Change at leadoff not a first for Red Sox

The Sox need to stabilize the top of the order, a spot that has rotated between Ellsbury, Drew, and Dustin Pedroia most of the season, with cameos by Julio Lugo and Rocco Baldelli. The Sox had a dismal .307 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot entering the game. Ellsbury went 1 for 4, doubling in the eighth inning, stealing second, and coming home on a Kevin Youkilis single, but the Sox fell, 6-3.

“The first hitter of the game, you’re the first guy seeing somebody,’’ Francona said. “I think once the game starts, I don’t think it matters particularly. The first hitter of the game, you don’t want to go swing at the first pitch, make an out, then everybody’s like, ‘Hey, how’s his breaking ball?’ and then you don’t know.

“ Johnny Damon was the best. He’d come back and give you a whole scouting report because he usually saw about 10 pitches. It does help.

“But other than that, I don’t think there’s a big difference. I mean, I like J.D. there because on our team I think it’s important to have a guy that gets on, and a guy that can run the bases. Not necessarily a good base-stealer.

“Sometimes you just move [the lineup] around. He kind of seemed like he was in a rut, so we’ll see if we can get him out of the rut.’’

Drew got on base just once in the three-game series against the Blue Jays, a walk to lead off Friday night’s game. He went 0 for 12 over the weekend, and did little to help an offense that appears stuck.

Drew appeared to anticipate the move.

“I’ve been scuffling a little bit trying to get things going,’’ he said. “But I think the big key is just seeing the ball. You know, they’ve pitched me tough. I’ve went back and watched at-bats, and I’ve had some pitches that I’ve missed that I wish I could have put in play. But for the most part, we’ve faced some good pitching.’’

“I love J.D. hitting first,’’ Francona added, “but I don’t know how comfortable he is, and he’s not getting on base these last couple days. Let Jacoby hit there, keep everybody else [in] some semblance of order. One thing it does is it kind of gives us length in our lineup. We’ve got [ Mike ] Lowell, [ Jason] Varitek, and [ Jed] Lowrie seven, eight, nine.