The prevailing notion was that the two would be bunched somewhere near the top of the order, and that their legs would do plenty of damage.
Roughly two months into the year, both guys have settled into their spots. But are nowhere near one another in the lineup, and are currently doing more harm with their muscle than their speed.
Ellsbury homered for the second straight game and Crawford for the third time in his last five to fuel a 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. It's the team's fourth straight victory and 12th in 14 games and offered up further proof that Ellsbury and Crawford are as dynamic an outfield tandem as any in the game now that they're both going strong at the same time.
Crawford has gone 9-for-12 with two homers, two triples, two doubles and seven RBIs since settling into the No. 6 spot in the lineup, a maneuver that has fueled three wins by a combined margin of 34-6. Ellsbury, meanwhile, is just three home runs shy of matching his career high and is batting .345 in the 33 games since he returned to the leadoff spot.
"He's kind of what we hoped he would be at the top of the order," manager Terry Francona said of Ellsbury. "He gets on and he can disrupt the game. He's going to hit some home runs because he's a strong kid. We don't talk about it much because that's the last thing we want him to try to do, but in the course of having good at-bats he's going to hit some balls out of the ballpark."
That complete game, from the disruption on the bases to the emerging power to the glove that has been solid all season in center, was on full display Friday night. In addition to another multi-hit effort, he had the defensive play of the game with a diving grab to end the sixth with a man on.
"I try to do it all, I try to play both sides of the ball," Ellsbury aid. "Tonight was a great night for us."
Ellsbury led off the game with a hit, his fourth in as many at-bats against Detroit starter Rick Porcello. He then stole second, at the time tying him for the major league lead with 18, and moved to third on a grounder to the right side, setting himself up to scamper home on a wild pitch with the first run of the game.
The Tigers took the lead back on single runs in the first and second, but Ellsbury led off the third with his sixth home run of the year. A two-run double by Kevin Youkilis later in the same frame gave Boston the lead for good, and Crawford's two-run blast on a pretty good inside fastball made it 6-2 with just one out in the inning.
Ellsbury had created the first two runs for the Sox. Crawford accounted for the last two.
Those days when Ellsbury was dropped to ninth in the lineup and Crawford bounced around looking for a place to call home and with an average well below .200 are long gone. The days with Ellsbury atop the order doing a little of everything, and Crawford in the middle doing the same, they may be here for the remainder of the season.
