DETROIT — Torii Hunter said his body ached from ankle to neck Monday afternoon after tumbling into a Fenway Park bullpen chasing David Ortiz’s grand slam in Game 2 of the ALCS Sunday in Boston.
And while the veteran right fielder insisted he would have played if Game 3 was Monday night instead of Tuesday, there was something else that wasn’t quite right: his bat.
In 10 ALCS at-bats Hunter is 1-for-10 with three strikeouts.
“For me, it’s my back shoulder dropping,’’ Hunter said. “As a professional I have to make an adjustment.’’
Hunter was hoping a day spent in the hot tub and getting massages would help relieve the soreness in his body and allow him to face Red Sox right-hander John Lackey in Tuesday’s Game 3 at Comerica Park.
Asked if he could have played Monday night, Hunter didn’t hesitate.
“Does a bear duke in the woods?’’ Hunter said.
Though Hunter admitted to having a sore spot on the right side of his bald dome and was groggy after hitting his head on the bullpen ground, he wasn’t tested for a concussion.
“No concussion test. I am old-school, kid,’’ the 38-year-old Hunter said. “Thirty years from now if I am fighting to ride a bike it will be OK.’’
On a full sprint Hunter said he had a chance to catch Ortiz’ drive until the ball got into the lights above Fenway.
“I could have caught the ball, but while I was running I lost it in the lights,’’ said Hunter who hit the top of the short fence with his midsection and went headfirst into the pen. “At the end of the day if I catch the ball we are up 2-0. If I get knocked out or die on the field, I would.’’
It wasn’t the first time Hunter’s body took a beating chasing a home run by Ortiz, his former Twins teammate, in Fenway Park.
As the Twins’ center fielder in 2005 Hunter went into the triangle in center field and broke his left ankle when it got caught in the cushion and snapped.
Hunter saw the video of a cop in the Red Sox bullpen raising his hands in celebration as Hunter was crumbling over the fence.
“He is supposed to protect and serve and that son of a gun has his hands up in the air,’’ Hunter said. “Help me.’’
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Joaquin Benoit will always be remembered as the reliever who gave up a grand slam to Ortiz in Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS that tied the score in the eighth inning and very well could serve as the catalyst for a Red Sox trip to the World Series.
It was Benoit’s first-pitch change-up down and away that Ortiz crushed for his 15th career postseason homer and third this October.
Yet, Benoit’s boss shouldered the blame for the blow that helped carry the Red Sox to a 6-5 victory Sunday night in Boston that evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1 going into Tuesday’s pivotal Game 3.
“[Sunday] night I made a mistake that I take full responsibility for. I should have just reminded him that we didn’t want Ortiz to beat us,’’ Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “He tried to get it low and away and out of the strike zone. but he didn’t get it there. We were going to try to get him to swing at a ball if we could. I should have reminded him about that and I didn’t.”
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Red Sox manager John Farrell said Mike Napoli, who started at first in Game 1 and sat for Mike Carp in Game 2 would start at first in Tuesday’s Game 3 despite being in a 2-for-17(.118) slide in six postseason games.
“I feel good at the plate and I am confident every time,’’ Napoli said. “It’s not like I am searching for anything.’’
Farrell also said he was toying with the idea of getting Jonny Gomes in the lineup for a second straight game.
Even though former Yankee Phil Coke has been successful against Ortiz, the lefty reliever wasn’t a candidate to face the Red Sox DH in the eighth inning of Game 2. Leyland stuck with Benoit, his right-handed closer, and Ortiz hit his first pitch for a game-tying grand slam.
“I would like to get him out there in not such a huge pressure situation after being away so long,’’ Leyland said of Coke, who wasn’t on the ALDS roster because of an elbow problem. He hasn’t faced big league hitters since Sept. 18. “He has pitched one inning in Instructional League for I don’t know how long. I would like to get him in a game where it’s not quite as significant or a pressure situation so much. Benoit is our guy against righties and lefties. That’s just the way it is.’’
Ortiz is 2-for-18 (.111) and fanned four times against Coke whose response was simple.
“I expect to get the ball when they give it to me. I haven’t thought any other way so why now?’’ said Coke, who was 0-5 with a 5.40 ERA in 49 appearances this season when he allowed 43 hits and 21 walks in 38 1/3 innings.