The Orioles only intermittently were a nuisance to Bartolo Colon, who was staked to a 7-1 lead by the fourth inning, pitched into the seventh, and has won all three of his starts for the Sox this season. The Sox won without manager Terry Francona, who was back in Boston attending his daughter Leah's graduation from Brookline High School, but remain a game behind Tampa Bay in the AL East, the Rays having won their third straight from the Central-leading White Sox.
"After the game I had four or five messages from him," said Brad Mills, the bench coach who came away with a win for the first time in the three games he has substituted for Francona, having filled in for two losses here last month when Francona's mother-in-law died. "It was good. He was flying back [last night], and this should round out his day and make it a little nicer for him."
But while Ortiz was in high spirits before the game, loudly and profanely declaiming on Ramírez's Hall of Fame credentials, his fielding, and other topics, the Sox are faced with the possibility of an indefinite separation from their designated hitter, who ranks third in the American League in home runs with 13, including the three he hit in the first nine games of this 10-game trip.
For now, the team is calling the injury a strain.
"I don't have any swelling," said Ortiz, who underwent treatment yesterday and sported a removable brace, "but there's a little click going on in there that's not normal."
Ortiz said he felt "a little pop" when he lined a 3-and-2 pitch foul in the ninth inning of Boston's 6-3 win Saturday night. "I've never felt anything like it, and I've been swinging my whole life."
Some players, like Drew, have injured their wrists while checking their swings. "That's what the doctors told me, too," Ortiz said. "But this was a full, Big Papi swing. I took my normal swing, and 'pop.' "
