Papi’s punch not a KO
Cards bounce off mat after Ortiz’s HR, even Series
BOSTON — The Yankees claim Reggie Jackson as Mr. October, but David Ortiz is carving his own distinction as a clutch postseason performer for the Red Sox.
Ortiz continued his knack for providing postseason heroics Thursday night when he cranked a two-run home run in the sixth inning.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the Cardinals capitalized on consecutive miscues to score three runs in the seventh inning and held on for a 4-2 victory, evening the World Series 1-1.
Game 3 is Saturday night in St. Louis.
Ortiz’s homer, his second in as many games, fifth in World Series play and his 17th in postseason play, briefly swung the momentum in the Red Sox’s favor.
Before Ortiz’s homer, rookie Michael Wacha held the Red Sox scoreless, but he started to labor as he issued his fourth walk to Dustin Pedroia before Ortiz hit his drive that barely cleared the Green Monster in left field on Wacha’s 103rd pitch.
But the Cardinals, who paid dearly for their mistakes in an 8-1 loss in Game 1, responded quickly in the seventh.
With one out, they loaded the bases before Matt Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly to left to score the tying runs. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia failed to catch Jonny Gomes’ throw and was charged with an error as Pete Kozma scored. Reliever Craig Breslow, backing up the play, compounded the mistake by sailing a throw over third base in an attempt to nail Jon Jay, who scored the go-ahead run.
Valuable Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran, who was cleared to play only two hours before the game, capped the rally with an RBI single to right.
Beltran, who suffered a right rib bruise that caused him to leave Game 1 in the middle of the third inning, was pronounced ready to play after taking a few swings, but he didn’t take batting practice with his teammates.
Beltran immediately showed he was healthy enough to bat by poking a single into left field that grazed off the glove of Gomes.
The return of Beltran enabled manager Mike Matheny to keep Allen Craig as the Cardinals’ designated hitter rather than put him in the field after he had missed six weeks because of an ankle injury before returning in Game 1. Craig likely will return to the field when the Series shifts to Busch Stadium, where the DH won’t be used.In an effort to bolster the Cardinals’ defense, Matheny replaced Kozma, who committed two errors in Game 1, in favor of Daniel Descalso at shortstop.
Descalso started a double play to help Wacha get out of a jam in the fourth. Kozma, who entered the game in the seventh as a pinch runner and scored the tying run, alertly fielded a grounder that grazed reliever Carlos Martinez and retired Stephen Drew in the bottom of the inning.
Wacha entered Thursday’s game with a scoreless streak of 132⁄ innings.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Matt Holliday’s triple to deep center field and a groundout by Yadier Molina.