Francona tried to remind his players of that when he addressed the team before the game.
"There's a way to go about winning and we talked about that today," he said. "We just kind of reminded all of ourselves about that today."
The message hit home as the Sox battled for 3 hours 50 minutes, rallying with two out in the 12th before a Fenway Park crowd of 37,832 to snap a three-game losing streak and make a winner of reliever Mike Timlin (4-3). This after shipping one of their most productive, if not dangerous, hitters to the West Coast in a trade that netted the 29-year-old Bay.
"He doesn't have to be Manny's replacement, quote-unquote," general manager Theo Epstein said before the game. "I don't think that's fair. We're not asking him to fill those shoes, specifically. We're asking him to be a contributing member of a winning baseball team."
Bay more than filled that role last night, going 1 for 3 with two walks and two strikeouts and scoring both runs, including the winner on Jed Lowrie's infield single off former Sox reliever Alan Embree (1-4). Bay put himself in scoring position with his first Boston hit, a towering triple that threatened to leave the premises but hit the Wall.
"If that ball could've snuck out for me, it would've been better," Bay said when asked if he could have scripted a better debut. "I would've like to have done it in nine innings, because it's been a long day. But it doesn't matter, really.
"It definitely ranks up there as one of the better moments I've had."
It would've been trumped only by the thunderous Fenway ovation that greeted Bay when he stepped into the batter's box for his first plate appearance in the second inning. The new guy from Trail, British Columbia, drew a walk from Justin Duchscherer (6 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, 1 hit batsman) and was treated to an even greater ovation.
"I think he had a pretty good heartbeat going, anyway," Francona said. "This place continues to amaze me. The way the fans welcomed him, you only see that here."
