He thought the ground ball he ripped down the line that ate up Twins first baseman Joe Mauer was a hit.

It didn’t dawn on David Ortiz until he was walking off the field between the seventh and eighth innings of the Red Sox’ 2-1 win over the Twins on Wednesday afternoon.

David Ortiz gestured toward the official scorer in the press box after the seventh inning Wednesday. He was upset the scorer ruled an error instead of a hit on his at-bat in the inning.

“It was so hard-hit, man,” Ortiz said. “I mean, what else is Mauer to do? He dove for the ball. He knocked it down.”

It took a while for the ruling to come down from the official scorer.

Just before Mike Napoli grounded into an inning-ending double play, the error showed up on the scoreboard.


As Ortiz walked slowly off the field, he stared up at the Fenway Park press box, thumbs down, to let the scorer know how he felt.

“What is he watching?” Ortiz said afterward. “He’s not watching the same ballgame that everybody’s watching, I guess.”

Having what he felt was a hit taken away from him has happened before to Ortiz.

“People are supposed to have your back at home, and it never happens,” said Ortiz, who hit his 16th homer in the 10th inning, the first of back-to-back shots that won the game. “It’s always like that. I’ve been here more than a decade and the scorekeepers here are always horrible. This is home, man.”

In the top of the eighth inning, while he was in the dugout, Ortiz continued to glare at the press box, shouting his disapproval.

“Got to make it clear,” Ortiz said. “It’s not my first rodeo, man. You know how hard it is to get a hit, man?”

In May, after Ortiz hit a fly ball to right field against the Rangers in Texas that was misplayed and broke up Yu Darvish’s perfect game, Ortiz appealed the official scorer’s initial ruling that the play was an error. It was changed to a hit five days later.


In 2011, Ortiz burst in on then-manager Terry Francona’s pregame news conference after a Fenway official scorer took away an RBI from the night before.

“I always look like I am the bad guy, but they always end up changing it,” Ortiz said. “So, don’t be just checking on Papi, check on the scorekeeper to see what he’s doing wrong. It’s something that’s getting out of control.”

Sox manager John Farrell said there might be some frustration for Ortiz, who came into the game hitting .186 for the month with nine strikeouts.

“He’s in a stretch where he’s working on some things mechanically at the plate,” Farrell said. “Certainly there’s some frustration that comes to the surface. You get a chance to talk to him once things calm down. But David’s a competitor as we all know, and an ultimate competitor. He’s working through some things right now.”

Ortiz didn’t carry the grievance with him to the plate in the 10th inning, however, when he provided the tying run.

“David’s got such a way of putting behind him what happened and come back with a clean slate and a calm mind,” Farrell said.

Appeal denied

Brandon Workman learned before Wednesday’s game that Major League Baseball upheld its decision to suspend him for six games for throwing behind Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria with a pitch last month.

Workman appealed the suspension last week and will miss his next scheduled start on Friday in Oakland.


While Farrell said the Sox plan on announcing Workman’s replacement on Thursday, Felix Doubront has been told to be prepared to pitch.

“They haven’t told me anything,” said Doubront. “Just be ready for Friday.”

Doubront has been on the disabled list since May 21 with a left shoulder strain. He’s made one rehab start with Double A Portland and two with Triple A Pawtucket this month.

“I’m just ready to come back,” Doubront said. “I think this is the time.”

In his last rehab start, Doubront pitched five no-hit innings with 10 strikeouts and four walks, throwing 50 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

“Time off got me more power in my arm,” Doubront said. “More concentration, more focus, more power. I worked my days off — the shoulder and back and conditioning — and getting strong to come back.”

Slow going

Shane Victorino was in Pawtucket’s lineup for the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader “just because he’s played a total of eight innings there in two days,” Farrell said.

Farrell said there’s a possibility of Victorino (strained right hamstring) being activated while the Sox are in Oakland or Seattle.

“We’re still somewhat incomplete because of the schedule being interrupted and getting a full read on how he reacts to a full nine-inning game,” Farrell said. “We haven’t gotten there yet.”

Will Middlebrooks (fractured index finger) also played the first game and went 2 for 5 with two runs. Victorino went 0 for 2. He was replaced by a pinch-hitter in the fourth.


Colbrunn at home

Hitting coach Greg Colbrunn, who suffered a brain hemorrhage on June 4 in Cleveland, was released from the Cleveland Clinic and is resting at his South Carolina home . . . The 10th-inning homer Koji Uehara allowed snapped a streak of 21 scoreless innings. He hadn’t allowed a run since May 1 against Tampa Bay . . . The 13 runs allowed by the Sox were their fewest in a homestand of at least seven games since 1978 . . . Ortiz now has nine career extra-inning home runs.