MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - David Ortiz insists he doesn’t want to participate in the Home Run Derby when the All-Star game comes to Target Field this summer, saying it’d be too much for his 38-year-old body to handle.
Instead, he’s holding his only personal home run derby here in May.
Ortiz homered twice for the second consecutive night to lead the Boston Red Sox past the Minnesota Twins 9-4 on Wednesday. Big Papi went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, one night after a four-hit performance against his former team.
Both of his home runs - off Kevin Correia (1-5) in the third and Caleb Theilbar in the fifth - traveled more than 400 feet into the right-field upper deck at Target Field, where he’s batting .528 (28 of 53) in 13 career games.
After the game, though, Ortiz wouldn’t bite when asked whether it means anything to hit like this against the team that let him go 12 years ago.
“You’ve got to play the same way against everybody,” he said. “You guys watch me every day. I come to the field with the same attitude every day. You’re not going to hit like that every day, it’s not going to happen.”
Don’t tell that to the Twins. In 56 games against Minnesota, Ortiz has a career average of .351 (75-for-214) with 19 homers and 49 RBIs.
“When you leave your original organization, that’s not a memory that doesn’t necessarily go away, no matter how that end came about, whether a roster decision or trade,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “Thankfully for the Red Sox he’s come this way.”
After his second 400-foot home run of the night landed in the upper deck, even the Minnesota crowd couldn’t help but show its appreciation for Ortiz’s latest display of power. With the game practically already out of reach, the Twins fans could only politely stand and clap as the Red Sox slugger rounded the bases for the fourth time in two nights and put Boston up 6-1 in the fifth.
The Twins finally retired him in the sixth when Anthony Swarzak got Ortiz swinging on a full count.
“It looks like he’s got the ball on a tee,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You can’t misfire like that. That’s what we’re doing, misfiring. We said we were going to pitch him tough, we haven’t pitched him tough.”
It was more than enough for Felix Doubront (2-3), who allowed a run on seven hits in 6 1-3 innings and retired nine straight at one point. Doubront hadn’t won since April 3 at Baltimore, his first start of the season.
“It feels good having him driving those runs for me,” Doubront said. “All of them, those runs . help me a lot. I was trying to go up there and get quick outs and finish quick.”
Ortiz, who also doubled in the first inning, moved into sole possession of third place on Boston’s all-time homers list (384) and recorded his 43rd career multi-homer game, 41 of which have come with the Red Sox.
“He’s hitting third for a reason,” Mike Napoli said. “He’s one of our best hitters. We depend on him and he’s locked in right now and it’s a good feeling when he’s up to bat.”
Trevor Plouffe hit his second homer of the year for Minnesota, a two-run shot in the ninth.
Joe Mauer’s sacrifice fly in the third scored Eduardo Escobar. Minnesota added an unearned run in the eighth after a throwing error by Burke Badenhop from the mound allowed Chris Parmelee to reach third, He eventually scored on Eduardo Nunez’s RBI single.
Grady Sizemore had two hits and a pair of RBIs; Dustin Pedroia, Will Middlebrooks and Napoli each drove in a run for Boston. A.J. Pierzynski added a two-run double in the ninth.
Notes: Ortiz’s 442 homers moved him into a tie with Dave Kingman for 39th place on baseball’s all-time home run list. . The Twins reinstated OF Oswaldo Arcia from the 15-day DL and optioned him to Triple-A Rochester. Arcia missed 33 games with a right wrist strain before playing a 12-game rehab assignment in Rochester. … Friday will be a big day for injured Twins players in Rochester. Gardenhire said OF Josh Willingham (broken wrist) will start a rehab assignment, and RHP Mike Pelfrey (groin) will start on Friday for the Red Wings. . The teams will play the rubber third game of their series Thursday when Clay Buchholz (2-3) - who is 3-1 in seven career starts against Minnesota - takes the mound for Boston. The Twins’ Phil Hughes (4-1) will try for his fifth straight win.
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