In his usual heroic fashion, David Ortiz hits a prodigious, walk-off home run to lift Boston over Anaheim and increase its lead to four games over the Yankees.

09:21 AM EDT on Wednesday, September 7, 2005

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- The snapshots painted the picture beautifully, dramatically capturing the euphoric, titanic, walk-off homer generated by David Ortiz that produced a 3-2 Boston Red Sox victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim with one out in the bottom of the ninth at Fenway Park last night.

Ortiz's sweet swing, connecting on just the right plane with tremendous bat speed and a fully extended follow-through on an inside 3-and-2 fastball from Scot Shields, sending the baseball deep into the runway between the right-field sections.

At the crack of the bat, Shields, never looking at the ball's majestic flight, starting off the mound, head down as he walked toward the Angels' dugout on the third-base side of the field.

Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero rotating his hips a bit, but he knew in an instant there was no need for him to go back on the ball because Ortiz's bomb was long gone.

The Sox jubilantly piling out of their dugout to greet Big Papi at the plate.

Ortiz, tearing off his helmet as he rounded third base, knowing he was going to take a pounding from his teammates and hoping they'd be more gentle with him if he wasn't wearing his hard hat.

The homer, Ortiz's 38th of the year, which improved his major-league-leading RBI total to 120, delivered a well deserved complete-game win to Tim Wakefield. In the process, Ortiz atoned for a strikeout with runners at second and third with none out in the seventh

and enabled the Red Sox to stretch their American league East lead to four games over the New York Yankees.

And Ortiz's blast also offered a little déja vu for the Ortiz, the Sox, their fans and the Angels.

Last Oct. 8, Ortiz lofted the first pitch from Jarrod Washburn over the Green Monster in the 10th inning of Game 3 of the A.L. Division Series, giving Boston a 6-4 walkoff victory and a sweep of the series.

"That gave me some flashbacks," said Ortiz with a big smile.

Ortiz's walkioff heroics have not just come at the Angels' expense.

He also clubbed a walkoff homer, another two-run shot, in the 12th inning of Game 4 of the A.L. Championship Series against the Yankees' Paul Quantrill last fall, starting the Red Sox on their way to their improbable comeback in the series, a comeback he continued with a walkoff single in the 14th inning the following day against Esteban Loaiza.

For his career, Ortiz now has five regular-season walkoff homers, including a pair this year. His other one came against Baltimore's B.J. Ryan on June 2.

Call him Mr. Clutch. The Red Sox do.

"It's incredible how he does it," said Wakefield. "He's Mr. Clutch. He proved it last year in the postseason and he did it again tonight. I told Manny (Ramirez, before the Sox batted in the ninth), you're going to win this thing, and he said, 'No, David said he's going to win it.' "

"If there's a better clutch hitter in the game I'd like to see him," added catcher Doug Mirabelli.

"You never get tired of it," added manager Terry Francona. "We've talked about it before but it's a pleasure to revisit it. He puts the barrel of the bat on the ball, and man, we've seen it so many times. You'd like to be up eight runs, but when you've got guys like that to hit, you're always one swing away (from a win). That's a pretty good feeling."

AP photo

David Ortiz points to the Red Sox dugout after hitting a clutch home run in the bottom of the ninth inning last night off Angels reliever Scot Shields.

Ortiz wasn't feeling so hot by the time the ninth rolled around. He still was thinking about being whiffed by Brendan Donnelly in a key spot in the seventh.

"I felt terrible, especially the way Wakefield was pitching. You want to do something for the guy," said Ortiz.

For a while it looked as if Shields would pitch around Ortiz in the ninth. The first three pitches were off the plate. The next two were tough sinkers outside that Ortiz fouled off to the left side. But when Shields tried to come inside with a fastball, Ortiz was ready. And how.

"When I have in my mind you have a good fastball, I always have that in the back of my head," said Ortiz.

Ortiz got his fastball and knew what to do with it. How far did it travel? It looked as if it went 600 feet, but it didn't even measure up to Ted Williams's red-seat blast, which is said to be 502 feet.

"I hit this ball good, but it didn't go that far to the Williams seat. I think it had to go 25 more rows," said Ortiz, still beaming. "I'm taking Vladdy (his countryman and friend) home tonight. I'll ask him how far it went."

It went far enough, further reinforcing Ortiz's stature as one of the game's top clutch hitters.