BOSTON — BOSTON — Hanley Ramirez says he doesn’t care whether he is playing left field or serving as the Boston Red Sox’s designated hitter.
The numbers suggest otherwise.
While Ramirez has struggled defensively learning his new position, he has hit five home runs in seven games as the DH, the latest a two-run shot in the seventh inning that gave the Red Sox a 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
“I just want to be in the lineup and keep winning,” said Ramirez, who one-handed a Tony Sipp changeup into the Green Monster seats. “We’re playing pretty good baseball right now.”
The last-place Red Sox (39-45) earned their 11th win in their last 17 games and closed their American League East deficit to six games. They were 10 out on June 20. The victory also wrapped up their third straight series win as Boston rebounded from a loss Friday night with two straight victories.
Ramirez was the DH only because regular DH David Ortiz was playing first base in place of the slumping Mike Napoli.
“What David did today is unbelievable, playing first base and going out there so Napoli can have the day off and I can be in the lineup,” Ramirez said. “It’s something that everybody appreciates. That’s why he’s got so much respect from anybody.”
Ramirez is 9-for-27 with 10 RBIs in his seven games as a DH. He has 13 homers and 33 RBIs when he’s not the DH, which isn’t shabby, either.
Manager John Farrell made it clear the plan going forward is for Ramirez to be in left field.
Asked how many one-handed homers he’s hit, Ramirez said, “A couple. Not a lot, but I’ve done it before. That’s why I work every day on my follow through. That’s the key to my swing.
“I just swing hard — just in case I hit it.”
West Division leader Houston scored three times in the top of the seventh when rookie shortstop Carlos Correa and left fielder Evan Gattis hit back-to-back home runs.
After the Red Sox took a 3-1 lead with the help of Correa’s second error of the series (his third in his 25 games) in the sixth inning, Correa connected for his second homer of the series to tie it. Two pitches later, Gattis drilled his 14th of the season.
Sipp (2-4) relieved Will Harris with one out in the bottom of the inning and walked Ortiz on an 11-pitch at-bat before Ramirez hit his fifth homer in his past 10 games to help drop the Astros to 48-36.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who wasn’t thrilled with the way his players executed “and we didn’t finish at-bats,” also said, “We get beat on a front-foot, one-handed home run or a one-arm home run, so it’s a tough day.”
Right-hander Matt Barnes (3-2) got the last out of the seventh and earned the win.
Junichi Tazawa, who hadn’t pitched since the previous Sunday but was not classified as injured, worked the eighth, and fellow righty Koji Uehara the ninth, the latter notching his 19th save in 21 opportunities. Uehara got help when right fielder Colby Rasmus tried to bunt against the shift and fouled the ball off for strike three. Hinch admitted the attempt was “a surprise” to him and everyone else.
The painfully plodding game lasted 4 hours, 1 minute.
Third baseman Pablo Sandoval and catcher Ryan Hanigan had three hits apiece for the Red Sox, who stranded eight runners in the first six innings before Ramirez came through. Hanigan, who also drew a walk, drove in two runs.
Rookie starters Lance McCullers (Houston) and Eduardo Rodriguez (Boston) both labored through 101 pitches in five innings of one-run ball. Both were long gone when the game was decided.
It was a tough day for the umpires, who were challenged three times and had calls overturned on all three — two of the calls by second base ump Cory Blaser. The three delays totaled 3:54.
On Saturday, Boston’s Clay Buchholz provided his own fireworks at the ballpark.
Hours before the city of Boston was treated to its annual Independence Day fireworks celebration, the Red Sox right-hander unleashed a burst of rockets to strike out eight and go the distance in Boston’s 6-1 victory over the Astros 6-1.
“A lot of things have to go right for things like that to happen, but I could throw any pitch I wanted to today,” Buchholz said. “It doesn’t happen like that very often.”
Buchholz (7-6) retired 12 batters in a row between the second and fifth innings before Astros catcher Hank Conger singled to center to lead off the sixth.
Buchholz allowed one run on six hits in nine innings and has posted a 0.87 ERA in his last four starts for Boston (38-45).
“He’s been on a run the last 10 starts where he’s been in control,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “That was the case again today for the full nine innings of work.”
Betts went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs to lead the Boston bats, while shortstop Xander Bogaerts was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Catcher Sandy Leon went 3-for-4 and left fielder Hanley Ramirez went 0-for-4 as his team-high, eight-game hitting streak ended.