Kyle Schwarber’s solo shot prompts great reaction from David Ortiz originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz hit his fair share of postseason home runs against the New York Yankees, including shots in winner-take-all games in both 2003 and 2004.
So it’s no surprise that the franchise icon had a great reaction to Kyle Schwarber‘s first postseason home run with the Red Sox, which helped the team to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning of the American League Wild Card Game.
Schwarber’s home run resembled the kind Ortiz hit on a regular basis at Fenway Park, a 435-foot bomb to the right field bleachers. It followed a two-run home run from Xander Bogaerts, who played with Ortiz from 2013-16, in the bottom of the first.
The home run was the seventh of Schwarber’s career in the postseason and his first since 2017, when he was still a member of the Chicago Cubs.
It was Schwarber’s second postseason home run off Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, and nearly identical in the circumstances surrounding the first blast some six seasons ago.
2015: Kyle Schwarber hits a home run in the 3rd inning of the Wild Card Game off of Gerrit Cole to give his team a 3-0 lead
2021: Kyle Schwarber hits a home run in the 3rd inning of the Wild Card Game off of Gerrit Cole to give his team a 3-0 lead pic.twitter.com/Md1Lz9aojJ
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) October 6, 2021
In 14 career postseason games against the Yankees, Ortiz hit .333 (19 for 57) with five home runs and 17 runs batted in.