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Ortiz ends homerless drought in Boston's 8-3 win

May 21, 2009 - 7:56 AM By HOWARD ULMAN AP Sports Writer

BOSTON(AP) -- Big Papi rounded the bases to the cheers of his patient fans then got the silent treatment in his own dugout.

For a few seconds, anyway.

Then David Ortiz's teammates yelled, slapped his back and hugged him after he ended the longest homerless drought of a career that produced 289 other home runs - but none since Sept. 22.

"Some of them were like `What took you so long?' " Ortiz said after he hit one of Boston's four homers in a six-run fifth inning that powered the Red Sox to an 8-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

"My teammates are the best, man," he said. "I look at their faces when I'm not doing good and they look at me like, `Hey, hang in there. We're right behind you."'

The usually amiable Ortiz was less accessible to reporters as his homerless streak, which ended at 149 at-bats, continued. But on Wednesday night, he was waiting at his locker with a smile for reporters to surround him.

"I feel like I got all my confidence back," he said. "I look out there like a real hitter, not like the Punch-and-Judy that I have been the first 40 games."

Manager Terry Francona benched Ortiz for three games then returned him to the No. 3 spot in the lineup in Tuesday night's 2-1 win over Toronto. He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts.

Then he grounded weakly to first and struck out in his first two at-bats Wednesday against lefty Brett Cecil (2-1). But he homered to center field in the fifth and, after striking out in the sixth, doubled to left center in the eighth.

"David will hit," said Jason Varitek, who had two homers. "You run across points in your life where things aren't necessarily easy and I think it's big that we had our fans get behind him and it was a pretty electric moment for David and for us."

The game also was memorable for Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. He tied a major league record for a nine-inning game with 12 putouts by an outfielder accomplished by Earl Clark of the Boston Braves in 1929 and Lyman Bostock of the Minnesota Twins in 1977.

"My legs felt a little tired," Ellsbury said. "I was just happy we were getting quick outs."

All but one of the catches were routine as Brad Penny (4-1) got the Blue Jays to hit toward the deepest part of Fenway Park.

"He threw a lot of fastballs," Toronto manager Cito Gaston said. "He would throw them 91 and 92 (mph) and when he got in trouble, he reached back and got 94 or 95. I think that's just the way he pitches. We know that now."

Boston scored twice in the third then made it 8-0 in the fourth.

Varitek started the inning with his seventh homer of the year, Ortiz and Jason Bay followed with two-run shots and Mike Lowell hit a solo homer. It was Bay's 12th homer, tied for second in the AL.

Toronto scored twice in the seventh and Lyle Overbay singled in a run in the eighth. By then, Ortiz was enjoying the end of a long, frustrating stretch.

"I tried it all. I was about to hit right-handed," he said. "I feel like I just got that big old monkey off my back and (in) this game, sometimes that's all it takes to have a good at-bat, get a good hit and everything will start clicking."

Yankees 11, Orioles 4=

At New York, Nick Swisher hit the first of three consecutive homers that sent New York to its eighth straight victory.

Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera also hit solo shots to right field in the second inning against starter Jeremy Guthrie (3-4) - all with two strikes.

Phil Hughes (2-2) struck out a career-high nine in five innings.

Ty Wigginton hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Orioles, their first in five games. Adam Jones added a solo shot in the fifth.

Tigers 5, Rangers 3=

At Detroit, Justin Verlander allowed three hits in six innings and Detroit, despite hitting into a triple play, won its fifth straight.

Gerald Laird lined into the triple play, Texas' first since 2002, in the fourth.

Wilkin Ramirez, making his major league debut, broke a 1-1 tie with a homer in the sixth inning. Verlander (6-3) gave up one run and walked two to improve to 4-0 with a 1.02 ERA in his last five starts. He fell short of becoming the first Tigers pitcher to strike out 10 or more in four straight starts, finishing with eight.

Athletics 7, Rays 6=

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Brett Anderson pitched into the seventh inning to pick up his first major league win, and Orlando Cabrera has two RBIs.

Anderson (1-4) gave up four runs - two earned - and four hits over six-plus innings. The victory came in his seventh career start, all this season.

Tampa Bay left-hander Scott Kazmir (4-4) had another dismal outing, allowing seven runs, eight hits, four walks and hitting a batter in 4 1-3 innings.

Carlos Pena and Willy Aybar homered for the Rays.

White Sox 7, Twins 4=

At Chicago, Jermaine Dye's grand slam capped a seven-run fourth inning, and John Danks allowed five hits and two earned runs over 5 2-3 innings for Chicago.

Danks (3-3), who had an 8.35 ERA in his previous four starts, won for the first time in nearly a month.

Francisco Liriano (2-5) gave up seven runs on seven hits and three walks over four innings in Minnesota. The Twins have lost a season-high six consecutive games, and are 1-10 in their last 11 games in Chicago.

Indians 6, Royals 5=

Kansas City, Mo., Mark DeRosa had three hits and drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth, and Kerry Wood rebounded from a bad outing for Cleveland.

Wood, rocked for four runs in the ninth inning Tuesday in a 6-5 loss to the Royals, walked the bases full with one out in the ninth. But he struck out Mark Teahen and David DeJesus for his sixth save in eight opportunities - his first since May 1.

DeRosa's RBI double off Sidney Ponson (1-5) scored pinch-runner Matt LaPorta in the eighth, and Ben Francisco followed with an RBI single for a 6-4 lead.

Aaron Laffey (3-0) was the winner in relief.

Mariners 1, Angels 0=

At Seattle, Fill-in starter Chris Jakubauskas limited the Angels to two hits in six innings.

Ken Griffey Jr. had two hits, including an RBI single after Ichiro Suzuki doubled leading off the first against Ervin Santana (0-1). Jakubauskas improved to (3-4), and David Aardsma worked the ninth for his fifth save.

Seattle won for just the fourth time in 16 games, and for the first time in eight games against an AL West rival.