Ellsbury gets a knowing nod from Pawtucket

PAWTUCKET, R.I. - Perhaps Pawtucket Red Sox management was psychic.In the nine years the team has held a bobblehead doll night promotion, never before had a former PawSox player appeared in a game that his bobblehead was given to fans at McCoy Stadium.Jacoby Ellsbury put his name in Pawtucket’s “record book’’ last night when he played six innings in the first of two games against the Durham Bulls and went 2 for 4 with a run scored.Ellsbury, who batted leadoff and played center field, lined a single to left on a 3-2 count in the first inning off righthander Virgil Vasquez, who pitched last season for the Pirates. Ellsbury then scored when Dusty Brown was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. He flied out to deep left in the second with runners on first and second and no outs and singled to right in the fifth.Righthanded reliever Mike Ekstrom replaced Vasquez in the sixth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Ekstrom busted Ellsbury inside with a fastball and he fouled out to third baseman J.J. Furmaniak.“From my standpoint, I was very pleased with his activity,’’ PawSox manager Torey Lovullo said. “He went first to third on [Daniel Nava’s] base hit [in the fifth]. He showed great agility all the way around . . . defensively, at the plate.“I think he felt really good. He was encouraged about the way he felt. He wanted to go four ABs. With the quick turnaround [Pawtucket plays a 1:05 p.m. today], we thought it would be good to get him out of the game and shoot for [today] and stay positive.’’Ellsbury initially was placed on the disabled list April 20 (retroactive to April 12) after suffering hairline fractures in five ribs during a collision with third baseman Adrian Beltre in Kansas City.After rehabbing with Pawtucket and Portland, Ellsbury was activated May 22 and was 1 for 14 with one RBI in three games.He returned to the DL May 28 because of recurring problems with the fractured ribs.“I think I’m at a point where I’m comfortable about where I’m at,’’ Ellsbury said. “I’m not going to make my injury worse. There’s going to be some discomfort there but I think we’re at a point where I can go out and play.’’Lovullo said the Red Sox weren’t hesitant about playing Ellsbury in the field last night.“I think they’ve got a really good feel for it,’’ Lovullo said. “I know he’s been down in the Gulf Coast League and he’s been on a program. Whatever his program is we’re going to follow it and get him as close to game ready as soon as possible and get him up to Boston as soon as possible.“Overall I would say I’m very satisfied. He singles to left field on a fastball away. He hit a deep fly ball to the left center-field gap. He stays inside of a fastball and loops it into shallow right center field. The one at-bat [in the sixth] he obviously wasn’t very happy with, we’ll take that.“The timing’s going to come. It’s just a matter of time before he gets back to where he wants to be.’’