By Scott Lauber
Thursday, August 25, 2011 -
Thursday, August 25, 2011 -
ARLINGTON, Texas — In the week since he was diagnosed with bursitis in his right heel, David Ortiz [stats] wore a walking boot for a few days, then resumed hitting, before finally running about a half-dozen short sprints Tuesday.
But nothing prepared him for the first inning last night.
Making his return to the Red Sox [team stats] lineup after an eight-game layoff, Ortiz stroked an RBI single to right and still was on first base two batters later when Carl Crawford doubled to right field. Ortiz motored around second base, blew through third base coach Tim Bogar’s late stop sign and continued chugging toward the plate.
Bursitis? What bursitis?
“It was in my head a little bit,” Ortiz admitted after the Red Sox annihilated the Rangers for a second consecutive game, this time by a 13-2 margin. “When I had to run to the plate, I told myself, ‘You have to go and see how you’re feeling.’ I felt fine. Everything went good. It didn’t bother me at all.”
Ultimately, Ortiz scored only because Rangers catcher Mike Napoli, perhaps in an attempt at self-preservation, dropped the throw from right fielder David Murphy. But that was beside the point. Ortiz, who barely could walk eight days earlier, was healthy once again.
The same could be said for the Red Sox offense. Nearly whole again after Jacoby Ellsbury [stats] and Ortiz returned on back-to-back nights, the Sox pounded 16 hits, including three homers, and reached double digits in runs in back-to-back games for the first time since July 26-27 against the Royals at Fenway Park [map].
Ortiz’ mad first-inning dash around the bases — “He felt the earthquake coming in,” Big Papi said of Napoli — and his subsequent hustle after a fifth-inning double, scoring after Jed Lowrie’s sacrifice bunt and Crawford’s sacrifice fly, merely were the tip of the iceberg.
Consider this: Ellsbury notched three hits, including a long two-run homer in the sixth inning. Crawford went deep and matched his career-high with five RBI. Adrian Gonzalez homered for the third time in two games.
And for the second straight game, every Red Sox starter had at least one hit.
“We’ve got a few guys back in the lineup,” said Crawford, whose last five-RBI game came June 2, 2010, for Tampa Bay. “We’ve got Jacoby back and Big Papi back. Whenever you can have both of those back healthy, we kind of feed off that. It definitely gives the lineup a boost. We’ve been all swinging the bat pretty good.”
But in eight games sans Ortiz, the Red Sox batted only .235, averaged 4.6 runs per game and were shut out twice. His absence coincided with the loss of Ellsbury for three games and third baseman Kevin Youkilis [stats] (strained back) for the past seven.
So, catcher Jason Varitek [stats]’s reaction last night when asked about Ortiz’ track-star impression proved perfectly poignant.
“I don’t care how well he runs,” Varitek said. “As long as he hits.”
Ortiz’ swing looked as healthy as his heel. He was 2-for-5 in his first game since Aug. 14 and extended his hitting streak to eight games, during which he’s 15-for-31 (.484) with three doubles, three homers and eight RBI.
“It was one of those days that you come back, you haven’t played for a while,” Ortiz said. “You continue to try to get your work in, but you’re not playing. That’s the closest you can get to stay close to where you want to be.”
But nothing prepared him for the first inning last night.
Making his return to the Red Sox [team stats] lineup after an eight-game layoff, Ortiz stroked an RBI single to right and still was on first base two batters later when Carl Crawford doubled to right field. Ortiz motored around second base, blew through third base coach Tim Bogar’s late stop sign and continued chugging toward the plate.
“It was in my head a little bit,” Ortiz admitted after the Red Sox annihilated the Rangers for a second consecutive game, this time by a 13-2 margin. “When I had to run to the plate, I told myself, ‘You have to go and see how you’re feeling.’ I felt fine. Everything went good. It didn’t bother me at all.”
Ultimately, Ortiz scored only because Rangers catcher Mike Napoli, perhaps in an attempt at self-preservation, dropped the throw from right fielder David Murphy. But that was beside the point. Ortiz, who barely could walk eight days earlier, was healthy once again.
The same could be said for the Red Sox offense. Nearly whole again after Jacoby Ellsbury [stats] and Ortiz returned on back-to-back nights, the Sox pounded 16 hits, including three homers, and reached double digits in runs in back-to-back games for the first time since July 26-27 against the Royals at Fenway Park [map].
Ortiz’ mad first-inning dash around the bases — “He felt the earthquake coming in,” Big Papi said of Napoli — and his subsequent hustle after a fifth-inning double, scoring after Jed Lowrie’s sacrifice bunt and Crawford’s sacrifice fly, merely were the tip of the iceberg.
Consider this: Ellsbury notched three hits, including a long two-run homer in the sixth inning. Crawford went deep and matched his career-high with five RBI. Adrian Gonzalez homered for the third time in two games.
And for the second straight game, every Red Sox starter had at least one hit.
“We’ve got a few guys back in the lineup,” said Crawford, whose last five-RBI game came June 2, 2010, for Tampa Bay. “We’ve got Jacoby back and Big Papi back. Whenever you can have both of those back healthy, we kind of feed off that. It definitely gives the lineup a boost. We’ve been all swinging the bat pretty good.”
But in eight games sans Ortiz, the Red Sox batted only .235, averaged 4.6 runs per game and were shut out twice. His absence coincided with the loss of Ellsbury for three games and third baseman Kevin Youkilis [stats] (strained back) for the past seven.
So, catcher Jason Varitek [stats]’s reaction last night when asked about Ortiz’ track-star impression proved perfectly poignant.
“I don’t care how well he runs,” Varitek said. “As long as he hits.”
Ortiz’ swing looked as healthy as his heel. He was 2-for-5 in his first game since Aug. 14 and extended his hitting streak to eight games, during which he’s 15-for-31 (.484) with three doubles, three homers and eight RBI.
“It was one of those days that you come back, you haven’t played for a while,” Ortiz said. “You continue to try to get your work in, but you’re not playing. That’s the closest you can get to stay close to where you want to be.”
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