Rotating door at the top

It's the middle game of the SoxandPhils series, and each team had a different look at the top of the order.

The Red Sox finally got their speedy leadoff man, Jacoby Ellsbury, back off the DL. He made his first start in more than a month. The Phillies reinserted their speedy leadoff man, Jimmy Rollins, to his usual spot in the lineup on Friday, but he got injured again. He was officially DL'd today. Welcome back, Wilson Valdez.

Tonight's tilt: Joining Ellsbury in the lineup was David Ortiz at 1B and Jason Varitek at C, which is interesting given the reports of the little scuffle between Daisuke Matsuzaka and Victor Martinez.

Replacing J-Roll in the leadoff spot was Shane Victorino, replacing him at SS was Juan Castro.

Actually, the most important lineup machinations were Varitek and Castro - not because of the riff between V-Mart and Dice, but because Tek is the only catcher to squat for four no-hitters. That's notable because he came pretty close to a fifth.

The 8th inning was the most dramatic. Raul Ibanez walked. Then, Carlos Ruiz lined a rope to third. Adrian Beltre made an amazing spear and then doubled off Ibanez. That was followed by a little bloop by ... Castro (where's J-Roll when you need him?). The little duck snort fell just out Marco Scutaro's reach.

At first it looked like it would be a no-doubt hit. "There it is," Christine said happily. But then it looked like Scutaro had a play. She got quiet, before clapping when the ball hit the ground. Her hands still sting. I don't think she's clapped so hard at baseball since the 2008 World Series.

I'll admit it, I wanted it. This might be a season where you have to take moral victories along the way.

That bloop turned a potentially special night into a ho-hum 5-0 victory. Daniel Bard pitched a perfect 9th to end it.