BOSTON - David Ortiz has been in the middle of some of Fenway Park’s greatest moments. None of them seemed more important to “Big Papi” than his role in one Saturday afternoon.
Ortiz helped the Red Sox honor the victims and the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings and then played in his first game since last summer, a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals capped by Daniel Nava’s three-run home run in the eighth inning.
The Red Sox wore white home jerseys with “Boston” on the front instead of the customary “Red Sox.” The shirts will be auctioned off for a fund to support victims of the bombings.
Kansas City players and staff wore a “B Strong” patch on the front of their jerseys. Neil Diamond sang Red Sox favorite “Sweet Caroline” before the bottom of the eighth.
“I think today was different because we haven’t been through what we’ve been through this past week,” Ortiz said. “Driving around and looking around at people’s faces, it was a very emotional day here. Just looking at those guys that were injured by those bombs going off and watching the news nearly every day, it was painful, very painful.”
Ortiz, 37, was 2 for 4 in his return, tying the score 1-1 with a sixth-inning RBI single off James Shields.
ANGELS 10, TIGERS 0 Mike Trout capped a nine-run first inning against Rick Porcello with his first career grand slam, Garrett Richards (1-0) pitched two-hit ball over seven innings and host Los Angeles routed Detroit.
TWINS 2, WHITE SOX 1 Ryan Doumit doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the 10thinning on Alexei Ramirez’s throwing error as visiting Minnesota beat Chicago.
YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 3 Toronto reliever Aaron Loup (1-1) made a two-run throwing error in the 11th inning and visiting New York beat Toronto.
INDIANS 19, ASTROS 6 Jason Giambi, Mark Reynolds and Carlos Santana homered, and visiting Cleveland routed Houston. Giambi had five RBI and Reynolds drove in four runs.
RANGERS 5, MARINERS 0 Derek Lowe (1-0) pitched four hitless innings in relief of injured starter Nick Tepesch, A.J. Pierzynski and David Murphy each hit home runs, and host Texas beat Seattle.
RAYS 1, ATHLETICS 0 Jeremy Hellickson (1-1) pitched seven strong innings and Matt Joyce hit a home run to help host Tampa Bay beat Oakland.
INTERLEAGUE ORIOLES 7-6, DODGERS 5-1 Wei-Yin Chen (1-2) pitched six innings of three-hit ball, Chris Davis and Manny Machado homered, and host Baltimore beat Los Angeles to complete a doubleheader sweep. The Orioles won the opener by rallying from a four-run deficit behind Nolan Reimold, who homered and hit a tie-breaking two-run double in the eighth inning.
NATIONAL LEAGUE REDS 3, MARLINS 2 Brandon Phillips hada game-ending sacrifice fly in the 13th inning, giving host Cincinnati a victory over Miami.
NATIONALS 7, METS 6 Bryce Harper hit two long home runs and doubled to lead visiting Washington over New York.
BREWERS 5, CUBS 1 Jonathan Lucroy homered, Hiram Burgos pitched five innings in his major-league debut and host Milwaukee defeated Chicago.
CARDINALS 5, PHILLIES 0 Lance Lynn (3-0) threw one-hit ball for seven innings and Carlos Beltran homered for the third consecutive game to lead visiting St. Louis to a victory over Philadelphia.
GIANTS 2, PADRES 0 Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run home run, Tim Lincecum (2-0) struck out a season-best eight batters, and host San Francisco beat San Diego.
PIRATES 3, BRAVES 1 James McDonald (2-2) pitched six dominant innings and Gaby Sanchez hit a tie-breaking two-run home run to lead host Pittsburgh to a victory over Atlanta.
ROCKIES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3 Jorge De La Rosa (2-1) pitched six innings of two-hit ball, Michael Cuddyer homered, and host Colorado defeated Arizona.
Saturday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 3, Miami 2 (13) Washington 7, NY Mets 6 Pittsburgh 3, Atlanta 1 St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 0 Milwaukee 5, Chicago Cubs 1 Colorado 4, Arizona 3 San Francisco 2, San Diego 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
NY Yankees 5, Toronto 3 (11) Boston 4, Kansas City 3 LA Angels 10, Detroit 0 Minnesota 2, Chicago White Sox 1 (10) Cleveland 19, Houston 6 Tampa Bay 1, Oakland 0 Texas 5, Seattle 0
INTERLEAGUE
Baltimore 7-6, LA Dodgers 5-2
Sports, Pages 28 on 04/21/2013