A TEAM "FIT TO BE TIED"
David Ortiz blasts another game winner for #40

September 12, 2005 ... David Ortiz joined Carl Yastrzemski as the only two players in the 105-year history of the Red Sox to hit 40 home runs in consecutive seasons, and he made his 39th and 40th count. Ortiz, who'd hit a 427-foot homer for the Sox' first run of the night back in the fourth inning, hit another solo shot with two outs in the 11th, this one 416 feet to right center in a 6-5 Boston win.

 Jonathan Papelbon pitched three scoreless innings, the 9th, 10th, and 11th, for his first major league win. The Sox had led, 5-0, when the fans inside the Rogers Centre stood for the seventh-inning stretch. But Bronson Arroyo loaded the bases with no outs, Keith Foulke gave up two runs, and Mike Timlin allowed a three-run homer.

In 71 appearances and 71 innings, Timlin had allowed only one home run. On a warm Ontario night (86 degrees, with the roof open) Timlin was taken out of the park for just the second time this season. This one, a screaming shot off the facing of the second deck in left by Vernon Wells that sent to contest into extra innings.

Wells' blast culminated a five-run seventh for the Blue Jays, who fell behind early on mammoth homers by Ortiz and Manny Ramirez and looked to be mounting nothing offensively as Arroyo cruised through six scoreless innings. But Arroyo loaded the bases on two walks and a single without recording an out in the seventh, and the Sox entrusted Foulke with a lead for the first time since the Fourth of July.

And the fireworks began. Foulke allowed an RBI single and a sacrifice fly to the first two hitters he faced, then recorded a strikeout. Terry Francona came out, asking for the ball, which he handed to Timlin. Timlin, behind 0-and-2, left a 93 mile-per-hour fastball over the plate to Wells, and he unloaded.

With Ortiz at-bat in the sixth inning, the Sox ahead, 1-0, on a fourth-inning solo shot of his that crashed off the LCD light panel that Jays owners spent millions installing in the off-season, the slugger promptly singled, damaging nothing but Ted Lilly's psyche. But Ramirez, up next, hit one off the top of the glass encasing the restaurant in dead center field. Ramirez's blast of 440 feet, according to Jays PR folks, increased the Sox lead to 3-0 off Lilly, the natural-born Sox killer. Jason Varitek followed Ramirez's titanic homer with a single to center, and Lilly was done, at 104 pitches and 5 2/3 innings.

Arroyo, meanwhile, was doing to the Jays what Lilly generally does to the Sox. He hung zeroes for six innings, though he allowed at least one runner in every inning except the third. Arroyo did some of his best and most important work against the middle of the Toronto lineup, particularly Shea Hillenbrand, the DH hitting fifth. With two on in the first, Arroyo got Hillenbrand to fly out. Arroyo walked Corey Koskie to begin the fourth but got out of that when Hillenbrand lined to Kevin Millar at first for an unassisted double play.

In the sixth, Arroyo allowed a leadoff double to Frank Catalanotto, then walked Wells. But he got Koskie to ground a 3-and-1 fastball to Tony Graffanino, who began a 4-6-3 double play. Catalanotto advanced to third but Hillenbrand, up next, grounded to short, ending the threat.

The Sox, ahead, 3-0, at that point, tacked on two more runs in the seventh. Gabe Kapler, a last-minute substitution for Johnny Damon, who was scratched because of lingering pain in his left shoulder, began the inning with a single to shortstop Russ Adams. Adams made a diving stop but had difficulty transferring the ball and never made a throw. Graffanino, up next, bunted to third for a single. Edgar Renteria then singled, scoring Kapler, and an Ortiz fielder's choice plated Graffanino for the 5-0 lead.

Arroyo, though, ran into trouble in the seventh, loading the bases. He walked Eric Hinske, allowed a Gregg Zaun wall single to right, then walked Aaron Hill, loading the bases and ending his own night. Francona elected, somewhat surprisingly, to bring in Foulke, who hadn't pitched with a lead since July 4. Foulke hit 89 m.p.h. with his first pitch, and his fastball routinely came in at 89, which for him signaled an improvement and a season high. He hung a changeup to his first batter, Gabe Gross, resulting in an RBI single. Russ Adams then delivered a sacrifice fly. Foulke fanned Catalanotto, and, with two on and two out, Francona elected for Timlin. Wells hit the third pitch he saw out of the park, tying the game at 5-5.