Before Jacoby Ellsbury stepped on McCoy Stadium’s turf yesterday for his first rehab game, Pawtucket Red Sox manager Torey Lovullo posed a question.
“I asked him ‘What are your thoughts on playing the game wide-open?,” Lovullo said after a game against Syracuse. “He said ‘I don’t know any other way.”
Playing wide-open was never more evident than in the sixth inning when Ellsbury scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Josh Reddick, and in the seventh when he raced home from first base on a Reddick triple.
“I’ve stayed in pretty good shape,” Ellsbury said after batting leadoff as Pawtucket‘s DH “I haven’t really been able to do too much with my upper body. But as far as running, throwing and doing what I could in the cage … I’ve stayed in shape.
“Our main objective was once I got back I’d be ready to go.”
That Ellsbury was “ready to go” yesterday after having not played since April 11 was a plus, considering the nature of his injury.
Ellsbury and third baseman Adrian Beltre collided during a game at Kansas City which resulted in the Boston outfielder suffering hairline fractures of four ribs in his left side.
The injury forced Boston to place him in the disabled list and, thus, remain idle for 36 days. But despite an encouraging performance (1-for-3 with a walk, two runs and an RBI), Ellsbury feels he won’t be pain-free anytime soon.
“I think it’s one of those things where it’s going to be there probably for the remainder of the year,” he said. “Going into the off-season, it’s probably going to heal and next year it’ll be 100 percent.”
Ellsbury grounded out to shortstop in the first against right-hander J.D. Martin.
He grounded out to second in the fourth and in the sixth he lined a first-pitch single to left that scored Niuman Romero. When the ball eluded Leonard Davis for an error, he raced to third from where he scored on Reddick‘s sacrifice fly.
“I was kind of happy to get hit by the ball (on Davis‘ throw home) in the back,” Ellsbury said. “That’s baseball. I felt like I was back when the ball hit me.
“As for my ABs, the first two you’re just trying to get your feel back. The bat feels really light. The third AB, I locked in a little bit and found my swing.”
With Jorge Jiminez on first and two outs in the seventh, Ellsbury walked on a full count against lefty Atahualpa Severino.
Reddick followed with a sinking liner to right that went for a triple (he eventually was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into an inside-the-park-home run).
The next step for Ellsbury is to play outfield Tuesday in a rehab game at Portland. Then, he’s scheduled to meet with the Red Sox on Wednesday to be evaluated.