David Ortiz Homers to End Drought, Sox Win

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox, Top Story ⋅ May 21, 2009 at 7:32am ⋅ Post a comment

In what seemed like an eternity, over the course of 149 long at bats, David Ortiz finally cracked the big one in at bat #150. In the fifth inning Wednesday night against Toronto starter Brett Cecil, Ortiz slammed a deep blast to the hardest part of the park to hit a home run – straightaway center field – to end his historic homerless streak that dated back to last season. Papi’s HR gave the Sox a 5-0 lead on thier way to an 8-3 victory.

Ortiz’s home run seemed to invigorate the rest of his teammates, who launched four other homers in a nice power display against the first place Blue Jays. Jason Varitek hit two bombs in his first multi-homer game since 2005. Joining Tek was Mike Lowell and Jason Bay, who each hit home runs to help the Sox pull within 1.5 games of the Blue Jays for first place in the AL East.

Brad Penny had another strong start for the Sox, tossing six scoreless innings before allowing two runs in the seventh inning. He finished with two runs allowed in 6.2 IP to run his record to 4-1 overall.

Sox Stud of the Game

David Ortiz, DH: I don’t care if Varitek had two home runs, I’m giving this nod to David Ortiz. He deserves it after a 2-5 effort that included his first home run of 2009 and two RBIs. He also knocked his average up to .210.

Sox Dud of the Game

Rocco Baldelli, RF: It’s hard to pick on anyone. Everyone in the Sox lineup had a hit, including Baldelli. Rocco hit a triple, but did not score a run or have an RBI. He also stranded four runners.

Game Notes

W: Brad Penny (4-1)
L: Brett Cecil (2-1)

The Sox scored six runs in the fifth inning to blow the game wide open.
Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hit streak to 15 games and recorded 12 putouts, tying the all-time record for putouts by an outfielder in a nine-inning game (done twice previously).
Kevin Youkilis was activated off the DL, and went 3-5 in the win.