Ellsbury Hits The Ignition Switch

Oct 28, 06:39 AM

Current Headlines: By Jeff Goldberg, The Hartford Courant, Conn.

Oct. 28--DENVER -- The motive was modest. Red Sox manager Terry Francona moved Jacoby Ellsbury to the leadoff spot for Saturday's Game 3 mainly as a way to balance out his lineup, with right-handed hitting Dustin Pedroia batting second in place of Kevin Youkilis.

"The feeling was just to break up [Ellsbury] and Ortiz, not have back-to-back left-handed hitters," Francona said before Game 3 on Saturday. "We're hoping he'll give us a guy that gets on base a bunch of times, maybe a couple stolen bases, runs scored. You don't know until the game is over."

When the game was over, Ellsbury didn't have a stolen base. But he did plenty, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, including two in a six-run third inning, as the Red Sox defeated the Rockies 10-5 at Coors Field for a 3-0 Series lead.

Ellsbury, who scored twice, was the catalyst in a three-run eighth after the Rockies had closed to 6-5 in the seventh. Coco Crisp, whom Ellsbury supplanted in center field starting in Game 6 of the Championship Series, singled Julio Lugo to second with one out.

Ellsbury followed with a fly ball down the right field line that Brad Hawpe couldn't catch on the dive, allowing Lugo to score for a 7-5 lead. Pedroia then doubled to score Crisp and Ellsbury for a four-run margin.

Ellsbury joined Arizona's Matt Williams as the only players with two doubles in the same inning in the World Series. Williams had two in the third inning of Game 6 in 2001 against the Yankees.

Ellsbury and Pedroia were the first rookies ever to bat 1-2 in a Series game. When Pedroia scored in the third, he tied Derek Jeter in 1996 for the most postseason runs by a rookie (12).

Matsuzaka A Hit

Daisuke Matsuzaka was known as a pitching savant in Japan, but he was no Manny Ramirez with the bat.

During his eight-year career with the Seibu Lions, from 1999 to 2006, Matsuzaka was 5-for-20 (.250) with one homer and five RBI. He fared better in his senior year at Yokohama High School in 1998, going 10-for-27 (.370) in postseason tournaments, with one homer and four RBI.

The biggest hit of his baseball life came in the third inning Saturday, when he singled home two runs to give the Red Sox a 5-0 lead. It was his first hit in six major league at-bats, including the regular season, when he went 0-for-4.

Mills Playing Big Role

Brad Mills, the Red Sox bench coach, became a central figure in the World Series during Game 2 Thursday night, correctly sniffing out Matt Holliday's lack of awareness of a pickoff play in the eighth inning.

With the Sox clinging to a 2-1 lead, Mills relayed the signal to Jason Varitek, then on to Jonathan Papelbon, who recorded the first pickoff of his career with surprising ease.

But the play was just one of a myriad ways Mills, 50, has assisted Francona in four years as the bench coach, after being Francona's first base coach from 1997 to 2000 in Philadelphia.

"I don't want to give away the farm in the scouting report, but he does a lot," Francona said. "He's given a lot of responsibility. You know, back to spring training, he organizes a day -- he's about as organized as you can get -- but he does all the signs from our dugout going to the field, from the pitchers to the catchers to the infielders."

Contact Jeff Goldberg at

jgoldberg@courant.com.

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