Manny Ramirez was back in Boston’s lineup, with a blast.
After homering only once in his last 19 games, Ramirez hit a two-run shot in the first inning for the Red Sox at Minnesota on Monday. It was the 498th of his career and came off Twins starter Livan Hernandez.
“I know I have two more to go, but I ain’t counting,” he said, sounding a bit like Yogi Berra. “If I hit 500, are they going to pick up my option? Why should I be pressing?”
Ramirez was asked if it mattered to him to hit the milestone 500th at home at Fenway Park.
“It’s not up to me,” he said. “It’s not like I’m driving a car, where I can go left or right.”
Ramirez, who has eight homers this year, is in 24th place on baseball’s all-time list. The two-run shot also gave him 1,630 career RBIs to move past Harold Baines for 26th place.
A sore right hamstring kept him out of Sunday’s starting lineup.
“I’m sore, but just got to go out there,” Ramirez said.
