Ortiz breaks club's single-season home run record
BOSTON --David Ortiz basked in his big moments.
The cheering crowd. The hugs from teammates. The generosity of the fans who returned the balls he hit for his 51st and 52nd home runs, a new Red Sox record.
"Great feeling, especially doing it here at home in front of my fans," a beaming Ortiz said. "People were just going crazy out there."
Big Papi broke Jimmie Foxx's team record set in 1938 with a first-inning solo homer on the first pitch he saw from Johan Santana,then hit another into the center-field bleachers in the seventh off Matt Guerrier in Boston's 6-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
The loss knocked the Twins out of first place in the AL Central, a spot they reached about three hours earlier when Detroit lost to Baltimore, dropping the Tigers .001 behind Minnesota. The Tigers ended the night with a half-game lead, but the Twins lead the wild-card race by 5 1/2 games over Chicago.
"We're concerned now about winning games and not about first place," Justin Morneau said. "If we continue to win, we'll get into the playoffs and that's what we're after."
A loss would have eliminated the Red Sox from wild-card contention, but they still trail the Twins by 8 1/2 games. They've already been eliminated from the AL East race.
In other AL games, it was: Baltimore 4, Detroit 3; Oakland 7, Cleveland 4; and Seattle 9, Chicago 0.
After Boston's win, the amiable Ortiz posed for pictures and bantered with the fans who gave the balls back, knowing the slugger might auction them off to raise money for children's programs, just as he's doing with the ball he hit one night earlier for his 50th homer.
"If that's what they're going to do with (the record-breaking ball) I'm not going to stick them up for anything," said Joel McGrath, 29, a customer service representative from nearby Waltham.
"Cool," Ortiz said.
Tommy Valeriani, 10, of Boxford, came up with the second home run ball but was bashful at the postgame news conference.
"They want to know how you survived between all the people out there," Ortiz said with a big smile. "You did a great job, man. I give you a high five for that."
McGrath and Valeriani were given jerseys and baseballs, all signed by Ortiz.
The homers overshadowed one of Josh Beckett's best games of the year. He allowed six hits and no walks in eight innings and improved to 16-10, passing the career-high in wins he achieved last season.
"It gave me chills after he hit 51 and then 52," Beckett said. "With the clutch hits, the home runs, he's a pretty special beast, if you will."
Even Santana (18-6) was happy for the slugger he spent time with in the Twins organization before Ortiz signed with Boston as a free agent in 2003.
"I'm very proud of all he's accomplished in his career. It's unbelievable," Santana said after his record dropped to 9-1 since the All-Star break. "The only way I wasn't going to give up a home run to him was not to throw the ball."
Ortiz has 171 homers in his four seasons in Boston. He has 45 as a designated hitter this year, two more than the major league record he set last year. And, with nine games left, he's tied for 12th in AL history in homers for one season.
"This (record) is something that might change people's minds," he said. "I know there are some guys who have been caught using illegal things but people should know that not everyone is like that."
The Red Sox went ahead 4-0 in the three-run second with a big boost from Santana's pitching and fielding.
Singles by Carlos Pena and Gabe Kapler put runners at first and second. Alex Gonzalez then attempted a sacrifice bunt. Santana fielded it, dropped it, then threw wildly past first base. Pena and Kapler scored and Gonzalez reached third. Mark Loretta's sacrifice fly scored Gonzalez.
Guerrier replaced Santana to start the sixth and retired the first four batters he faced. But with one out in the seventh, Ortiz homered on a full count. Mike Lowell then hit the next pitch over the left-field fence for his 18th homer and a 6-0 lead.
Orioles 4, Tigers 3
Detroit lost the makeup game of a May 11 rainout, but held on to its slim lead in the AL Central. The Tigers, who have been in first place since May 20, are one-half game in front of Minnesota.
Melvin Mora doubled in two runs in the eighth inning for host Baltimore, while Kris Benson (11-11) allowed three runs and eight hits in eight innings, earning his first win since Aug. 18. Chris Ray pitched the ninth for his 33rd save.
Magglio Ordonez and Curtis Granderson homered for the Tigers. Ordonez has 100 RBIs, the first Tiger to reach that number since Bobby Higginson and Dean Palmer had 102 in 2000.
Athletics 7, Indians 4
Rich Harden returned from disabled list with three strong innings and host Oakland reduced its magic number for clinching the AL West to four.
Harden, making his first start since June 4 because of elbow problems, threw 55 pitches, allowing one run and two hits, striking out seven. Chad Gaudin (3-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win. Huston Street entered with two on and no outs in the ninth and allowed one run to get his 36th save.
Marco Scutaro and Milton Bradley both singled in runs and Mark Ellis added a sacrifice fly for the A's, who won for the seventh time in eight games.
C.C. Sabathia (11-11) lost for the third time in four starts and fell to 1-4 in 10 career starts against the A's.
Mariners 9, White Sox 0
Jake Woods (6-3) allowed five hits in seven innings for visiting Seattle, while Raul Ibanez drove in three runs and Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam in the ninth.
Chicago, which was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and committed two key errors, wasted an opportunity to gain ground in the AL wild-card race. The defending World Series champions lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Javier Vazquez (11-10) struck out 12 in 7 1-3 innings but allowed three earned runs and seven hits.
