Associated Press
Associated Press
BALTIMORE — On a night when Stephen Drew used his bat to hit two homers and drive in five runs, David Ortiz took his best swings at a couple of dugout phones.
Drew revived the quiet Boston offense with a stellar performance, and the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3 Saturday night in a game that featured a memorable and destructive tirade by Ortiz.
Starting for the sixth time since coming off the disabled list with a strained hamstring, Drew hit a three-run shot in the fourth inning and connected with a man on in the sixth. It was his second career two-homer game, and the five RBIs tied a career high. He came in batting .223 with five homers and 32 RBIs in 71 games.
“The past couple of games, I’ve felt good at the plate but had no luck,” Drew said. “It’s just good to turn around and have a good outcome. It was also a good win. That’s what we really needed.”
Boston had lost six of its previous nine to fall out of first place in the AL East for the first time in 60 days.
After Shane Victorino homered in the seventh to make it 7-2, Ortiz took three balls from Jairo Acencio before umpire Tim Timmons called a strike on a high fastball. Ortiz was furious, and he fully vented that frustration after taking another strike and then striking out with a futile swing.
He yelled at Timmons and was ejected. Ortiz then destroyed the covers of two dugout phones with his bat before charging onto the field, where he was restrained by manager John Farrell and bench coach Torey Lovullo.
Ortiz finally relented, but as a final gesture he threw an elbow pad in Timmons’ direction. Teammate Dustin Pedroia, who covered up to avoid being hit by the spray of shattered plastic, finally got the enraged Ortiz under control.
“I got 17 years in the league and I don’t think I deserve to be disrespected like that,” Ortiz said. “You want to get respect from the players, you respect the players. That was horrible. Both of the pitches, not one.
“The funny thing is he wanted to act like it was the right call,” Ortiz added. “I don’t play that. I hit. You’re not going to take my at-bats away.”
The antics of “Big Papi” didn’t detract from a much-needed victory against a strong division rival.
“We swung the bats great,” Pedroia said. “It’s a good win. We have to build on that. Guys get frustrated. It’s part of the game. I just wanted to make sure David didn’t get too bad where he gets suspended or any of that. … He’s the biggest part of our lineup. We can’t afford to lose David for even one game.”
Ryan Dempster (6-8) gave up two runs in 5 1-3 innings to earn his first win in five starts since June 30. His previous four starts were no-decisions.
Both of Drew’s homers came off Scott Feldman (2-2), making his fifth appearance since coming to the Orioles in a trade with the Chicago Cubs. Feldman allowed four runs and six hits in five innings.
Baltimore’s Chris Davis went 1 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts, the 21st consecutive game in which the major league home run leader has struck out. He has fanned eight times in his last three games and hasn’t homered since hitting No. 37 on July 14.
Boston went up 1-0 in the third when Drew singled and came home on a single by Jacoby Ellsbury. That provided a note of optimism for a slumping team that had produced only one run in its previous two games and came in with a 42-9 record when scoring first.
Feldman got two outs in the fourth before Mike Carp and Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled. Drew followed with his first home run since June 4.
“It really just came down to that fourth inning,” Feldman said. “Gave up a couple two-out knocks and then made a bad pitch to Drew and he hit it over the fence.”
RAYS 1, YANKEES 0
NEW YORK — Chris Archer threw a two-hitter for his second shutout in three starts, outpitching Ivan Nova.
Kelly Johnson had an RBI single off Nova (4-4) in the sixth to help the AL East-leading Rays improve to 24-5 since June 23, when they were in last place.
ASTROS 8, BLUE JAYS 6
TORONTO — Chris Carter hit a three-run home run, Justin Maxwell and Matt Dominguez added solo shots and Houston snapped a three-game losing streak.
ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Derek Norris had a pinch-hit two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, leading Oakland to its second straight win and fifth in the last seven.
Jed Lowrie also drove in a run for the A’s and Coco Crisp added two hits.
TWINS 4, MARINERS 0
SEATTLE — Brian Dozier and Justin Morneau homered, Samuel Deduno pitched seven scoreless innings and Minnesota got its fifth shutout of the season.
The Twins have won four of their last six games and are 6-3 since the All Star break.
INDIANS 1, RANGERS 0
CLEVELAND — Michael Bourn homered to lead off the first inning for the only run of the game, and Justin Masterson took a shutout into the eighth inning, outdueling Texas’ Yu Darvish in Cleveland’s win.
Masterson (12-7), an American League All-Star, struck out eight and allowed five hits in 7 2-3 innings. That was enough to beat Darvish (9-5), who struck out 11 and held the Indians to three hits in six innings.
ROYALS 1, WHITE SOX 0
CHICAGO — Wade Davis pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning, and Kansas City beat Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox for its fifth consecutive victory.
NATIONAL 4, METS 1
WASHINGTON) — Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond and Denard Span all homered, powering the Washington Nationals.
Dan Haren (5-11) pitched seven innings for his first win since May 9, allowing one run and three hits.
BRAVES 2, CARDINALS 0
ATLANTA — Andrelton Simmons hit a two-run double in the eighth inning and Atlanta, boosted by Julio Teheran’s sharp outing, beat St. Louis in a matchup of NL division leaders.
Teheran allowed two hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one.
PIRATES 7, MARLINS 4
MIAMI — Michael McKenry had a career-best four hits and drove in two runs and Neil Walker and Garrett Jones each added two RBIs in Pittsburgh’s victory over Miami.
PADRES 12, DIAMONDBACKS 3
PHOENIX — Andrew Cashner threw six solid innings and hit his first career home run to help lead San Diego over Arizona.
CUBS 1, GIANTS 0
SAN FRANCISCO — Nate Schierholtz homered off former teammate Sergio Romo with one out in the ninth inning to lift Chicago over San Francisco.
Schierholtz worked a full count off Romo (3-6) before hitting a towering blast into the right field stands to hand Romo his second loss in as many games.
Starlin Castro added two hits for Chicago, which is 18-13 in its last 31 games.
DODGERS 4, REDS 1
LOS ANGELES — Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up two hits over seven innings and retired his last 13 batters, Skip Schumaker hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, and Los Angeles beat Cincinnati.
Ryu (9-3) had nine strikeouts in a span of 13 batters. Cincinnati’s run came on a homer by Jay Bruce in the second.
BREWERS 7, ROCKIES 5
DENVER — Carlos Gomez had two hits and three of Milwaukee’s five stolen bases, Juan Francisco and Jonathan Lucroy homered, and the Brewers held on to beat Colorado on a rainy night.
Collin McHugh (0-2), vying to make a case to be the Rockies’ No. 5 starter, gave up six runs and nine hits in five innings.