Bosox reassert themselves

RED SOX 15, RAYS 2: David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez homer twice, and Boston hits five among its 21 hits to maintain its AL East lead.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published September 21, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Devil Rays shortstop Julio Lugo decided that of the five home runs the Red Sox hit Tuesday night, the first-inning, two-run blast by David Ortiz was the most impressive.

Measured at 402 feet, it hit the catwalk that overhangs the rightfield seats at Tropicana Field.

"I think that would have landed in Tampa," Lugo said. "That ball hit the catwalk and still kept going."

And so began the 15-2 destruction of the Rays and the resuscitation of a battered Red Sox team that in the past six weeks saw its AL East lead over the Yankees shrink from 51/2 games to a half-game.

"They had to make a statement," Lugo said. "That's what they get paid for. This was a big game for them."

In front of two New York reporters waiting to record, perhaps, a switching of first- and second-place teams, Boston held off the victorious Yankees with an overwhelming 21-hit display.

Ortiz and Manny Ramirez each had two home runs. Trot Nixon had one. Those three and catcher Jason Varitek had four hits and combined for 12 RBIs. Four batters with four hits tied an AL record.

So complete was the rout, Rays manager Lou Piniella began emptying his bench in the fifth and even allowed Jorge Cantu to leave the park early.

The second baseman hit his 27th home run off starter Curt Schilling and had a sacrifice fly to the centerfield wall that allowed Carl Crawford to score from second. The two RBIs gave Cantu a team-record 109, surpassing Aubrey Huff's 2003 mark with which he was tied.

Other than that, nothing went right for the Rays, and they went especially wrong for starter Seth McClung.

The right-hander had his third straight bad outing and left after two innings and four batters, allowing seven runs on a career-high four home runs.

"I have to get better," said McClung, who has given up 17 runs in his past 91/3 innings for a 16.40 ERA. "Right now I really don't know what I need to do. I'm kind of lost. ... I want nothing more than to be the best, and I don't know how to go about it. Give me the formula and I'll do it."

Of the Red Sox, he said, "They're big strong guys paid to hit home runs. They earned their money."

After Ortiz's first blast, Ramirez homered 433 feet onto the roof of the Batter's Eye restaurant in centerfield for a 3-0 lead. Despite the players' 84 combined homers, it was the first time they went back-to-back.

In the third, Ortiz cranked his second two-run blast 451 feet into the children's play area in right-center. It was his 46th homer (with a majors-high 140 RBIs) and 10th vs. the Rays, a record against Tampa Bay.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona called it "a gorgeous swing from a very strong man."

He then credited first baseman John Olerud with this observation: "They need to put out a public address and tell the children to be careful."

Nixon, McClung's final batter, hit a two-run home run that made the score 7-1.

"They're Boston," Rays centerfielder Joey Gathright said. "They have some of the best hitters in the league. They came out ready to swing."

And ready to maintain their division lead they have held for 64 straight days.

"It'll probably come down to the last week in Boston," Piniella said of the Yankees-Red Sox race. "How much better planning is that?"

[Last modified September 21, 2005, 00:27:02]