Ortiz fouled off three straight two-strike pitches from Jose Veras, stopping at one point to get a towel and wipe his face. He then grounded to shortstop, an anticlimactic ending to a dramatic moment.
“What can you do? You just go out there and battle,’’ Ortiz said after the Pi rates beat the Sox, 3-1.
Ortiz exemplifies what the Sox have been going through of late. One of the hottest hitters in baseball earlier this month, he is hitless in his last 11 at-bats and hasn’t gotten a ball out of the infield.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, have dropped three straight and four of their last six. An offense that was unstoppable a few days ago has scored two runs in the last 19 innings. The Sox left 11 runners on base last night, going hitless in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“We had it going so good for so long,’’ Francona said. “You want the good streaks to be long and the bad ones to be short.’’
Interleague play has traditionally been a time for the Sox to pile up victories. But they are 5-5 this season with eight road games left to play. That means using Ortiz once a night or putting the defensively challenged designated hitter at first base.
“We miss David, but we knew this was coming. We still have to find a way to score,’’ shortstop Marco Scutaro said. “This team is still good enough to score some runs.’’
Paul Maholm (4-8) and five relievers held the Sox scoreless over the final eight innings. Other than the ninth, when Joel Hanrahan retired the side in order for his 21st save, the Sox had runners on base every inning.
With Ortiz on the bench to start the game, Darnell McDonald batted fifth for the first time in his career. He left six runners on base and ended three innings before starting the eighth with a single.
“It hurts,’’ said McDonald, who lined out with a runner on second in the first inning, grounded into a force with the bases loaded in the third, and flied to center with two on in the fifth.
