Big Papi pops the clutch

If only Victor Martinez were around the whole season, David Ortiz might be on pace to match his record-setting home run record of 54 in 2006.

Instead, Big Papi will gladly settle for making up for lost time by hitting more dramatic homers like he did on Wednesday night. His club-record ninth walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth against Tony Pena gave the Red Sox a crucial 3-2 win over the White Sox at Fenway Park

“Victor, he just pushed me,” Ortiz said afterward. “Just about every at-bat, he gets in my face and starts screaming at me and everything. I like it, I really like it. It gets me in the mood.”

The drive just inside the Pesky Pole in right off Tony Pena was Ortiz’s 10th career home run to end a game but first since he beat Tampa Bay on Sept. 12, 2007.

For his part, Martinez said watching Ortiz do his walkoff thing makes being traded to Boston all the more worthwhile.

“I was excited,” Martinez said. “It was the first time for me to see the ‘Big Daddy’ hit a walkoff homer.”

So Ortiz was more than ready for the beating he received from his teammates at the plate after helping the Red Sox win their third straight and improve to 73-53.

“They always feel like beating the crap out of you,” Ortiz said. “It’s fun. Normally, when I’m running the bases, what I’m thinking about is the beating I’m going to get when I get to the plate.”

You can see the fun coming back to Ortiz’s face and along with it, relief to manager Terry Francona.

“We needed him,” Francona said. “Their guy (Gavin Floyd) was so good. He’s got velocity. He’s got a great breaking ball. Changeups right out of the fastball. He locates. We didn’t take a ton of good swings. David got one into left field and then the walkoff. That was two really well-pitched games on both sides.”

Ortiz ’s second homer of the night also extended Boston’s wild-card lead to 2 1/2 games over Texas and four games over Tampa Bay.

“Right now, we’re fighting for the wild card,” Ortiz said. “I keep telling you guys, we’re trying to win as many games as we can.”

Ortiz’s confidence may be coinciding with the newfound confidence the Red Sox are enjoying this week against a team, like themselves who are fighting for a playoff spot. The White Sox, even though falling below .500 with the loss, still only stand 4 1/2 back of Detroit in the A.L. Central.

“We’re playing against a good team,” Ortiz said. “We were having problems playing good against the good team and I think that’s the way you figure things out.”

Jason Bay leads the team in home runs with 28 but all of sudden Ortiz is only six behind with five weeks remaining in the season. And Bay would gladly surrender his team lead if it means Ortiz gets hot.

“Awesome,” Bay said of Ortiz’s heroics. “Right now, the way things have gone for him, team-wise, too, I don’t think there’s a guy in here that would pick a different guy to be up at this time of the season.

“I keep saying it, he’s a huge part of our offense,” Bay added. “I think it gets overlooked. Other guys are having better years, but you’ve still got 30-something games to play in the middle of a playoff race. If he starts swinging like he can, that’s huge for us.”

This is the same Ortiz that had just one homer in the first two months of the season. He has 21 since. Amazing to some but not to those who play with Ortiz.

“The funny thing is, not really,” Bay said of not being surprised. “You got so used to David hitting a home run that it’s not necessarily newsworthy. Considering where he came from earlier this year, yeah, that is amazing. But still, even now, with the struggles he’s had, I don’t think it surprises that many people. He is still David. Struggles or not, I think most people here regard him as one of the better hitters in baseball.”

For all of the talk about the clutch coming back to the Ortiz swing, Big Papi settled for a simpler explanation.

“It feels good, man, especially a guy like me. I don’t feel like playing extra innings.”