The bat of David Ortiz has been inconsistent so far in 2015; however, on occasion, Big Papi still has given Boston Red Sox fans glimpses of the man who pioneered his franchise to three World Series titles.
Ortiz went 4 for 5 with two home runs, three runs scored, and a career-best seven RBIs for Boston in front of a raucous Fenway Park crowd on Sunday night, part of a scintillating 20-hit performance for the Red Sox in their 11-1 series-deciding victory over the scuffling Detroit Tigers. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts went 4 for 5 as well while rookie starter Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 6-3) yielded just three hits and a run in seven innings of work, striking out six Detroit batters.
Big Papi's three-run blast in the fifth inning off of starting pitcher Shane Greene (L, 4-8), who allowed five runs on 11 hits in 4.1 innings, proved to be the difference for Boston as it broke open a 1-1 tie. Ortiz followed that up with an RBI single in the sixth inning and another three-run shot into the Green Monster seats in the seventh inning, his 19th home run of the season.
The game remained a pitchers' duel through the first three innings. The Red Sox then got on the board first in the bottom of the fourth. Left fielder Hanley Ramirez led off the stanza with a single and was advanced to second on a two-out walk by first baseman Mike Napoli. Catcher Blake Swihart then laced a double to right, scoring the first run of the game.
The Tigers responded in the top of the fifth inning as third baseman Nick Castellanos mashed a 445-foot bomb over the center-field fence to knot up the game at one.
Boston, though, grabbed an insurmoutable advantage in the bottom half of the inning. Second baseman Brock Holt (who left the game in the sixth with left knee tightness) and Bogaerts garnered lead-off singles, and Ortiz followed with a 435-foot bomb to right field. Ramirez continued the no-out rally with a double to deep center, and, two batters later, Napoli knocked a ground-rule double to right, pushing the Red Sox' lead to 5-1.
The rout worsened in the sixth inning as replacement second baseman Jemile Weeks and Bogaerts placed runners on first and second with no outs for the second consecutive inning with back-to-back singles off Detroit reliever Kyle Ryan. Ortiz then knocked an RBI single to center, and, after Bogaerts was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice and right fielder Alejandro De Aza struck out, third baseman Pablo Sandoval and Napoli accounted for consecutive RBI singles, increasing the Boston advantage to 8-1.
The massacre of the Tigers continued in the following inning as center fielder Mookie Betts began the stanza with a single off reliever Neftali Feliz, and Bogaerts followed suit with a one-out single. Ortiz then blasted his second long ball of the game, a towering home run over the Green Monster, which gave the Red Sox a 10-run cushion.