Ortiz Hits Winning Blast for Sox in Game 1
By JIMMY GOLEN
BOSTON – David Ortiz hit a game-ending three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday in the first game of a split doubleheader.
Texas led 4-2 with closer Akinori Otsuka looking for his 12th save in 13 chances this season. But Trot Nixon and Coco Crisp singled with one out, then Mark Loretta was out on a fly ball to center.
Ortiz fell behind 0-2 before working the count to 2-2, fouling another one off and then hitting a line drive into the Red Sox bullpen to end the game. The fans, who have suffered through rainouts and rain delays all weekend, cheered until Ortiz came back out for a TV interview.
The crowd quickly made for the exits so the ballpark could be readied for the second game.
Manny Delcarmen (1-0) earned his first major league win, pitching two innings and allowing two hits, one walk and striking out one. Otsuka (2-2) gave up three runs on two hits while retiring two batters.
The opener was the makeup of Saturday night’s game, which was postponed when the early game that day started 4 hours, 47 minutes late due to rain. Texas won 7-4 in Saturday’s game, which itself was a makeup for a May 13 rainout.
Sunday was cool but only partly cloudy and the Boston area was relieved from the rain that had drenched the city for much of the past six weeks. The Red Sox have had four games postponed because of rain, already matching last year’s total; three of them have been against Texas.
Kevin Mench homered to break a sixth-inning tie and chase Josh Beckett, and Kevin Millwood pitched six solid innings. It was 2-2 when Beckett walked Brad Wilkerson and Mench followed with his 11th homer of the year.
The Rangers haven’t won consecutive games at Fenway Park since 1997.
Texas took the lead in the first when Michael Young hit a grounder to the shortstop and first baseman Kevin Youkilis dropped the throw. Young moved to second on Hank Blalock’s walk and scored on Mark DeRosa’s double to left.
Manny Ramirez homered to lead off the second – the 451st of his career, tying him with Jim Thome for 30th on the all-time list. Alex Gonzalez singled and scored on Ortiz’s base hit in the third to give Boston a 2-1 lead.
The Rangers tied it on a disputed play when Ian Kinsler lined the ball down the left-field line, almost hitting third-base umpire Paul Schrieber.
The umpire jumped to get out of the way and couldn’t have seen the ball hit an inch or two fair. But he signaled a foul ball before turning, seeing home plate umpire Jim Joyce pointing fair, and then changing his mind.
That allowed Rod Barajas to score, and Red Sox manager Terry Francona was out of the dugout even before the runner crossed the plate. His argument was unsuccessful.
Notes:@ The Red Sox gave away 8,000 free hot dogs on Saturday night to fans who waited out the long rain delay. … The Rangers scored in the first inning for the second consecutive night after going a major league-leading 14 games without a first-inning run. … Young went a 32nd consecutive game without an error, a Rangers record for shortstops. … Millwood allowed two runs and seven hits, two walks and a wild pitch, striking out five in his bid to improve to 6-0 on the road. Beckett gave up three earned runs on five hits and three walks, striking out seven in 5 1-3 innings but avoided his third consecutive loss.