Spaghetti and meatballs. Peanut butter and jelly. David Ortiz and clutch home runs.
Ortiz showed again Friday that him and late-game heroics go hand-in-hand. The nine-time All-Star launched a go-ahead, two-run homer — his second blast of the game — in the 10th inning as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 in the teams’ series opener at Camden Yards. It was a fitting conclusion to a historic night.
“I don’t know that you can say enough positives and accolades for what David Ortiz not only did tonight, but what he’s done over an incredible career,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He comes up big twice again for us tonight, no bigger than in that 10th inning. And considering how many RBIs, how many home runs he’s contributed this season, I’d hate to think where we’d be without him.”
Ortiz started the fourth inning with a solo homer off Orioles starter Kevin Gausman. The long ball — Ortiz’s 33rd of the season — gave the slugger 100 RBIs. Ortiz now has eight seasons with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, moving him ahead of Ted Williams (seven) for the most such seasons in Red Sox history.
“It feels good. I’m proud of being consistent,” Ortiz said of the accomplishment. “Like I always say, when they mention your name right next to a legend like Mr. Ted Williams, it’s something that I get excited (about) and shows you what you’ve been for years is acceptable. Like I always say, I try to play the game and compete and produce as long as I can.”
Ortiz could have rounded the bases, headed for the clubhouse, packed up his locker and returned to the Dominican Republic to prepare for his celebrity golf tournament, and one still could say unequivocally that it’s been an excellent season for the 38-year-old. He has nothing to prove as the Red Sox play out the string. In typical Ortiz fashion, however, the best was yet to come.
Yoenis Cespedes gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning by immediately following Ortiz’s home run with a tater of his own. Ortiz then went back to work in the fifth, ripping a line drive into the right field corner that scored Mookie Betts all the way from first base. Betts should have been out, but catcher Caleb Joseph couldn’t corral first baseman Christian Walker’s throw.
The Orioles, who are American League East champions for a reason, never rolled over. Instead, they tied the game 3-3 in the seventh inning. Alejandro De Aza doubled and Delmon Young tripled to pull Baltimore to within a run. The O’s pulled even when Xander Bogaerts unleashed a high throw to first base on Steve Pearce’s softly hit grounder to short.
Baltimore’s rally only set the stage for Ortiz’s exclamation point. Darren O’Day put an 0-1 fastball right in Ortiz’s wheelhouse in the 10th, and Big Papi promptly deposited it over the right field wall for his 34th homer of the season.
“The one thing that we’re fortunate to see is the way the guy keeps himself in great shape, the way he works out, the way he prepares in addition to being one talented and one hell of a hitter,” Farrell said of Ortiz. “He’s always been a presence of mind in key spots late in the game, and no bigger, as we’ve said, late in games (with) multiple home runs on the year in given games. We can go on and on about David Ortiz.”
We sure can. But we won’t. After all, it shouldn’t be long before Ortiz feeds us more heroics to talk about.
