Youkilis: Fighting spirit

Youkilis had hits in each of the three games in Tampa Bay, including two doubles, and hit six line drives the last two games, two to the center-field track, where they were caught.

Youkilis's batting average is still dropping -- he's down to .288, the lowest it has been since he was batting .287 May 6, and 70 percentage points below his high-water mark of .358 May 29.

He also has struck out at least once in each of his last 14 games, 20 times in all, including three-K performances against the Devil Rays Aug. 14 and the Angels Aug. 19, both at Fenway Park. His average in that span is .154 (8 for 52), and he has had only two extra-base hits and two RBIs.

The dramatic difference in his performance before and after the All-Star break -- .328, 9 home runs, 44 RBIs before, .209, 3, 19 afterward -- recalls the dropoff in his production last year in his first full season (.297, 10, 43 in the first half, .258, 3, 29 in the second), which he attributed to injuries, including a painful case of plantar fasciitis.

Injuries do not appear to be the issue this season. Fatigue is taking a toll -- a byproduct, manager Terry Francona said, of the way Youkilis approaches the game.

"He lives and dies with every at-bat," said Francona, which isn't revelatory for those who watch Youkilis bang his helmet after making an out, or cradle his head in his hands in disbelief when a bid for extra bases expires in an outfielder's glove, or when an umpire rings him up. "We've talked to him about it, but it's just the way he plays the game."

Coming into the season, Youkilis pledged to make an effort to modulate his emotions, but it clearly has been a struggle. When a player has advanced to this stage on the basis of maximum effort every second he is on the field, it's no easy thing to turn off. If Youkilis played the outfield, no wall would be safe.

"We have to grind every day," Youkilis had said about players of his ilk. "My whole life I was always just playing for the day, because I've always felt I didn't know what tomorrow would bring."

Youkilis said he realized that as a matter of surviving a 162-game season, he would have to temper that approach. So far, it would seem, he's fighting a losing battle.