Projo Sox Blog

By Joe McDonald
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON _ There was some thought that David Ortiz would struggle without Manny Ramirez hitting behind him in the Red Sox' batting order.

The two became one of baseball's all-time greatest 1-2 punch for Boston, but when Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers at the deadline, some thought Ortiz would be lost.

Well, the remaining Boston slugger had a monster night on Tuesday against the Rangers as he helped the Sox to a dramatic 19-17 victory at Fenway Park.

Ortiz, who has been bothered by a wrist injury since the end of May, became the fourth Red Sox player to hit two home runs in an inning when he blasted two three-run homers in the first on Tuesday off Texas starter Scott Feldman.

Ortiz needed only three pitches to hit two homers as Boston jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first inning.

"You saw giving me the day off (on Monday) helped me," he said. His wrist "was a little saw and when I came in (on Tuesday) to hit, it felt different so I decided to just stick with it."

Ortiz nearly belted his third homer of the game in the fifth inning, but had to settle for a double when a fan reached over the center-field wall and pulled the ball into the stands.

"It was kind of close," he said. "If we didn't have fans out there, it might have gone out, but we need those fans so I'll take it anyway."

After the umpire signaled fan interference, Red Sox manager Terry Francona came sprinting out of the dugout to discuss the situation. The umpiring crew met for a few seconds, but when Francona returned to the dugout, Ortiz was still standing on second.

"I bet it was close," said the manger. "When I came back in the dugout I had three guys say it was a home run. Then I had three guys say it wasn't. I'm hoping for the homer, but if you have guys looking on instant replay, or slow motion, and they can't tell, that makes it a close call."

It didn't really matter because Kevin Youkilis followed with his first of two home runs on the night, crushing a ball to deep left-center field.

"It was an exciting game," said Ortiz. "We needed it. We needed that kind of game, so everyone can relax and loosen up. We've got two more months to decide where we're going to be at the end of the season, so this is the kind of game that puts you in the mood and gets you going all the way. In this kind of game you need to come up with big hits."

 Tags  David Ortiz Red Sox

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