PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The crowd began chanting "Papi!" and David Ortiz responded, slamming a 1-2 pitch into the visitors bullpen in his rehab debut in Pawtucket last night as he tries to work his way back from a wrist injury that has kept him out of the lineup since May 31.
"That's my game," Ortiz said outside the PawSox clubhouse, meeting with reporters in the seventh inning before leaving the ballpark. "It feels good ... to be able to swing like that after an injury when I couldn't hold onto my bat."
Ortiz popped up to shortstop in his first time up. When he came to bat again to lead off the fourth inning, he fell behind 0-2 before the standing-room crowd began chanting his nickname; he homered over the right-field wall and into the Toledo Mud Hens bullpen to give Pawtucket a 1-0 lead.
"That's exactly what happens at Fenway," Ortiz said. "When they start chanting your name, it pumps you up and puts you in the mood."
Two batters later, Red Sox catching prospect George Kottaras hit a two-run homer as the PawSox scored seven runs in the fourth en route to a 15-0 lead. Pawtucket held on to beat Toledo 15-6.
Ortiz lined out to the first baseman in his third at-bat and walked in his fourth time up, taking his batting helmet off to acknowledge the standing ovation when he was lifted for a pinch runner. The crowd of 11,460 — there are only 10,031 seats at McCoy Stadium — was the fifth-largest in the ballpark's history.
"We could have sold 20,000 tickets to this one," said PawSox spokesman Bill Wanless, who noted that there was extra attention because the Red Sox had the night off and because Ortiz had never played in Pawtucket before, having come up through the minors in the Minnesota Twins system.
Fans wearing replicas of Ortiz's Red Sox jersey and other Big Papi-themed T-shirts were scattered throughout the ballpark about an hour south of Boston. They milled around on a hot night — until Ortiz came to the plate; then they stood and watched the big slugger, cheering his every move.
Known for his clutch hits in the 2004 playoffs as the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years, Ortiz was asked if he felt any pressure playing for the first time in six weeks in front of a crowd that was there only to see him.
"No. If I strike out, it would be like, 'Oh, he hasn't played in a while,'" he said with a laugh.
When Ortiz left the game, many of the fans followed. Even after the 15-run lead was trimmed to 15-5 in the top of the seventh, there wasn't enough suspense to keep more than a few thousand in the seats until the end.
Ortiz is scheduled to spend a week in the minors as he tries to work himself back into shape from a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist. He was originally scheduled to take Sunday off to rest, but he said he wanted to play all four games in Pawtucket before heading to Double-A Portland for three more.
Ortiz is expected to return to the Red Sox lineup on July 25 for the opener of a weekend series against the New York Yankees.
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