A few hours after saying he was “born to play against the Yankees,” David Ortiz and the rest of the Red Sox opened their three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. A win would have given the BoSox the AL East title.
That division title will have to wait for another day. The Yankees beat the Red Sox (NYY 6, BOS 4) in the series opener to keep their own minuscule postseason hopes alive. Rookie Tyler Austin hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning.
Ortiz made an impact in Tuesday’s game, but not in the way he normally does. Big Papi went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts, including going 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position. He also struck out to end the game with the tying run on base. Here’s the final out:
Down two runs with two runners on base and two outs in the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium? With all due respect to Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, and every other hitter on the planet, David Ortiz is the guy you want at the plate in that situation. He usually comes through too.
Ortiz had two other big opportunities to drive in runs earlier in the game as well. Here’s a quick breakdown of his at-bats Tuesday night:
First at-bat: Flew out to center field to end the first inning vs. Luis Cessa. The game was scoreless.
Second at-bat: Popped up to second with a runner on first for the first out of the fourth inning vs. Cessa. The Yankees led 2-0 at the time.
Third at-bat: Struck out with runners on second and third for the second out of the fourth inning vs. Cessa. The Yankees were up 3-1.
Fourth at-bat: Grounded out to short with runners on first and second to end the seventh inning vs. Blake Parker. The game was tied 4-4.
Fifth at-bat: Struck out with runners on first and second to end the game vs. Tyler Clippard. The Yankees were up 6-4.
Ortiz finished Tuesday’s game with -.281 win probability added, which essentially means he hurt the Red Sox’s chances of winning by 28.1 percent. In terms of WPA, Tuesday night was Ortiz’s third-worst game of the season.
