular season and postseason) and people don’t seem to be very happy much of the time. That is a little perplexing, but that’s the way it is, so you deal with it the best you can,” he said.

Empathy for Torre

Francona delayed his entrance into his workout press conference so he could watch the opening remarks made by Joe Torre, who opted not to accept the Yankees’ contract offer and left the organization after serving as the team’s manager for 12 years.

“It’s almost like the Bronx is burning,” said Francona. “I hope Joe is very content and happy moving forward because I feel like he was — in this game, organizations not only have the right, they have a responsibility to do whatever they want with their teams. That’s the way it goes. But to do it very publicly, which Joe had to endure, I think was difficult. I’m sure it was difficult, and I feel for him.”

Faith in Schilling

Curt Schilling struggled in his Game Two start against the Indians, surrendering two homers and five earned runs in only 4 2/3 innings.

But with the Sox’ season on the line tonight, Francona and Farrell are expecting their erstwhile ace to respond with a solid outing.

Francona reached back to 2004 memories, when Schilling not only took the ball but beat the Yankees in Game Six of the ALCS in another elimination game.

“It’s probably unfair,” said Francona of his high expectations for tonight. “Even dating back to the (bloody) sock (in 2004). I remember the soap opera watching him throw in the bullpen and having the doctors and the trainers out there, and he really shouldn’t have pitched. And I can’t remember one moment ever thinking he wouldn’t pitch and not only that, but that he wouldn’t win. And that probably wasn’t fair, but that kind of sums up how I feel about Schill.”

Farrell, meanwhile, was similarly excited about the prospect of having Schilling take the mound in the big game.

“I think we’re all very confident that he’ll perform tomorrow as he’s done really over the last four to six weeks since returning from the disabled list,” said Farrell.

skrasner@projo.com