David Ortiz was held hitless for nine innings Sunday. But once the game went to extra frames, who else would provide the big hit?
Ortiz launched a go-ahead home run off Fernando Abad in the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 win over the Oakland Athletics in the teams’ series finale at O.co Coliseum. Ortiz’s clutch blast bailed out Red Sox closer Koji Uehara, who surrendered two homers in the bottom of the ninth inning to force extras.
The A’s trailed by five runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jon Lester hit Craig Gentry with an 0-2 pitch and walked Jed Lowrie, at which point Red Sox manager John Farrell turned to Burke Badenhop, who surrendered three straight RBI singles. Stephen Vogt and John Jaso then went deep off Uehara in the ninth inning, marking the 39-year-old’s first blown save of the season.
Ortiz fell behind in the count against Abad in the 10th but drilled a 1-2 curveball over the wall in left-center field. It was Ortiz’s 17th home run of the season and, more importantly, it helped Boston avoid a four-game sweep in Oakland.
