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DAVID ORTIZ |
"THE FUTURE AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE"
David Ortiz leads the Sox in
a romp
with 2 HRs and 7 RBIs
July 26, 2015 ... Late
this afternoon, David Ortiz was watching as Pedro Martinez gave an
emotional speech after being inducted into the Hall of Fame. A few
hours later, Ortiz paid tribute to his longtime friend the best way
he knows how. Ortiz cracked two long home runs and drove in a
career-high seven runs as the Red Sox capped a memorable day for
baseball in Boston with an 11-1 victory at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox had 20 hits, their most this season. The 11 runs were only five
fewer than they had scored in the previous nine games.
Ortiz was 4 for 5. He had a three-run home run in the fifth inning, an RBI
single in the sixth, and a three-run homer in the seventh. In one night Ortiz
moved past Hall of Famers Al Kaline, Rogers Hornsby, and Harmon Killebrew into
38th place all-time with 1,587 career RBIs. Ortiz’s 485 career home runs are
29th in history. He has 19 home runs and 54 RBIs this season.
Red Sox second baseman Brock Holt left the game after six innings after
hyperextending his left knee. Holt jammed his knee in the first inning when he
stumbled rounding first base after a single. Farrell said the trainers do not
expect Holt to miss significant time.
Detroit starter Shane Greene, the former Yankee, came into the game 0-5 with a
12.00 earned run average in his previous six starts. The Tigers, like the Red
Sox, are having a disappointing season because of poor pitching. Greene put
seven runners on base in the first four innings but allowed only one run. That
came in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Blake Swihart. The third time
through the order proved bountiful for the Red Sox.
Holt and Xander Bogaerts (4 for 5, now hitting .317) led off with singles. Ortiz
was next and he drove a meaty slider over the Tigers bullpen and into the
bleachers in right field. Greene stayed in the game and Ramirez doubled off the
wall in left field. After Alejandro De Aza bunted Ramirez to third base, Tigers
manager Brad Ausmus made the curious decision to walk struggling Pablo Sandoval
to get to Mike Napoli, who has been swinging the bat well since the All-Star
break. Napoli saw seven pitches before dropping a double into right field that
scored Ramirez. Napoli was 2 for 4 and is 10 of 25 in his last seven games with
five extra-base hits and five RBIs. The surge could lead to his being traded by
the end of the week. Greene (4-8) finally came out of the game and reliever Kyle
Ryan ended the inning. The Sox had a 5-1 lead at that point.
Ryan gave up three runs in the sixth inning. Jemile Weeks, who replaced Holt,
led off with a single. Singles by Bogaerts and Ortiz produced a run. With two
outs, Sandoval singled to right field for his first RBI since July 12. Napoli
also singled to right field and Ramirez scored.
Facing Neftali Feliz, the Red Sox kept scoring in the seventh inning. Betts and
Bogaerts had singles before Ortiz unloaded on a fastball and sent it into the
Monster Seats. That Ortiz was able to hit the ball with power that way was a
sign of good timing with his swing. It was the 48th career game with multiple
home runs for Ortiz, the first this season. The crowd of 35,582 at Fenway Park,
which hasn’t had much to cheer about this season, called for a curtain call from
Ortiz and got it.
As the Red Sox battered the Tigers, rookie Eduardo Rodriguez (6-3) went a strong
seven innings for the Red Sox. He allowed one run on three hits with one walk
and six strikeouts. The 22-year-old lefthander threw 66 of his 95 pitches for
strikes. Rodriguez was hit hard against the Angels last Monday, giving up seven
runs on six hits before he was taken out in the sixth inning. With some extra
rest and fine-tuning of his delivery, he controlled the Tigers outside of a home
run by Nick Castellanos in the fifth inning.
The Sox took two of three from the Tigers, their first series victory since
sweeping two games from Miami July 7-8 at Fenway.
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