NOTEBOOK Yankees vs. Red Sox

Ortiz in record books: David Ortiz is the only player in baseball history to hit two game-ending homers in the same postseason. A week ago, his extra-inning homer sealed the clincher as Boston swept the Anaheim Angels out of the first round. Ortiz hit .301 during the season and was second in the AL with 41 homers and 139 RBIs. He leads the Red Sox this series with a .471 average and six RBIs and has a slugging percentage of .765.
Penned in: The beleaguered Boston bullpen responded from Saturday night's pounding by shutting out the New York Yankees for the final 5 2/3 innings in Game 4. Boston closer Keith Foulke pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief after Mike Timlin allowed the Yankees to grab a 4-3 lead in the sixth. "We were down 3-0," said Foulke, who came into the game with one out in the seventh inning. "You do whatever you can do to win." After Foulke, Alan Embree worked 1 2/3 innings, and Mike Myers walked the only batter he faced before winning pitcher Curtis Leskanic got the final four outs. He escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the 11th. "[Foulke] just picked up the bullpen," said Leskanic, who allowed three runs and got one out in Saturday's 19-8 loss. "Their bullpen did a great job," New York's Derek Jeter said. "They made pitches when they had to. We definitely let some opportunities get by."
Olerud out: John Olerud hobbled out of the clubhouse on crutches, his left foot heavily wrapped. The New York first baseman sat out Sunday night with a bruised instep, and might be sidelined for a while. "Just don't want to put a lot of weight on it. It's pretty sore," Olerud said. "We'll just treat it real hard and hopefully it will loosen up." Tony Clark started at first base and batted eighth in Game 4. The knob of Olerud's bat apparently struck the inside of his foot Saturday night as he stumbled out of the batter's box after grounding out to end the top of the sixth inning. He left Game 3 immediately and was replaced by Clark. "John is not very mobile," manager Joe Torre said Sunday. X-rays were negative, but Olerud said he might have more tests soon. For now, the injury is being treated with ice, stimulation and compression wraps. "It stiffened up pretty good. I feel like I might as well stay off it while it's tender," he said.
No idiots: Red Sox manager Terry Francona said there was no reason to have a team meeting before the game, even though Boston was facing elimination. No major league team has ever come back to win a best-of-7 series after losing the first three games. "They know how our staff feels," Francona said before Game 4. "They try as hard as they can, even when things are not good. So I don't think they need to go drop a new rock on them. I know they call themselves idiots, but they're smart enough to know if they lose, we'll go home." Francona said the team held only two brief meetings during the season, each lasting about 30 seconds. "There was no throwing any tables or throwing the [food] or anything like that," he said. In postseason history, only five of the previous 25 teams that fell behind 3-0 avoided a sweep. The Red Sox were swept the only two times they trailed 3-0 in the ALCS. The Oakland Athletics bounced Boston both times, in 1988 and '90.
Shuffle: Francona made a slight change to his lineup for Game 4. He dropped struggling second baseman Mark Bellhorn from second to ninth, switching spots with shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Bellhorn, who went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts, was just 1-for-12 in the ALCS with six strikeouts -- four in Saturday's 19-8 loss -- before the switch. Overall in the postseason, Bellhorn is just 2-for-25 with 12 strikeouts. He set a club record with 177 strikeouts during the regular season, surpassing Butch Hobson's total of 162 in 1977. Cabrera was batting .292 in the playoffs with six RBIs, including a two-run double Saturday night that tied the score at 6. He went 3-for-4 in Game 3 and was hitting .455 in the ALCS. In Sunday's win, he was just 1-for-6. "Cabrera swung the bat so well [Saturday] night, maybe we could use that to our advantage," Francona said.
Associated Press