Ortiz launches two of Boston’s eight homers as Red Sox pound Tigers 20-4

One after another, the baseballs cleared the fences at Fenway Park — a franchise record-tying eight home runs in all for the Boston Red Sox.

And David Ortiz led the way.

The Red Sox DH homered twice and he also doubled for his 2,000th career hit on Wednesday night to lead the Red Sox to a 20-4 romp over the Detroit Tigers.

“I’ve never really seen that many happy faces in the dugout at the same time,” said Ortiz, who was one of a franchise-record seven different Red Sox batters to homer in the game. “It was like lighting a firework. ... I see everybody happy. It’s like the fireworks just keep on coming.”

Boston pulled away in an eight-run sixth inning when Will Middlebrooks hit a grand slam, Ortiz had an RBI double to reach 2,000 and Daniel Nava added a two-run homer. Ortiz homered again in the five-run seventh — the 427th of his career to move past Billy Williams and into 47th on baseball’s all-time home run list.

“Congratulations to David. That’s a heck of a milestone,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “I’m sure the Red Sox fans are proud of him and he’s proud of himself. He’s had a wonderful career and he’s popular here. A very kind man, really. I’m very happy for him. It came against the wrong team, but that’s OK.”

AL East-leading Boston has won nine of 11, taking two out of three from the Central-leading Tigers to hold onto the best record in the league. After scores of 3-0 and 2-1 in the first two games of the series, the Red Sox burst out with a franchise record-tying eight homers and a season-high 20 runs.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew, Mike Napoli and Ryan Lavarnway also homered as the Red Sox turned a game that was tied 4-4 after four innings into a blowout.

“Just a rare and outstanding offensive night tonight,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell, who had Shane Victorino steal second in the fifth inning to try to get the go-ahead run in scoring position. “You think at that point you’re looking to somewhat manufacture a run any way you can. Little did we know it would turn out like it did. ... We had no idea of what was about to take place shortly after that.”

Ryan Dempster (8-9) allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in six innings, striking out seven to win his second straight start since he was suspended for five games for intentionally hitting New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.

The Red Sox open a four-game series with the Yankees in New York on Thursday night.

Rick Porcello (11-8) gave up nine runs — eight of them earned — on seven hits and four walks in five-plus innings. He allowed three homers, Al Alburquerque gave up two, Jeremy Bonderman allowed two and Evan Reed gave up one.

“That was pretty ugly,” Leyland said. “Obviously we just didn’t a good job of keeping the ball in the ballpark. The Green Monster’s one thing, but you normally don’t see them going out to right field like that. They were hitting them out like ping pong balls.”

Ortiz homered in the fourth to tie the game 4-all, then added an RBI double in the sixth for hit No. 2,000. He waved his batting helmet as he stood on second base while the crowd cheered and home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg helped the Red Sox dugout retrieve the ball.

Ortiz homered the next time up, prompting another standing ovation from the crowd at Fenway Park. The fans remained on their feet until he popped out of the dugout for a curtain call.

Prince Fielder homered for the Tigers, who were without Miguel Cabrera for the third time in four games with a strained abdominal muscle. A reigning triple crown winner, Cabrera leads the majors again with a .355 average with 130 RBIs and is four behind Baltimore’s Chris Davis with 43 homers.

Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias, who was acquired from Boston at the trading deadline, left in the fifth inning with pain in his shins.

Shane Victorino singled with one out in the fifth, stole second and took third when catcher Alex Avila threw the ball into centre field. On the 11th pitch of his at-bat, Dustin Pedroia hit a sinking line drive that left fielder Andy Dirks caught just off the grass but he could not keep Victorino from tagging up and scoring to make it 5-4.

The Red Sox blew it open with eight in the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk, two homers and Ortiz’s double. They added two more in the eighth to make it 20-4.

NOTES: The only other time the Red Sox have hit eight homers in a game was July 4, 1977, against Toronto at Fenway Park. ... Nava has reached base safely in 39 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors. ... The Chicago Cubs, run by former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, claimed former Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard off waivers. ... Boston manager John Farrell said Clay Buchholz’s wife gave birth to a daughter. The right-hander will resume his rehab stint with Triple-A Pawtucket in Rochester on Thursday night before joining the Red Sox in New York. ... Porcello had allowed three or fewer runs in 10 of his last 11 starts. But in his career he is 1-3 with a 10.42 ERA against the Red Sox. ... Victorino went over the short wall along the first-base line to retire Austin Jackson and end the fourth inning. Victorino then returned what appeared to be a cellphone to a woman in the front row.

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Slumping Toronto FC fires president and GM Kevin Payne

Toronto FC has claimed another body.

The underachieving Major League Soccer club fired president and general manager Kevin Payne.

The club has not made the move official but Payne told The Canadian Press that he was leaving.

“I wish TFC and its supporters all the best,” he said in a text. “I’m confident the team is in a great position heading into next year and I’m proud of that.

“I understand the desire to move forward in a different direction and want nothing but the best for the club.”

Payne said he had no other role with the team but had agreed “to help with the transition.”

The former D.C. United executive arrived in late November with the task of turning around the worst team in Major League Soccer. But progress has been hard to find and the team, which has never made the playoffs, stands tied for 18th in the 19-team league with a 4-12-10 record.

Ultimately Payne paid the price for yet more failure at a franchise that is losing fans as well as matches.

It didn’t help that he was hired before Tim Leiweke took over as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which owns the team.

Payne, 60, may also have suffered for his penchant for talking. Like the manager he hired — rookie coach Ryan Nelsen — he complained this season about the team getting a raw deal from officials.

That is not Leiweke’s style.

“I tend to believe that sitting here and revisiting those calls doesn’t serve much of a purpose,” the MLSE boss said in a July interview with The Canadian Press. “And so we probably have to as an organization spend less time bitching and more time just moving on and understanding that sometimes that’s the way those calls are going to go.”

Both Payne and Nelsen also complained about the salary cap handcuffs they had inherited.

And Payne liked to talk about his master-plan, detailing imminent player moves that proved to be not so imminent.

Payne also raised some hackles at the club early on when he questioned the fitness level of some players in pre-season without naming names.

“Lots of guys did a great job and came back in great shape,” he said in January. “But there were more than one or two who were not even close to being fit. I have a hard time understanding that. Ryan feels the same way ... There’s just no excuse for it.”

Payne, while clearly dedicated to his task, seemed to come across as thinking he was the smartest man in the room.

Then Leiweke arrived. He oversaw the Los Angeles Galaxy during his time in charge of AEG, helping bring David Beckham and Robbie Keane to the team.

Leiweke spoke favourably of Payne — “He knows where the bodies are buried and he knows what it takes to build a championship team” — in a June 4 in-house interview aired on YouTube.

And he said in July he would wait until the end of the season to assess the team’s management, explaining he didn’t think it was “fair or proper to get into an analysis” mid-season.

Toronto was 2-10-8 at the time. It apparently took Leiweke two wins, two losses and two ties to change his mind.

The club, which plays Saturday in Portland, has eight games remaining this season.

Payne arrived with a flourish, wearing one of his four MLS championship rings to his Toronto FC introduction. The former D.C. United boss routinely wears one of his rings, but wasn’t going to at the news conference in Toronto until wife Pam changed his mind.

“I said to my wife this is weird. For the first time since ‘97 — when I got the ‘96 ring — I’m not going to put on a championship ring,” he related Nov. 28 after being unveiled in Toronto.

“And she said ‘I think you should put it on.’ I said ‘Well, I don’t want to be always talking about D.C.’ She said ‘But you need to get people to aspire to win their own ring. Understand that that’s the goal.’ So that’s why I’m wearing it.”

Payne was Toronto FC’s first president. He became the soccer team’s equivalent to the Leafs’ Brian Burke and the Raptors’ Bryan Colangelo, both of whom have since moved on.

“We found the right guy,” Tom Anselmi, MLSE’s COO, said at the time.

“I think it’s probably THE best signing that we’ll make,” added head coach Paul Mariner, who was soon to be dumped by Payne in favour of Nelsen.

Nelsen is the team’s eighth manager in seven seasons.

Until his resignation as president and CEO just days before joining TFC, Payne had spent 17 years at D.C. United — helping the franchise find its feet in time for the debut MLS season in 1996.

Payne joined a Toronto franchise that has failed to make the playoffs since its inception in 2007, winning just 45 games over those six seasons.

Toronto (5-21-8) posted franchise worsts in 2012 for wins (five), losses (21), points (23), goals against (62) and winless string (14).

“I really love to build things,” he said when asked about why he would take charge of such a floundering franchise.

Payne has helped set the stage for whoever takes over. The team has shed the big contracts of the likes of Torsten Frings and Darren O’Dea and the 2014 salary cap situation will offer far more flexibility.

There is also a base of good young talent at the club. But the franchise continues to disappoint.

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Eskimos give conflicting statements on play callers

The strange case of who calls the plays for the Edmonton Eskimos is quickly spiralling into an issue of who calls the shots.

One day after general manager Ed Hervey publicly guaranteed that offensive co-ordinator Doug Sams was done calling plays, Sams announced Wednesday he will still be the one sending the signals to quarterback Mike Reilly when Edmonton hosts the Calgary Stampeders on Friday.

“(It’s) business as usual,” Sams told reporters after the Eskimos completed practice under the sticky heat and hot sun at Commonwealth Stadium. “Nothing’s changed, guys.”

So Sams was asked why Hervey announced Tuesday a change was coming?

“I don’t know,” Sams said. “You’d have to ask him.

“I don’t have an opinion or a comment.”

On Tuesday Hervey, the former Eskimos wide receiver in his first year as GM, was adamant Sams was out as play caller.

“I can guarantee you that the current person who is making the calls (Sams) will have a limited role in calling them,” Hervey said. “I’ve been very disappointed with some of the play-calling at critical times especially on the offensive side.

“That has been addressed last night. It will be addressed following this press conference. I assure you we will see a different offence in how the game is called.”

Hervey promised the gameplan will see more straight-ahead, smashmouth football.

“We will be very simple in how we do things,” Hervey said. “We’re not going to spend a lot of time trying to create different things.”

But on Wednesday, Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed refused to say who would be making the calls Friday night. On Monday, Edmonton scored 27 fourth-quarter points to erase a 37-7 deficit, only to lose a heart-breaking 37-34 decision.

“Being that it’s a short week, we want to make certain we keep as much as close to the vest as possible,” said Reed. “We’re still sorting through Calgary.”

Reed hedged, however, when asked if he will eventually change the play-calling as per Hervey’s directive.

“Your general manager has told you there will be change in play-calling. Will there be a change in play calling?” Reed was asked.

“We have not yet discussed all the details and semantics about what is going to happen Friday night,” Reed responded. “I’m not trying to be adversarial or difficult.

“It is purely about making certain this football team is properly communicated to so that we are in the best possible opportunity to win the game Friday.”

Hervey’s critical remarks were not limited to the play-calling. He also said he wants the team to run straight ahead in short-yardage situations and the defence to attack more and react less.

He also ordered the benching of underperforming offensive lineman Simeon Rottier, an Alberta native. Reilly was sacked seven times Monday and has been hit hard and often this season.

Hervey singled out Rottier, the veteran right guard, as the main culprit and announced Rottier won’t start Friday. Hervey then said he’d be happy if Rottier never played another game this year.

Rottier practised with the team Wednesday. Hervey watched most of the workout from the sidelines but left before it ended.

Rottier said he’s not happy with his performance, either, but will do whatever is necessary to win.

“You’ve still got to be professional and show up to work every day,” he said. “It sucks for me to be talking about this right now because I should be playing better.”

Hervey said Tuesday he was not concerned if by stepping into Reed’s areas of responsibility he was undercutting Reed’s authority or the coach’s ability to lead the locker room. In Hervey’s mind, he’s simply doing what needs to be done.

Hervey said Reed’s job, and those of the other Eskimos coaches, would be evaluated at season’s end.

Reed was asked Wednesday, given the events of the past 24 hours, whether he would even want to return in 2014.

He declined to answer but did deliver his personal thoughts on leadership.

“Leadership is about not being at the centre of attention, but doing what is right for the collective. And that’s what I’m going to focus on,” he said.

Reed also made it clear how he would handle this controversy and future ones.

“I’m going to do what’s right for this franchise,” he said. “When I came here in December 2010 I said we’re going to do things the Edmonton Eskimo way.

“The way I see it as an Edmonton Eskimo, we’re going to handle it in-house. I’m not going to pronounce anything in the media.”

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Usain Bolt plans to retire after 2016 Rio Olympics

Usain Bolt plans to retire after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Bolt said Wednesday he wants to win more gold in Rio, set another world record in the 200 metres next year, and perhaps win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

“So far, (it) is after the Olympics in Rio,” Bolt said of his retirement plans. “I think if I am in great shape, I’ll go there and do what I have to do. I think it will be a good time to retire, on top.”

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Winning another three golds in Moscow last month made him the most decorated athlete in world championship history with eight gold and two silvers. He has six gold medals from the Olympics.

“If I want to be among the greats of (Muhammad) Ali and Pele and all these guys I have to continue dominating until I retire,” Bolt said ahead of his final race this season in the 100 at Friday’s Van Damme Memorial.

Bolt won the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and at last year’s London Games. He won the same triple at the 2009 worlds before repeating that feat in Moscow last month.

At 27, Bolt has the experience to know that a lax season midway between Olympics can hurt him. In 2010, a soft entry into the year and subsequent injury cost him almost a full season.

“I kind of didn’t do much in the off-season and then got injured and had to start from scratch. So this season, I will not make that mistake again,” Bolt said.

Like 2010, next season has no major championships, but Bolt is forcing himself to think of new goals for 2014.

He already owns the 100 and 200 world records and shares the 4x100 with his Jamaican teammates. He acknowledges the 100 record of 9.58 seconds will be extremely tough to better, but he hopes to improve on the 19.19 he ran in the 200 in Berlin four years ago.

“I have learned, I have mastered the art of running the turn,” Bolt said of the 200. “So if I can stay injury free and be in good shape, then it is possible for me to definitely go after the world record.”

As a Jamaican, Bolt can compete in the Commonwealth Games, too, something he has yet to do. Next year, the event will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.

“I have never been to Commonwealths and so it is always good to add to your collection of gold medals,” Bolt said.

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Oneida Indian Nation launches radio campaign calling for Redskins to change team name

An American Indian tribe in upstate New York said Thursday it will launch a radio ad campaign pressing for the Washington Redskins to shed a name often criticized as offensive.

The Oneida Indian Nation said the first ad will run on radio stations in Washington before the team hosts the Philadelphia Eagles in its season opener Monday night. In the ad, Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter says NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should “stand up to bigotry” by denouncing “the racial slur” in the team’s name.

“We do not deserve to be called redskins,” the Oneida leader says in the ad. “We deserve to be treated as what we are — Americans.”

The radio ad said Goodell had rightly been critical this summer after an Eagles wide receiver was caught on video making a racial slur against African-Americans.

The ads launch as the Washington Redskins this year face a fresh barrage of criticism over their nickname, with local leaders and pundits calling for a name change. In May, 10 members of Congress sent letters to Redskins owner Dan Snyder and Goodell urging the team to change the name.

Snyder has vowed to never change the name.

League spokesman Brian McCarthy, in an email to The Associated Press, said they “respect that reasonable people may have differing views.”

“The name from its origin has always intended to be positive and has always been used by the team in a highly respectful manner,” McCarthy wrote.

There was no immediate response from the Redskins.

The Oneidas have been vocal opponents of the Redskins nickname — be it for NFL or high school teams. The tribe, which runs a casino and resort in central New York, this year gave $10,000 toward new jerseys to an area high school that changed its nickname from the Redskins to the Hawkeyes.

The Oneida said the first ad will run Sunday and Monday on several stations in Washington. Subsequent ads will run in Washington during home games and in the cities hosting the team when it is away. A spokesman for the Oneidas would not say how much the campaign would cost beyond “multiple thousands.”

Halbritter said that fans also are being urged to lobby the NFL in support of the name change at www.changethemascot.org , a website that debuted Thursday.

“We believe that with the help of our fellow professional football fans, we can get the NFL to realize the error of its ways and make a very simple change,” Halbritter said in a prepared statement.

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Goodell: Concussion lawsuit settlement a ‘significant amount of money’

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell took issue with the notion that the league’s $765-million settlement with former players is a paltry sum compared to the sport’s revenues.

“This is a significant amount of money,” he said Wednesday. “The plaintiffs also agreed it was an appropriate amount. The mediator felt it was an appropriate amount.”

Goodell made his first public comments since the settlement to the lawsuits was announced last week. More than 4,500 former players, some of them suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or depression, accused the NFL of concealing the long-term dangers of concussions and rushing injured players back onto the field.

“We were able to find common ground to be able to get relief to the players and their families now rather than spending years litigating,” Goodell said at an event in Manhattan to promote February’s New York/New Jersey Super Bowl.

The settlement was announced last Thursday after two months of court-ordered mediation and is subject to approval by a federal judge. It does not include an admission from the NFL that it hid information from players about head injuries.

“We think it’s the right thing to move forward and try to do what we can to help our players,” Goodell said.

Some former players questioned the size of the settlement, considering it stretches over 20 years and will be divided among thousands of people — and considering the NFL takes in more than $9-billion a year, a figure that will rise when new TV contracts start in 2014.

Goodell noted that those billions are revenues, not profits.

The settlement applies to all past NFL players and spouses of those who are deceased — a group that could total more than 20,000. It sets aside $75-million for medical exams and $10-million for medical research.

Individual payouts would be capped at $5-million for men with Alzheimer’s disease; $4-million for those diagnosed after their deaths with a brain condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy; and $3-million for players with dementia.

The NFL’s litigation may still not be over. Four former players filed a federal lawsuit in New Orleans on Sunday against the league and helmet maker Riddell, claiming they hid information about the dangers of brain injury. They want medical care for past, current and future NFL players.

As the league and retired players debate what happened in the past, the NFL has promoted its initiatives aimed at making the game safer. Goodell appeared on CBS This Morning earlier Wednesday to help announce a program with Under Armour and GE to donate money toward projects that prevent head injuries.

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Canucks owner Aquilini wants information sealed from divorce trial

The lawyer for a co-owner of the Vancouver Canucks says he is asking a judge to seal “commercially sensitive information” and take practical steps to prevent it from arising in the form of questions during an upcoming divorce trial.

The trial between Francesco Aquilini and his estranged wife, Taliah, is scheduled to begin Monday, but legal wrangling has already generated headlines as the couple fought over a prized wine collection.

George Macintosh said in an e-mail Wednesday evening he is seeking an extension of an August 2012 order by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nathan Smith that established the process the parties must follow to have documents declared confidential.

“Essentially, we are only seeking an extension of the order ... which is essentially to seal commercially sensitive information and take practical steps to have the lawyers at trial, through their questioning, not divulge such information,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Francesco Aquilini tweeted a link to a statement he made, saying his lawyers will seek orders to protect the confidentiality of private family and commercial interests.

“During this trial, protecting my five children will be at the heart of everything I do relating to both custodial and financial matters,” he stated.

“While I can personally withstand the impact of media coverage, it is simply not fair to have my children exposed to the effects of sensitive family matters being aired this way.”

He said he was confident Taliah Aquilini would agree that an order was in the best interests of their family.

Both parties agreed in August 2012 not to file affidavits relating to their children, and Judge Smith has already ruled Francesco Aquilini will not be forced to testify about any alleged adultery.

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