Ortiz inches closer to Foxx's HR record

NEW YORK -- David Ortiz hit his first home run in a week when he took Jaret Wright's pitch over the center-field fence to open the sixth inning yesterday afternoon, the blast drawing him within one of Jimmie Foxx's club record of 50 homers for a season.

Ortiz (0 for 4 with a walk in the nightcap) continued to reach base at a startling pace. He drew two walks (one intentional) in the opener, and has 12 in his last seven games. Ortiz, who continued to be greeted with boos and chants of ``De-rek Je-ter," has reached base in 14 of his last 20 plate appearances. He struck out swinging three times in the nightcap, but a wild pitch allowed him to reach base after one of them.

The home run was Ortiz's sixth of the season against the Yankees, one fewer than teammate Manny Ramírez. It also gave him 16 RBIs against the Bombers; that's second to the 18 he's knocked in against Tampa Bay, against whom he has seven home runs.

The homer did not inspire Ortiz to lift the no-interview embargo he has observed here, his response to what he believes was unwarranted criticism of his remarks regarding the MVP race. Hometown favorite Jeter, who did not play in the first game -- with only five regulars, the Yanks' lineup could have been lifted from an exhibition game in March -- was 0 for 4 last night.

Ortiz's home run was his 31st on the road, one shy of Babe Ruth's record set in 1927, the year the Babe hit 60.

It was a high point for Doug Mirabelli when he homered in three successive games for the Sox last month, the first time he'd done so in his career. Since then, however, Mirabelli has found himself submerged in a prolonged slump that continued yesterday afternoon when he went hitless in two official at-bats (he also walked), dropping his average to .140 (7 for 50) in his last 15 games. All seven of Mirabelli's hits in that time have been singles, and his overall average with the Sox has fallen to .184 (he batted .182 in 14 games for the Padres before being reacquired by Boston).

Barring a surge in the last two weeks, Mirabelli will finish the season below the Mendoza line, the benchmark designating a .200 average. Mirabelli would become the 12th Sox nonpitcher since 1980 to finish with an average of under .200, and the second since 2000 (minimum 100 plate appearances). Jeremy Giambi hit .197 in 2003 and Mike Lansing .194 in 2000. The lowest average by a Sox nonpitcher since 1980 was the .169 by catcher Marc Sullivan, son of former Sox general partner Haywood Sullivan, in 1987.

Kevin Youkilis sat out the second game after he was struck in the right shoulder by Bernie Williams's knee during a play at first base in the eighth inning of the first game. Youkilis had played the first seven innings at third base before Mike Lowell was inserted as a defensive replacement in the eighth, Youkilis replacing Eric Hinske at first. He was on the ground after a long stretch to take shortstop Alex Gonzalez's throw when Williams caught him with his knee after crossing the bag.

``I should be fine," Youkilis said. ``It was one of those things that gave me a quick jolt. Nothing major."

Not everyone has a clear memory of his first major league home run. Sox hitting coach Ron Jackson was surprised to learn that he'd hit his first off Rick Wise of the Red Sox June 4, 1976 in Fenway Park. Jackson had thought his first had come off Fergie Jenkins, when, in fact, he took Jenkins deep the day after hitting his first off Wise . . . David Murphy's first big league home run ended a streak of five games in which the Sox had not homered, their longest such streak since they went five games Sept. 2-6, 2002 . . . The Game 1 win went to Bryan Corey, who replaced starter Kyle Snyder in the sixth. Snyder gave up two runs on back-to-back doubles by Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera and a single to Robinson Cano in the third, but pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the fourth, striking out Sal Fasano and Damon, the Yankee center fielder looking at a 71-mile-per-hour curveball. After Keith Foulke got five outs, Mike Timlin worked a scoreless ninth for his seventh save. Timlin worked a scoreless ninth in the nightcap for his eighth save.