CLEVELAND (AP) - As David Ortiz strolled to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning, Mike Napoli cringed.
“I didn’t like it at all,” said the former Red Sox first baseman. “He’s a great hitter and he can pop it out of the park at any time.”
Just not this time.
Ortiz, who hit the second homer of his farewell season earlier in the game, sent a deep fly into the swirling winds in left field. Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez stumbled backward, turned the wrong way and snagged Ortiz’s drive with a running catch on the warning track to preserve the Indians’ 7-6 win over Boston on Tuesday night.
With the ball in his glove, Ramirez, normally an infielder, threw both arms in the air in celebration.
The final play made Indians manager Terry Francona’s heart skip.
“Might have even stopped,” he cracked.
Napoli homered against his former Boston teammates and the Indians overcame Ortiz’s homer and two comebacks by the Red Sox, who were down 4-0 in the first and 5-2 in the second.
But after rallying to take the lead in the sixth on back-to-back homers by Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez, Boston’s usually dependable bullpen allowed the Indians to tie it on Juan Uribe’s sacrifice fly in the sixth and Napoli’s homer off Junichi Tazawa in the seventh.
“I felt like we were in good shape, a tie ballgame in the seventh inning with the bullpen set up the way it was,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “Things were looking to be in our favor.”
Napoli broke a 6-all tie in the seventh with his shot into the left-field bleachers off Tazawa (0-1). Napoli, signed as a free agent in November to give the Indians’ lineup some pop, spent 2 1/2 seasons with Boston and helped the Red Sox win the World Series in 2013. Batting just .207, they traded him to Texas in August.
“We all know he’s got pop,” Ortiz said. “That’s the Nap we all know.”
Carlos Santana hit a three-run homer off Boston’s Clay Buchholz, who made his first start since July 10, when he was shut down for the season with a strained elbow.
Ortiz has started his 20th season in fitting fashion. Big Papi, who has always had dramatic flair, hit a two-run homer in Tuesday’s weather-delayed season opener and then kick-started the Red Sox rally in the sixth. According to Elias, Ortiz joined Red Sox legend Ted Williams as the only players over 40 to homer in each of their team’s first two games.
“That’s not going to make me feel any younger,” Ortiz joked.
Ortiz led off the sixth with his 423-foot shot - No. 505 for his career - to move past Eddie Murray for 26th place on the career list.
In the ninth, Ortiz thought his shot left was headed for the wall.
“I think everything I hit has a chance,” Ortiz said.
Brock Holt added a two-run homer for Boston, which grabbed the lead in the sixth on two homers, a wind-blown double, two walks, a sacrifice fly and a RBI groundout.
Santana connected for his three-run homer in the first off Buchholz, who quickly fell into a 4-0 hole in his first start since last July. It wasn’t the return Buchholz had been hoping for after his 2015 season was cut short after 18 starts before he was shut down.
Buchholz allowed five runs and six hits in four-plus innings.
“That first inning is what stands out,” Buchholz said. “Take that away we have a lot better chance of winning
PANDA WATCH
Pablo Sandoval, who lost his starting job at third in spring training to Travis Shaw, pinch-hit in the seventh and lined out to center in his only at-bat.
HOME COOKING
Shaw, an Ohio native who went to school at nearby Kent State, has hit safely in all eight career games against Cleveland. He’s batting 467 (14 of 30) versus the Indians.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (sore right knee) is scheduled to throw a simulated game in Florida on Sunday. He didn’t pitch in spring training after being injured during a fielding drill on Feb. 27.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Joe Kelly starts the series finale before the Red Sox head to Toronto. Kelly, who went 10-6 in his first season with Boston, made his major league debut against Cleveland in 2012 with St. Louis. In his last outing spring training, Kelly allowed three home runs in four innings.
Indians: RHP Danny Salazar won 14 games last season after beginning the year at Triple-A Columbus. He’s 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two career starts against the Red Sox.
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