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SWEPT AWAY BY A "RALLY MONKEY" ...
It's David Ortiz on
and off the field
July 30, 2009 ...
Any other day, a late-inning, game-winning home run by David Ortiz
would have meant cheers, a curtain call, and a boisterous clubhouse.
But this wasn't any other day.
Ortiz's
three-run homer in the seventh inning powered the Red Sox past Oakland, 8-5,
salvaging what looked for a while like a losing homestand. The blast off Craig
Breslow brought the cheers, and the curtain call. But because Ortiz had been
linked hours earlier to being on the list of 104 major leaguers who tested
positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, the postgame clubhouse scene
was hardly boisterous.
The win
meant a four-game split with last-place Oakland and four wins on the seven-game
homestand. All of which made Ortiz's heroics even more meaningful. The
game-changing homer is something Sox fans have grown used to seeing, but it was
the first time this season that he delivered one of his big swings.
Ortiz's
blast came with the Sox trailing, 5-3, and came about because of a little luck.
After Pedroia grounded into a double play, Kevin Youkilis sent a lazy fly that
looked to be the final out toward right fielder Jack Cust. But Cust lost the
ball in the sun and didn't get a glove on it, allowing Youkilis to stroll into
second with a double. After Jason Bay walked, Breslow was summoned to face
Ortiz. With the count 2-and-1, Ortiz sent a fastball to the deepest part of the
park, two rows beyond the Sox' bullpen. It was his 14th home run of the season;
13 have come since June 6.
For five
innings, it didn't look like the Sox would need such a comeback. Jon Lester had
been solid, allowing four hits and no runs without walking a batter. But Lester
found trouble in the sixth, giving up three walks, three hits, and four earned
runs. Rajai Davis provided the big blow, a two-run single. Just like that, a 1-0
Sox lead had turned into a 4-1 deficit.
The Sox
responded with two runs in the home half, Ortiz scoring on a ground-rule double
by Lowell, and Lowell scoring on a single by Jason Varitek (3 for 4, three
RBIs).
Oakland
pushed its lead to 5-3 off Manny Delcarmen in the seventh after Nomar
Garciaparra (3 for 4) stroked a one-out single to right. Eric Patterson replaced
Garciaparra and promptly stole second. He scored on the next pitch when Tommy
Everidge singled up the middle. That merely set the stage for Ortiz and the Sox.
The Sox added two in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by J.D. Drew and Varitek
and a sacrifice fly by Jacoby Ellsbury.
Despite
giving up the seventh-inning run, Delcarmen earned the win. Jonathan Papelbon
gave up a ninth-inning single, but picked up his 26th save.
It was
Ortiz's day, though, for a variety of reasons. |
