Coco Crisp slides under Detroit catcher Mike Rabelo to score on a sacrifice fly in the third inning yesterday.

AP / Duane Burleson

DETROIT — Jeff Bailey may or may not be returning to the Red Sox once the All-Star break is completed. It’s possible that, after spending the weekend with Boston in Detroit, the 28-year-old first baseman will be sent back to Pawtucket.

But if so, he’ll always have the memory of his very first big-league hit, a home run to left-center over the Red Sox bullpen off Tigers left-hander Nate Robertson leading off the seventh inning.

The homer, which came in Bailey’s ninth at-bat of the weekend, ignited a late surge by the Red Sox, who fell a run short in a 6-5 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Bailey, though, left with the baseball he clubbed for that hit as well as the lineup cards from his two starts at first base.

“I felt like I was floating around the bases. I don’t know if there’s a record for time [getting around the bases], but it was pretty close,” said a smiling Bailey, a veteran of 11 professional baseball seasons, of his home-run trot.

“The ball was carrying pretty good out there, so when I saw the ball go up, I had a pretty good idea [it was gone]. I was just trying to get that first hit. I was fortunate enough to get a home run,” he said.

He also was fortunate that his teammates in the bullpen were able to do a little bartering with the woman who wound up with the home-run ball. They traded some signed baseballs for it and made sure it was retrieved as a souvenir for Bailey.

672 pitches between homers

The home run allowed by Daisuke Matsuzaka in the first inning yesterday to Gary Sheffield was the first gopher ball he had surrendered since serving one up June 5 to Oakland’s Eric Chavez, leading off the fourth inning.

That, according to research done by the Worcester Telegram’s Bill Ballou, constituted 672 pitches between homers.

But it didn’t take in-depth research to count up the number of pitches between Sheffield’s homer and the next bomb off Dice-K. It was 33 pitches. Marcus Thames croaked a 94-mph fastball to straightaway center in the third, tying the game at 2-2.

And after throwing 11 more pitches, Matsuzaka coughed up his third homer of the game, a two-run shot by Carlos Guillen to right that gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead.

So now, also according to Ballou, fellow Japanese import Hideki Okajima boasts the longest homerless streak on the Sox’ staff. Okajima, the Sox’ All-Star left-hander, was tagged for a homer on his first big-league pitch by Kansas City’s John Buck, but hasn’t given up another homer, having thrown 650 pitches since.

“Intestinal turmoil”

Surprise! Manny Ramirez was out of the starting lineup yesterday.

“He’s sick,” said manager Terry Francona. “He was sick last night. He said he has the flu. Intestinal turmoil. Call it what you want.”

Of course, being out of the lineup the day before the All-Star break with the Red Sox in Detroit is nothing new.

In 2003, Ramirez seemingly was miffed because Pedro Martinez was allowed to go home to the Dominican Republic on the day before the break while the Sox were on the road, playing the Tigers. Martinez was not scheduled to pitch that day.

So Ramirez came down with what he called “flu in the throat,” a condition he informed manager Grady Little about in the early morning hours before the game and did not play in the game.

And then there’s the All-Star Game factor. Several times Manny has come down with an ailment (generally hamstring issues) or disclosed a family illness that kept him from going to the All-Star Game.

Not this year, apparently. Francona said he expected Ramirez to join his five teammates for the trip to San Francisco for the All-Star Game, which will be played tomorrow.

Ramirez was able to conquer his “intestinal turmoil” long enough yesterday to pinch hit for Bailey in the eighth. He struck out on a questionable call by plate umpire Jim Wolf on a 3-and-2 slider that seemed low, ending an eight-pitch at-bat with a runner at third and one out.

“Their team doctor came in and gave him some antibiotics,” said Francona. “Actually, he had a great at-bat. He took some great swings.”

Will Beckett start tomorrow?

Josh Beckett, who is one of the candidates to start tomorrow’s All-Star Game — Detroit’s Justin Verlander and Cleveland’s C.C. Sabathia are the other logical choices based on performance and when they last pitched — says he doesn’t know if the honor will be bestowed upon him by Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland.

“Haven’t heard anything,” said Beckett, who is 12-2, yesterday morning as he left the clubhouse to play catch.

All-Stars get a private jet

The Red Sox’ six representatives to the All-Star Game will be flying from Detroit to San Francisco in style.

Beckett, David Ortiz, Jonathan Papelbon, Ramirez, Mike Lowell and Okajima will be flying on owner John Henry’s private jet, making the trip from Detroit to San Francisco in 4 hours, 7 minutes, according to traveling secretary Jack McCormick.

They will not be using the private jet to return, though. Each player will be on whatever flights they wanted to arrange given family considerations. Each player on the All-Star team receives two first-class tickets from Major League Baseball for their use to travel to and from the event.

Homer stolen from Pena

Detroit center fielder Curtis Granderson stole a home run from Wily Mo Pena in the fourth.

Granderson angled back to the fence in front of the Red Sox bullpen. He timed his leap perfectly, backhanding the ball, which was over the fence, and then pulling it back as he fell onto the turf, managing to hold onto the ball in a snow-cone manner as he hit the ground and rolled over.

Around the bases

Yesterday’s crowd of 41,943 marked the ninth straight sellout at Comerica Park, extending the park’s record for consecutive sellouts. The three-game series between the Sox and the Tigers drew 129,975, an average of 43,325. … Julio Lugo went 3-for-3, including a home run, as he and Bailey went back-to-back in the seventh. The outburst raised his average to .197. … J.D. Drew was 1-for-11 with a pair of walks in the series. He stranded 10 baserunners, twice leaving the bases filled.

skrasner@projo.com