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A's grumble about second-class status »
March 26, 2008
BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer
TOKYO -- Boston made one lineup change for its second game, inserting Coco Crisp into the starting lineup, replacing Jacoby Ellsbury.
Ellsbury banged hard into the center field wall robbing A's outfielder Emil Brown of extra bases Tuesday, but Francona said that wasn't a factor in his decision and added that he had planned to play Crisp all along.
"With our schedule,'' said Francona, "we want to get as many players in (the lineup) as soon as possible. And with a hard-thrower like (Oakland starter Rich) Harden (pitching Wednesday), we wanted to get Coco (a good fastball hitter) in (Wednesday) rather than (Tuesday).''
Francona still hasn't been able to tell Crisp what to expect in terms of his role and use.
"I told him to be patient,'' said Francona. "I can't promise him anything yet because I'm not sure we have all the answers.''
When Francona was asked if Ellsbury, a left-handed hitter, would play against righties and Crisp, a switch-hitter, against lefties, the manager dismissed the scenario.
"I really don't envision that,'' he said. "There are ways to get good players into games.''
More likely, Crisp will continue to see playing time against hard-throwing starters.
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:49 AM | Permalink
