A day after the Marlins treated the Red Sox like the proverbial 98-pound weakling, ending Boston's 12-game winning streak, the Sox struck back with a vengeance, bashing the Floridians, 11-5, before a crowd of 38,014 that was treated to a Home Run Derby nine days before the real one in Pittsburgh.
Ramírez and Ortiz hit two home runs apiece -- Manny in the first, Papi in the third, Papi in the fourth, Manny in the sixth (the last three coming off former Sox prospect Anibal Sanchez) -- before both strongmen were given the rest of the night off.
Having hit two homers apiece in the same game for the second time with the Sox -- Ortiz raising his season total to 25 (one behind league leader Jim Thome) Ramírez up to 22, including six in his last dozen games -- both players took advantage of Terry Francona's early-release program to leave before the clubhouse doors were opened to outsiders.
But there are other ways of gauging the players' reaction to their show of force. Third base coach DeMarlo Hale sees it every time they go deep.
``Papi kind of smacks his hands, smacks his hands wide open, he just gives a real flat hand out so I can smack it," Hale said of how Ortiz makes his turn around third base after a homer. ``Manny comes around so fast sometimes, I'm backing up. I just get a hand out there and he shakes it and keeps going. These guys don't have a lot of handshakes and rituals. They act like they've done it before."
While souvenir collectors had a field day, so did hardball historians. Ramírez's first home run, a three-run, opposite-field number off Marlins starter Brian Moehler that landed a dozen or so rows inside the right-field foul pole, was the 2,000th hit of his career. If Ramírez wanted a token from his night, the crack Marlins staff successfully retrieved the ball from an accommodating fan, one Ron Muram of neighboring Lauderhill, who gave it up for two baseballs and the promise of an autographed bat signed by the author of the moment.
