Loretta upstages Ortiz as Red Sox edge Indians
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mark Loretta did his best David Ortiz impression by crushing a game-winning double with two-out in the ninth to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday at Fenway Park.
With Oritz, who has produced five game-winning hits in the last two months, on deck, Loretta took a 1-0 offering from closer Fausto Carmona and drove a bases loaded double off the Green Monster scoring Gabe Kapler and Alex Gonzalez with the tying and winning runs.
"It's a blast," Loretta told MLB.com. "There's nothing like it. It's a euphoric feeling.
"My at-bat was just the last part of a really great team game."
The Red Sox also left it late to earn wins over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday and the Indians on Monday, Ortiz making the difference in both games.
The Red Sox have recorded seven walkoff victories at Fenway this season, five courtesy of Ortiz and the other two by Loretta.
"We'd certainly rather be up (a run going into the ninth), but in this ballpark, crazy things happen," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "I think a combination of them having some youth out there (and) we have a good team that doesn't quit.
"The whole ballpark is vibrating. We just, thankfully, didn't stop playing."
TOTAL COLLAPSE
The victory kept the Red Sox from slipping further behind the New York Yankees in the ultra-tight American League east. The Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 to remain a few percentage points ahead of the Red Sox.
The Indians had looked poised to send the Red Sox to their second straight defeat when Travis Hafner connected on his 30th homer of the year, a two-run shot in the eighth inning to push Cleveland ahead 5-4.
But once again Carmona (1-6) was unable to protect the lead, striking out the first two batters he faced in the ninth before suffering a total collapse.
Manny Ramirez's sixth inning solo shot was his 30th of the season and extended his hitting streak to 18 games. It marks the ninth consecutive season Ramirez has hit 30 or more home runs.
Ortiz had a rare off night striking out in all four at bats.
Jonathan Papelbon (3-1) tossed a prefect ninth for the win.
In New York, Chien Ming-Wang pitched eight shutout innings and Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada both had home runs as the Yankees eased past the stumbling Blue Jays 7-2.
Wang (13-4) scattered four hits while striking out three and walking three, helping the red-hot Yankees to their seventh win in eight games.
"He (Wang) has got a fire in his belly, there's no question about it," said Yankees manager Joe Torre.
Alex Rodriguez had another strong outing, going three-for-five with a pair of RBI. New addition Bobby Abreu and Craig Wilson registered their first hits in Yankees pinstripes.
(Writing by Steve Keating in Detroit)
