"A year ago, any discussion of the Red Sox involved the use of advanced defensive metrics, little-known statistics like "ultimate zone rating" and "range factor." Flash forward to this year, and defense has hardly been talked about.

That's just fine with third baseman Kevin Youkilis.

"All that UZR stuff, if all those equations worked we'd all be going into the offseason studying equations and not going to the gym," Youkilis said yesterday. "All those equations are (garbage). All the stats, at the end of the year, yeah, you can make it all look good. But it's about wins and losses."

To Youkilis, winning starts with strong pitching and defense. And his degree of success in moving back to third base, after spending most of his career at first, will have a lot to do with the strength of the defense.

So far, so good. To Youkilis, a natural third baseman, the move has been smooth.

"I think I feel fine over there," Youkilis said. "Going to get balls, going back on balls, just moving my feet, it's still a work in progress. But it's basically just timing it up, knowing how fast runners are and getting rid of the ball. The biggest thing is to keep learning from that and doing what's going to make me a better third baseman each day."

Youkilis is replacing Adrian Beltre, a two-time Gold Glove winner at third base while with the Seattle Mariners. And although he didn't know he'd be returning to third base, Youkilis found himself admiring Beltre's defense during the final month of last season when he was unable to play after having surgery on his right thumb."