ST. LOUIS – Maybe David Ortiz could sense this World Series was starting to slip away, that his rowdy bunch of Boston Red Sox were just too quiet, too tense.
Someone needed to make some noise, and soon.
Who else but Big Papi?
Ortiz revved up the Red Sox with his bat and bark, helping Boston beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 Sunday night to tie the Series at 2-all.
“Sometimes you get to this stage and you try to overdo things,” he said. “And it doesn’t work that way.”
“I kept telling my boys … this is the World Series, this is the World Series. You don’t get to this level every day,” he said.
Ortiz delivered three more hits, boosting his stock as an October star. He hollered at his teammates from second base after a double in the fifth inning, then huddled them in the dugout before the sixth for a serious pep talk.
“It was like 24 kindergartners looking up at their teacher,” said Jonny Gomes, who hit a game-breaking, three-run homer moments later. “The message was pretty powerful.”
“He had everyone’s attention pretty quick,” he said. “And just gave us a little kick in the butt that we needed.”
Ortiz hustled home to score a run and even provided a bit of comic relief.
All said, a complete game for the designated hitter-turned-first baseman. And also a pretty impressive Series so far — Ortiz has eight of Boston’s 24 hits, and has reached base in 12 of 16 plate appearances against the St. Louis staff.
“I think they’re all watching and realizing that he’s tough to get out right now,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.
At 37, Ortiz is the last Red Sox player left from the historic sweep that ended across the street at the old Busch Stadium exactly nine years ago. He was also the only Boston hitter doing any damage for a while.
“I know we were better team than what we showed,” Ortiz said.
His broken-bat single off Lance Lynn’s leg was the lone Red Sox hit through four innings. So after he opened the fifth with a drive to right-center, he shouted to the Red Sox on the bench, waving his arms and urging them on.
“Just loosen up and play baseball the way we normally do,” he kept telling his guys.
Moments later, Ortiz lumbered home and scored, tying it at 1 when he was hit by left fielder Matt Holliday’s throw to the plate.
Before the sixth, Ortiz had another stroke of brilliance. He gathered the Red Sox in the dugout and held a high school-style huddle.
Praised Red Sox manager John Farrell: “It was meaningful.”
“Kind of a timely conversation he had with everybody,” he said.
Ortiz did his part at the plate that inning, drawing a two-out walk from Lynn. Gomes followed by greeting reliever Seth Maness with a three-run homer for a 4-1 lead.
“David Ortiz rallied us together,” Gomes said.
Ortiz added another single in the eighth and was pulled for a pinch-runner. He is 8 for 11 in this matchup and 17 for 39 overall in the World Series — at .436, he is second among all players with at least 40 plate appearances to Bobby Brown at .439.
“His career shows what he’s done,” Farrell said.
Along with telling his teammates to loosen up, Ortiz showed them how.
In the seventh, Daniel Descalso hit an infield popup to the right side. Ortiz and second baseman Dustin Pedroia both put up their gloves, and the ball drifted into the sky.
The sure-handed Pedroia tracked it the whole way. Ortiz, meanwhile, playfully stood in his spot with his arms in the air and let Pedroia make the catch.
It was, in fact, the only time Ortiz backed away all night.
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