Papi's 2 HRs, 7 RBIs lead Sox's rout of Tigers
BOSTON -- David Ortiz smacked two three-run homers and finished with a career-high seven RBIs to carry the Red Sox to an 11-1 win over the Tigers in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday night at Fenway Park.
Boston scored more than four runs for the first time since July 12, a span of 10 games, and banged out a season-high 20 hits. Meanwhile, rookie left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez held Detroit to one run on three hits over seven innings.
"Big night for David, big night for us offensively overall," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "David was all over the baseball. Two beautiful swings on those two three-run homers."
Tigers right-hander Shane Greene allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings and provided little respite for an overworked bullpen, which surrendered another six runs in the blowout. The Detroit lineup was held under three runs for the third time since Thursday.
"There's really not much to say. They beat the crap out of us," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "They hit. We didn't pitch. We didn't hit. That's usually a recipe for a loss."
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MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Who's your Papi? Ortiz belted a three-run homer to right field in the fifth to give Boston a 4-1 lead. Two innings later, he hit a three-run homer into the Green Monster seats in left-center to make it 11-1. Ortiz, who took a well-earned curtain call, notched his 48th career multi-homer game and his first since Sept. 19, 2014.
"I feel good," Ortiz said. "One of those nights where I got pitches to hit and put a good swing on it." More >
Video: Must C Combo: Ortiz launches two homers vs. Tigers
Shane shelled again: Though Greene took the mound in the fifth inning with the game tied at 1-1, Boston ended his night only one-out later by tagging him for four runs on five hits, including three of the extra-base variety. The 26-year-old owns a 6.72 ERA in his first season with the Tigers and has given up 39 earned runs over his last seven starts, none of which has lasted more than 5 2/3 innings.
"He just started leaving balls up, and they started taking advantage of it," Detroit catcher James McCann said. "Early on, he was down in the zone, making pitches. There in the inning where he got in trouble, stuff just kind of started leaking out over the middle of the plate and elevated." More >
Video: DET@BOS: Greene induces forceout to work out of 1st
Bat men: During the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, the Red Sox scored 10 times and sent 24 men to the plate. Five players reached base in both the fifth and the sixth innings -- Xander Bogaerts, Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval and Mike Napoli -- and Bogaerts and Ortiz had hits in three straight frames.
Video: DET@BOS: Bogaerts goes 4-for-5 in win over Tigers
Castellanos crushes one: Sunday's game offered little in the way of scoring for the Tigers, but third baseman Nick Castellanos proved to be the exception when he launched a solo shot into the center-field seats in the fifth inning. The home run was Castellanos' fourth in the last six games, a span in which he is batting .364 with nine RBIs.
Video: DET@BOS: Castellanos ties game at 1 with solo homer
QUOTABLE
"He'd be hugging me all night." -- Ortiz, on what Hall of Fame inductee and former teammate Pedro Martinez would have done if he were in the Red Sox's dugout on Sunday
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"I would say you look at the roster you'd say that's a little bit surprising. We haven't had [Miguel Cabrera] for the majority of that. Again, if you're giving up that many runs, it makes it tough for any offense, even one of the best offenses in the game." -- Ausmus, on the Tigers' inability to record consecutive wins in July
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Ortiz set a career single-game high and became the first Red Sox player to drive in seven runs since Will Middlebrooks on Sept. 25, 2013, in Colorado. Ortiz also passed three Hall of Famers on the all-time RBI list -- Rogers Hornsby, Al Kaline and Harmon Killebrew -- to stand alone at No. 38 with 1,587.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
With one out and runners on first and second in the second inning, Blake Swihart chopped a comebacker to Greene that resulted in a 1-6-3 double play. Farrell challenged the out call at first base, but the decision was confirmed by replay review.
Video: DET@BOS: Challenge confirms inning-ending double play
WHAT'S NEXT
Tigers: The Tigers begin a three-game series against the Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday night. Right-hander Anibal Sanchez, who is 7-2 with a 3.30 ERA over his last 10 starts, will take the mound for Detroit in the series opener, set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
Red Sox: Boston will send right-hander Joe Kelly to the mound on Monday in the first of four games against the White Sox at Fenway Park. Kelly has gone four straight outings without a quality start, watching his ERA swell to 5.74. Southpaw John Danks gets the nod for Chicago, with first pitch at 7:10 p.m. ET.
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