Red Sox-White Sox: David Ortiz's Shot Gives Boston the Win over Chicago

David Ortiz delivered as he has so often for the Boston Red Sox, clubbing a game-winning homer against the Chicago White Sox. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

 

In a tie game, and with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz turned on a fastball from Chicago White Sox reliever Tony Pena. The ball shot off his bat and headed towards the Pesky Pole in right field.

He stood, not five feet down the first base line, and gazed at the white sphere he punished moments earlier. He stood there anxiously, watching the ball’s flight along with the rest of his teammates and the 37,000 people filling Fenway Park.

If fair, it was all over. If foul, he'd be back in the batter's box for another swing.

Forty-two-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefiled made his much-anticipated return last night. Wakefield, who hadn’t pitched since July 8, didn’t disappoint, baffling the White Sox with his fluttering knuckler over seven strong innings.

Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko waited patiently for a 65 mile-per-hour knuckler to reach the hitting zone, then crushed the 0-2 pitch deep to center-field. It was hit as far as it possibly could have been to still remain in play. It went so far not even Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury could track it down.

The shot ricochet off the Stop & Shop sign 420 feet away from home plate, and bounced around in the triangle enough to allow Konerko, who was moving at a snail’s pace, to reach third base for his first triple since the 2000 season. It drove in a run, the only run Wakefield allowed.

In the bottom of the second inning, Ortiz socked a Gavin Floyd fastball to the opposite field that carried just over the Green Monster in left, tying the game. Floyd was as impressive as Wakefield, but unlike his foe, he had another slip-up.

All was quiet until the bottom of the sixth. That’s when Boston’s shortstop, Alex Gonzalez, who is a defensive wizard and not known for his offense, untied the game. The Red Sox, given their luck in the shortstop department over the years, knew they were getting a light bat from Gonzalez.

But they knew he was an upgrade defensively over Nick Green, who had struggled with the bat and the glove. So, naturally, any offense out of the career .246 hitter is a bonus. Gonzalez, surprisingly, possesses some power despite his unassuming frame. He hit 23 home runs with the Florida Marlins in 2004, and though it took him the next two-and-a-half years to match that total, the stroke is still there.

He worked the count full against Floyd, then cranked a cut fastball that hung in the middle of the plate into the left field seats. It was his fifth home run of the season, and after hitting only two in 243 at-bats with Cincinnati earlier this season, his third in 43 at-bats with the Red Sox.

Wakefield was now in line for his 12th win. As previously noted, he gave up only one run, but it could have been much worse.

He stranded Konerko at third in the first, at first in the fourth, then worked around an error that put Carlos Quentin, who had singled with one out in the fifth, a two-out double by A.J. Pierzynski in the sixth, and walked off the mound in the seventh having retired Alexei Ramirez to end a two-on, two-out threat.

He was magnificent, and deserving of the victory, but thanks to a mistake by reliever Ramon Ramirez to start the eighth, he had to settle for a no-decision.

Though Ramirez has been brilliant as Boston’s set-up man, he has been prone to the longball. Entering his appearance, he had a 2.72 ERA, but in his 55 innings, he'd given up five home runs. An unlikely scenario gave him No. 6.

Scott Podsednik, pinch-hitting for leadoff man Jayson Nix, had only five home runs over his previous four seasons, including 2005 when he went homerless in 507 at-bats. This season, after nailing a Ramirez fastball on a full count over the Red Sox bullpen in right field, he has five alone.

Ramirez didn’t help himself after allowing the game-tying homer, walking Gordon Beckham. The heart of the order was due, but like against Wakefield, they could do nothing against a now composed Ramirez. Pierzynski popped up for the first out, then, after Beckham stole second, Konerko only managed to move the 22-year-old second baseman over to third.

Daniel Bard, a hard thrower whose fastball hits triple digits on the radar gun, relieved Ramirez to face Jim Thome. In his prime, Thome would have a great chance of succeeding against Bard, but with his bat considerably slowed, he was overwhelmed.

The go-ahead run for Chicago was 90 feet away, but Bard made him stay put, firing a 99 mile-per-hour fastball defensively chopped foul for strike one, another of same velocity whiffed at for strike two, then the final pitch, 100 mile-per-hour gas Thome took a strong cut at, but came up empty. Three pitches and a strikeout—the damage was limited.

David Ortiz (center, in background) jumps on home-plate as Dustin Pedroia (far right), along with the rest of his Red Sox teammates, celebrates Big Papi's game-winner. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Bard carried over his eighth inning dominance of Thome over to the ninth, pitching a perfect frame anchored by two strikeouts. Now, thanks to the stellar return of Wakefield, and the abilities of Ramirez and Bard, Boston could celebrate with one crack of the bat in the bottom of the ninth.

Ortiz has had a foul season, with his batting average uncharacteristically hovering below .230, but he continued his fair performance, as his drive wrapped around the Pesky Pole amongst the fans. Bedlam ensued.

The fans, 37,000 strong that watched the shot drop inside the famed pole, threw their arms into the air in celebration. Those in the Red Sox dugout who had titled their heads—as to will it fair—in anticipation, leaped over the railing and quickly surrounded home plate.

Ortiz rumbled around third base, slapped hands with the third base coach, threw his helmet into the air, then jumped onto home-plate. In his excellent career with the Red Sox, he had 16 game-winning hits, including 10 homers. That one became No. 11. Now, 12 of his 17 game-winning hits have come in either August, September, or in the postseason.

He may be having a rough season to date, but as his game-winner showed, that doesn’t matter. It’s his time of the year.