Ortiz powers PawSox again

DH homers in 2d rehab game

David Ortiz performed his familiar home run gesture Thursday and repeated it last night. (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

PAWTUCKET, R.I. - David Ortiz once again supplied the power, but it wasn't enough to keep the lights on at McCoy Stadium.

"I was a little nervous," Ortiz said last night of the weather.

He didn't look nervous at the plate, hitting his second home run in as many nights to help lead the Pawtucket Red Sox to a 6-1 victory over the Toledo Mud Hens before 11,140 at rain-soaked, temporarily blacked-out McCoy Stadium. The game was called with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Ortiz was 1 for 2 with three RBIs and two walks. His line during the two-game minor league rehab stint: 2 for 5 (.400), 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 2 walks, 3 runs, and no strikeouts. He saw 18 pitches and swung at eight.

Last night's home run was to left field on a 1-and-1, belt-high fastball off Anastacio Martinez in the fifth inning. Ortiz also went to the opposite field frequently during batting practice. His home run Thursday was to right.

"That's something I try to work on, hit with power all over the field," Ortiz said after the game.

"It means he is feeling pretty good about the injury," said PawSox manager Ron Johnson. "You can't be concerned with an injury if you're out there trying to do things with the bat that way."

Ortiz, on the disabled list since June 3 with a partially torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, was lifted for pinch runner Sandy Madera in the seventh after a six-pitch walk in his fourth and final plate appearance.

He popped to third on the third pitch of his first at-bat. Toledo had the patented Ortiz shift on, but third baseman Kody Kirkland, positioned where the shortstop normally plays, had plenty of time to make the play.

Ortiz walked on six pitches in the fourth inning. He swung and missed with two healthy hacks, but Martinez, who was in the Red Sox organization from 1998-2005, bounced a breaking ball to give Ortiz a free pass. He scored the game's first run when Jeff Corsaletti hit a double to center over a leaping Clete Thomas, who misjudged the ball.

Ortiz said his wrist injury caused his top hand to fly off the bat during his swing. That no longer appears to be an issue.

"You give the ball direction with your top hand, so it wasn't easy after I got hurt to hold onto the bat or do anything with the bat," he said.

Ortiz said before the game he will play the entire seven-game rehab assignment, no matter how he performs.

"[I'm] not rushing," Ortiz said. "I'm getting old."

Ortiz is scheduled to return to the Red Sox next Friday for the start of a three-game set against the Yankees at Fenway Park. He has two more games left with Pawtucket (tonight and tomorrow) and is scheduled to play three games with Double A Portland next week.

This is the first minor league stint for Ortiz since July 2001, when he was rehabbing from a right wrist injury with the Double A affiliate for the Minnesota Twins (New Britain).

Ortiz said he thinks the rehab is on track from a health standpoint.

"I'm feeling good, but I'm going to take my time," he said. "It's only been a few days, and I haven't played in six weeks."

Does he have another home run in him tonight?

"Why not?" Ortiz said.