The team isn't taking any chances, Francona said. Ortiz is flying back to Boston today to be examined by doctors.
``David had a recurrence of the thing he had the other day," said Francona. ``We sat down with him, Theo and I, [trainer] Paul Lessard.
``We honestly think he's OK, [but] we can't play him like that. Can't do it. He's going to go back to Boston [today]. He's going to get a clean bill of health before we let him play again.
``We just can't do it. I know Theo's in agreement with me. We sat in here with him. As much as we want to win, we can't do it. Just want to make sure he's OK."
Francona said Ortiz was not taken to a hospital here last night. Instead, he returned to the team's hotel, and will fly out this morning.
Francona said he became aware of Ortiz's condition about ``an hour, hour and a half" before the game.
``He wanted to play," Francona said. ``Just can't do it."
Red Sox outfielder Wily Mo Peña said that Ortiz had told him he was feeling the symptoms again.
``He told me it was still bothering him," Peña said. ``It's going `boom, boom, boom' and he doesn't know where it's coming from. Everybody's worried, especially him. He was in a good mood today, but then it started to bother him."
Indeed, Ortiz was in great spirits before the game, laughing and joking with Francona and performance enhancement counselor Don Kalkstein about the team's fantasy football league.
``This game is nothing when it comes to somebody's health and somebody's family," reliever Mike Timlin said. ``You don't play games with people's lives. I knew he was in the lineup and then out of it. That's all we know. All I can do is pray for him."
The on-field performance, meanwhile, continued to be the baseball equivalent of coyote ugly, when a baseball team is so unsightly that a manager chews a hole in his own cheek.
