"I worry about him, but in a game like that, I mean, that one swing obviously changed the game," Francona said. "He ran down to the bullpen after we told him he was going to hit second, he warmed up the pitcher [winner David Aardsma] so he could get in the flow of the game, swung the bat, and then put a beautiful swing.
"I don't think people quite realize - we can't have him catch 162. Yeah, I do struggle with that. But it doesn't look like Tek is."
No, Varitek didn't struggle with the at-bat, sending a sinker into the seats in left to break a 3-3 tie. Nor did Jed Lowrie struggle, as he made his major league debut, starting at third base and getting his first hit and first three RBIs.
While Wakefield got himself in and out of a few jams, walking four batters and allowing seven hits and two runs over six innings, Lowrie came through in the fifth inning, putting the Red Sox up, 1-0, when he grounded toward shortstop, then beat the relay to first to avoid a double play as Jacoby Ellsbury scored.
Then came Lowrie's moment. The moment that likely made his parents hold their breath, as they got ready to hop on a plane and join him in New York for his 24th birthday tomorrow.
He stepped to the plate in the seventh with the bases loaded, Kevin Youkilis and Ellsbury aboard on walks and Julio Lugo on a bunt single. And he sneaked a single through the left side of the infield, enough to score Youkilis and Ellsbury and get that first major league hit, the one that left him holding two baseballs after the game - a joke version and the real thing.
"I can't even describe it," said Lowrie, who spent his pregame reading Time magazine in front of his locker. "It's one of those moments in your life that you're always going to remember. Big relief, more than anything else. Get out there, get the first one, and just kind of let the rest happen from there."
