By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

When Kevin Youkilis returns from suspension and rejoins Boston’s lineup in Toronto on Tuesday night, his teammates ought to follow his example and play the game like they really care.
We’re not talking about Dustin Pedroia or Josh Beckett here. But just about everyone else on this lifeless squad could take a cue from Youk, who generally has been mocked for his intense demeanor in the field, especially after he loses a battle at home plate and storms into the dugout, cursing himself or his bat, perhaps even the umpire.
The Red Sox truly missed Youk’s bat over the weekend in Texas while they lost two of three games, dropping them behind the Rangers in the wild card race. This series was marked by a couple examples of passion-less play on Boston’s part.
The first incident came in the eighth inning of Friday night’s game as Boston trailed 4-2. J.D. Drew sidled over to manager Terry Francona and told him he wouldn’t be able to play the field in the bottom of the inning because his groin pull was hurting him. “Tito” went ballistic, asking Drew in colorful language who he expected him to put in right field. So the laconic Drew strapped it up, went back in the field, and finished off Boston’s amazing comeback with a ninth-inning homer that provided insurance in an 8-4 victory.
Drew’s injury is obviously real as he won’t be back in the lineup until Wednesday. So Francona put PawSox callup Brian Anderson in right field on Saturday night. In the bottom of the second inning, Anderson started to chase a line drive in his direction, then stopped. Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury had no chance to catch the ball, which went to the wall.
Francona asked Anderson in between innings what happened. The newcomer had no answer. To his credit, Anderson made a couple of nice plays in Sunday’s game but the damage had been done.
With all the roster moves Boston has made due to injuries and trades over the past few weeks, a certain lack of cohesion has developed among the players. Mike Lowell doesn’t know when he’s going to be in the lineup. David Ortiz blames the media for his problems. Brad Penny allows six stolen bases for the second time this season and talks after the game about paying closer attention to runners.
It’s time for the Red Sox to stop complaining about umpires, beanballs and the media and just play some baseball.
This is too good a team to go belly-up in August. The time to change things starts on Tuesday night in Toronto.