HR #14

A SAD END TO A RECORD SEASON
Three HRs give the Sox a win

May 19, 2006 ... David Ortiz planted his 14th home run into the upper deck in tonight's 5-3 win over the Phillies, one of three home runs the Sox hit in the cozy confines of Citizens Bank Park, a ballpark David Wells last year said was better suited for the Little League World Series.

Ortiz's drive off Jon Lieber, which followed a two-run home run by Mike Lowell in the second and Jason Varitek's solo homer in the fourth, his second in three games, came within yards of hitting the same third-deck facade Barry Bonds dented with his 713th home run almost two weeks ago.

Ortiz's home run fashioned a 5-1 lead for Matt Clement, who had the rare experience of being on base for the blast, having whacked a single that struck Lieber and caromed to third baseman David Bell, whose throwing error gave Clement an extra bag.

Clement ducked out of the way of Bobby Abreu's line single in the sixth, an uncomfortable reminder of when he was smoked by Carl Crawford in Tropicana Field last summer, but made that lead stand up before yielding to Keith Foulke with two on and two out in the seventh.

Foulke gave up a two-run double to Chase Utley, the first time Foulke has allowed inherited runners to score after stranding eight in his previous outings, then came back to slip a called third strike past Abreu to end the inning. Mike Timlin worked a 1-2-3 eighth before yielding to Jonathan Papelbon, who registered his 15th save in 15 chances.

The Sox, who began the night a half-game ahead of the Yankees in the American League East, have now won three of four games on a trip that began in Baltimore and continued with this weekend rendezvous against the Phillies, this year's designated interleague rival, the Phils scheduled for a return engagement in Fenway Park next month. The Phillies began the night just two games behind the Mets in the National League East, but they were coming off a three-game sweep by the Brewers in which their bullpen had imploded.

Lieber seemed an ideal candidate to put a stop to the losing streak, having pitched 6 2/3 perfect innings in his last start against the Reds, his streak of 20 batters retired coming to an end when Adam Dunn singled with two outs in the seventh. But Manny Ramirez, who made a belated arrival to the ballpark after enjoying his offday with the family, singled to open the second, and two batters later, scored on the home run by Lowell, who cleared the flower beds in left for his fifth home run.

Varitek, coming off a miserable night Wednesday in Baltimore in which he whiffed three times and hit into a double play, hit his home run inside the right-field foul pole to make it 3-0 in the fourth.

The Phillies, who had left the bases loaded in the first, broke through in the third with a solo home run by Shane Victorino, but Clement, who last pitched in last Friday's deluge in Fenway, kept the Phillies in check even after they put the first two runners on in the sixth with no outs. He retired the dangerous Ryan Howard on a double-play grounder to Mark Loretta, the second baseman who tagged out Pat Burrell before flipping to first, then induced Victorino to pop out. Clement departed after giving up two-out singles in the seventh to pinch hitter Abraham Nunez and Jimmy Rollins.

Papelbon gave the Sox a mild scare when he executed an awkward split while fielding Bell's tapper to the mound for the first out of the ninth, but he remained in the game for two more ground balls. In what is becoming habitual, the Sox played errorless ball yet again, their eighth straight without an error. They have committed just one in the last 14 games.