Swings sway it Red Sox' way

Eighth-inning homers produce a split of series

August 22, 2005|Globe Staff

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The shocks came, one after another on consecutive at-bats, and it is fair game to guess which registered higher on the Richter scale: Edgar Renteria's first home run since summer arrived, or David Ortiz's first bunt single since when, the beginning of time?

No, Big Papi assured one and all, after a 5-1 Red Sox win that gave Boston's traveling salvation show (the miracle came an inning later, with second baseman Tony Graffanino's juggling, behind-the-back catch) a split of this four-game series with the Angels, that he had indeed bunted once before, in a situation that urgently required some creativity on his part. Ortiz was playing in winter ball in the Dominican Republic, in his first professional season, the game was in extra innings, and he was due at a party. With a runner on second, Ortiz surprised pitcher Fred Rath, a friend in the Twins' system, by laying one down, and surprised him even more by beating it out.

''When he saw that I bunted," Ortiz said, ''he said, 'SOB, how do you do that to me? But the next guy hit a fly ball, we won the game, and I went to my party."

Ortiz's eighth-inning bunt against an overshifted Angels defense that had held him to one hit in 15 trips during this four-game series was followed by a two-run home run by Manny Ramirez, his 33d of the season. But the celebration in the Sox dugout actually had begun moments before when Renteria, who had not hit a home run since June 22 (199 at-bats ago), dropped a fly ball over the left-field fence for a three-run homer off righthander Paul Byrd that broke a scoreless tie.

''I thought it was kind of appropriate," manager Terry Francona said of Renteria's home run, ''because he'd hit so many balls well on this road trip, and to finally get enough of one to hit one out of here, obviously in a part of the game where we were dying for a hit, I thought that was great."

The once and (it is hoped) not the future closer, Curt Schilling, came on in the ninth to register the final three outs, but not before Graffanino's sleight of hand, in which his lunging backhanded attempt at Adam Kennedy's floater into short center field resulted in the ball bouncing off his glove, caroming off his arm, then remaining airborne long enough for him to reach behind and catch it on the second try.

''I had the sun all the way," Graffanino said. ''I was hoping Johnny [Damon] would call me off, but I didn't hear anything. I saw it, it hit my glove, and I just turned to pick it back up."

Where did that rate in degree of difficulty?

''It was a 10 all the way around, from execution to difficulty," Schilling said admiringly. ''That's huge. Those are game-turners right there."