Changeup to begin the at-bat for a ball. A second changeup for a ball. A fastball for a ball. A changeup for a called strike.
''I guess he threw a changeup to slow me down," Ortiz said. ''I wasn't giving up on that fastball."
He got it on 3 and 1 and sent it in the direction of a shimmering moon hanging over right-center at Comerica Park, tying the game at 3-3 and prolonging to extra innings what looked to be a 2-hour-10-minute pitching clinic by the Tigers. Ortiz's homer was only the Sox' third hit of the night.
In a cathartic 10th inning, a night after Detroit scored three runs in its last at-bat to beat Curt Schilling, the Sox battered three relievers, scoring seven runs on seven hits, including two home runs, for a 10-3 lead.
It ended 10-7, after lefthander Mike Remlinger (3 appearances with the Sox, 1 IP, 5 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 1 K) loaded the bases and became the victim of Craig Monroe's first career grand slam in the bottom of the 10th.
The win vaulted the Sox back to 4 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees, on a night when New York's Scott Proctor walked in the winning run on four pitches in Tampa Bay.
Remlinger's difficulties are something the club has to be concerned with. But they didn't cost the Sox the game, and manager Terry Francona can thank his inimitable lineup for that.
Ortiz, for the second time in five days, homered in back-to-back innings. Last night, he hit the solo homer in the ninth and a three-run blast in the 10th that expanded a 5-3 lead to 8-3. The second homer gave him 31 for the season, with 105 RBIs. Friday at Fenway, Ortiz broke a 5-5 tie with a homer in the seventh, then tacked on a three-run blast (that proved the game-winner) in the eighth.
Two batters after Ortiz connected in the 10th, Jason Varitek yanked a two-run shot to right, his second homer of the game, this one lefthanded after going deep in the second inning batting righthanded. The Sox catcher -- is there anyone better in baseball at his position? -- has homered 20 times this season and could eclipse Carlton Fisk's team record for a catcher (26).
Varitek had never homered from both sides of the plate in the big leagues.
''It's been a long time," he said. ''Since Triple A."
