David Ortiz’s home run Friday night against the New York Yankees tied him with Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski for second place on Boston’s all-time home run list, and he also moved ahead of Gary Sheffield and into 25th place on the all-time MLB homer list.
1. Ted Williams: 521
2. Carl Yastrzemski: 452
3. David Ortiz: 452
4. Jim Rice: 382
5. Dwight Evans: 379
It wasn’t enough to propel the Sox to a win, though, as they lost 3-2.
Next up on the career home run ranking for Big Papi is former San Francisco Giants great Mel Ott, who sits just one homer ahead of Ortiz at 511.
Ortiz also is climbing up the leaderboard of most career home runs against the Yankees. He probably won’t reach Jimmie Foxx’s record of 70, but he might pass Yastrzemski (52), Hank Greenberg (53) and former teammate Manny Ramirez (55). Ortiz (50) is one of just six players to reach the 50-homer mark against the Bronx Bombers.
Here are some other notes from Friday’s game.
— Ortiz was ejected in the ninth inning after striking out with the bases loaded and one out.
A 3-1 pitch that hit the outside edge of the strike zone was called a strike by home plate umpire Ron Kulpa. Red Sox manager John Farrell came out to protest the call and was tossed.
Classic comeback. pic.twitter.com/xoGF5kuOMp
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) May 7, 2016
Ortiz looked at a called third strike on the next pitch, even though it clearly was a ball low in the zone (pitch six in the chart below).
Somehow, Kulpa thought pitch six was down the middle.
Big Papi was very angry before and after the strikeout pitch, but he did make it to the dugout. He was ejected a few seconds later, and then came back out of the dugout to argue more with Kulpa.
Farrell clearly wasn’t happy with Kulpa in his postgame comments.
— Rick Porcello had a pretty good outing, but he took his first loss of the season (5-1). He gave up three earned runs, six hits, struck out five and walked two over seven innings. Porcello hasn’t pitched fewer than six innings in all six of his starts this campaign, and he’s pitched seven innings in three of his last four outings.
The pitch he delivered to Aaron Hicks that broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning was right down the middle. Hicks was batting .088 (3 for 34) without a base hit entering Friday.
— Joe Kelly pitched in a rehab start Friday night. Here are his stats.
— Yankees center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury left the game in the first inning. He was seen limping after scoring on Brian McCann’s double.
New York announced Ellsbury was suffering from a “tight right hip” and would undergo an MRI. If he goes to the disabled list, the Yankees would have more than $70 million worth of salary tied up in injured players.
Thumbnail photo via Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports Images
