BOSTON — With Manny Ramirez in California, David Ortiz in decline and Pedro Martinez relegated to first-pitch duty, Red Sox villains are not as easy to find as they once were.
Fortunately for the rivalry that makes Yankees fans’ blood boil, there is Kevin Youkilis. The scruffy first baseman was his usual self last night in the Red Sox’s 9-7 victory in the season opener between the two teams — annoying as a toothache.
Youkilis went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs. All three of his hits went for extra bases. Boston fans entered this season panicked about a lack of offense, but Youkilis eased some of those concerns while showing he can be a force in the middle of the lineup.
He is the first Red Sox player to have three extra-base hits in a season-opener since Carlton Fisk in 1973.
“He swung the bat so well tonight,” manager Terry Francona said. “When he’s driving the ball to right field like that, he’s feeling pretty good about himself.”
He doubled to lead off the second inning against CC Sabathia. Youkilis had entered the game without much success against the Yankees left-hander: a .294 career average with four strikeouts, no RBIs and only one extra-base hit.
Those numbers were shown to be meaningless in the sixth, when he struck a big blow for the Sox. With Boston trailing 5-2 with two men on, Youkilis took Sabathia’s 100th pitch of the night for a ride to the right-field corner.
Dustin Pedroia and Victor Martinez both raced around to score as Youkilis easily made it to third with a triple after the ball got past Nick Swisher.
“I saw the way he got a jump on it and it just took off,” Youkilis said. “Once I saw it hop by him I just knew to go because it’s 380 feet out there. . . . I knew I could take that extra base once I got to second.”
Youkilis scored the tying run on a single by Adrian Beltre.
Youkilis followed with another big hit in the seventh, a double off Chan Ho Park with the game tied 7-7. He made it to third on a wild pitch from Damaso Marte and then scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball by Jorge Posada.
After his triple, Youkilis had to race back to third on a pitch that got by Posada, but stopped after a short roll. Several pitches later, he had to make a read on a groundout to second off the bat of Ortiz, deciding to stay at third.
“I was joking around in the dugout that these are the toughest reads at third base I hope I have all year,” Youkilis said. “Hopefully that’s it for the year and I can get passed balls that hit the top of the net and I can walk home.”
Youkilis has not reached Yankees-killer sta tus, but he always seems to be in the middle of everything from big hits to getting buzzed by Joba Chamberlain. He entered last night with a .312 average against the Yankees in his six seasons, with eight homers and 42 RBIs.
We were one out away from another Chamberlain-Youkilis showdown in the eighth inning, but Chamberlain got Martinez for the final out, leaving Youkilis on deck. There is no love lost between the two after several inside pitches in the last few years to which Youkilis took exception.