With their key cog on the bench, Boston was forced to shuffle the lineup.
Despite the changes, the club had three things working in its favor. For one, it was facing Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero, a guy who gets knocked around almost every time he faces the Red Sox. Also, two of the catalysts in many of the team's onslaughts against Romero had their hitting shoes on.
Jacoby Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis, who entered a combined 10-for-27 (.370) against Romero, both had a home run and a double in their encounters Wednesday. Both hitters added a double apiece after Romero left early in a 6-4 Red Sox win.
In combining for 16 total bases, the tandem made the lack of Gonzalez, the league-leader in batting and RBIs, a non-factor, which has the ability to provide an incredible boost for the team, both mentally and physically.
"It's nice to give guys like Adrian a day off today," said Ellsbury. "He's obviously a big part of our lineup, but to give him a full day off without having to get up is huge for us."
The man who has to make those lineups each and every day concurred.
"You need to be able to do that," said manager Terry Francona. "[Gonzalez] is such a good player but you need to be able to give a guy a day off, but it is nice when the guys that play do a good job. I think it’s good for the team."
It was good right from the start. Ellsbury set the tone with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning, his career-high 10th of the year.
Youkilis, who missed Tuesday's game with lingering soreness in his left shoulder and neck, the result of being hit by a pitch Monday, did the same in the second. He took Romero's second pitch of the frame and launched it over the Green Monster for his 12th of the season.
Youkilis actually made the second out of the fourth inning, but the next six men reached in a four-run outburst, which culminated in Ellsbury’s two-run double that made it 6-3.
To Youkilis, the team-wide effort was fueled by a simple approach.
"We did a good job of being patient and when they threw balls over the plate we took advantage of it," he said.
For whatever reason, Romero, the de facto ace of the Blue Jays staff, gets taken advantage of quite a bit when he meets his American League East rivals. After giving up six runs in 4 1/3 innings Wednesday, he now has an 8.08 ERA in 11 career starts against Boston.
Since the southpaw is so good against the rest of the league, it's difficult to put a finger on why he can't succeed against the Red Sox.
"Against the rest of the league he's really done a good job," Francona said. "Sometimes it's hard to figure, because he is good. We've done a very good job against him."
Outside of two starts at Fenway Park this year, Romero is 7-6 with a 2.45 ERA. In Boston, he's given up 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings.
Of course, it might not matter who is on the mound right now against Ellsbury. In six games since a pair of 0-for-4 efforts in Philadelphia last week, the speedy center fielder is 13-for-27 (.481) with five extra-base hits, six RBIs and three stolen bases.
His all-around outstanding play has further validated his All-Star selection, and has his manager raving.
"He's been terrific in the outfield, on the bases and at the plate," Francona said. "He's settled into that leadoff role and he's been terrific."
Gonzalez figures to return Thursday against Baltimore. But with the way Ellsbury is hitting, and with Youkilis back in there doing his thing, the Red Sox know they always have enough to get by.
