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Ortiz's grand slam powers Red Sox past Rangers

Apr 19, 2008 - 4:45 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Red Sox can only hope that one swing will help David Ortiz turn the corner.

Mired in a slump that had him batting .111 with just one homer in his first 16 games, Ortiz hit a first-pitch grand slam in the third inning that sent the Red Sox on their way to an easy 11-3 win over the Texas Rangers Friday night at Fenway Park.

Ortiz, who entered the game with just four RBI on the season, finished with two hits while driving in five Friday.

The slugger received a cold shoulder from his teammates after the blast before he was mobbed in the Red Sox dugout.

"Definitely, my teammates are the best," Ortiz told the Red Sox radio network afterward. "They were so happy to see me coming through. And the fans, they've been great too.

They did, they did, they (his teammates) got me with that one."

The homer landed in the second row of "Green Monster" seats in left-center and set off a wild celebration before a post-World War II record crowd of 37,902 at Fenway.

"First of all, he gives us the lift with the opposite-field home run, which, when you see guys drive the ball to the opposite field, that's good," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "Then he lines out to left, then he stayed on another ball and hit the line drive to right. He swung at strikes and got rewarded for it too, so that's good. I'm sure that he's going to feel good. We obviously do."

Dustin Pedroia also had his first homer of the season, a two-run blow in a five-run fourth inning that salted away Boston's sixth win in seven games.

The nine runs in two innings was enough of a cushion for Daisuke Matsuzaka (4-0), who allowed five hits and three runs over 5 1/3 innings.

"I thought Dice worked behind in the count a lot," Francona said. "First-pitch counts and 1-1 counts weren't very good. He pitched behind in the count a lot."

Five nights after throwing 116 pitches in five innings, Matsuzaka was not much better, throwing 101 pitches and getting just one out in the sixth.

"Just like my last start, I realize that I have to go deeper into games," Matsuzaka said. "The very fact that we have to even talk about pitch counts, I think that's a problem right there."

Former Red Sox minor leaguer Luis Mendoza (0-2) was roughed up for five hits and seven runs, allowing three walks, two strikeouts and Ortiz's eighth career grand slam.

"He all of a sudden couldn't get the feel of his sinker and get it to sink down," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "The pitch that Ortiz hit was supposed to have been a sinker down and away and it ended up staying in the middle of the plate. And even though that big boy is struggling, he's still dangerous."

The night started off well for the Texas righthander, who retired the first eight batters he faced. But rookie Jed Lowrie, starting in place of Julio Lugo at shortstop, started the third-inning rally with a double down the left field line.

Mendoza came unglued with consecutive walks to Jacoby Ellsbury and Pedroia, setting the stage for Ortiz's second homer of the season.

"I just tried to stay ahead with the first pitch," Mendoza said. "On the two walks, I was behind in the count so I tried to start ahead and left a ball in the middle of the plate."

Ortiz was batting just .111 with one homer and four RBIs in his first 16 games.

"These past few days since I came back since I had that day off, I've been getting that feeling," Ortiz said. "I've been using my hands and working on my mechanics. I never kill my confidence. I always stayed focused on the next day and work hard. Everybody talks about how you start the season. It's not how you start, but how you finish."