Rolling With Ortiz

What I like best about this story is that it is exactly (and I mean exactly) the type of tale you'd read about Babe Ruth!

Big Papi Is Money -- Again
All-Star slugger goes deep twice as Boston avoids sweep
By Ian Browne / MLB.com

After yet another monster night, David Ortiz, fresh out of the shower, looked to the chair next to him and saw a stack of $20 bills.

"Is that my money?" Ortiz, a little confused, asked multiple times.

Coco Crisp finally came over and solved the mystery, grabbing the stack of bills and putting them in his wallet. Ortiz then busted out laughing and told reporters, "You know how I knew that wasn't my money?"

He then opened a container filled with $100 bills and bellowed out, "This is how I roll!"

Last night, Devil Rays rookie starter James Shields got Ortiz twice on changeups (a popup and a line out). So on his third AB, Tiz thought he'd see a changeup: "He should know I'm making adjustments. ... He fell in love with the same pitch." Ortiz hammered it to left for an opposite-field homer.

Ortiz now has 29 home runs. Since 1960, no Red Sox player has reached the All-Star break with 30 homers (Carl Yastrzemski hit 29 in the first half 1969). With 82 RBIs, Ortiz is close to Manny Ramirez's 2001 mark (again, since 1960) of 84. ... Ramirez and Ortiz have homered in the same game 39 times (Jim Rice and Dwight Evans hold the team record with 56).

Terry Francona believes in Jason Johnson: "I know he can get outs. Anybody who throws 90 mph with some sink can. But the consistency has to be better." So he's still in the rotation? "The only thing I can say is he's [starting] until he's not."

Tim Wakefield is thrilled to have an extra two days of rest before his next start: "The next six days will be a blessing for me ... I don't know what's causing it [sore back] but physically it's not allowing me to finish my pitches when I need to. ... It's in a different spot now. Before, it was in my lower back. Now, it's in between my scapula and my spine."

Matt Clement will not throw at all until next Thursday, at the earliest.