"In the week since he was diagnosed with bursitis in his right heel, David Ortiz [stats] wore a walking boot for a few days, then resumed hitting, before finally running about a half-dozen short sprints Tuesday.

But nothing prepared him for the first inning last night.

Making his return to the Red Sox [team stats] lineup after an eight-game layoff, Ortiz stroked an RBI single to right and still was on first base two batters later when Carl Crawford doubled to right field. Ortiz motored around second base, blew through third base coach Tim Bogar's late stop sign and continued chugging toward the plate.

Bursitis? What bursitis?

"It was in my head a little bit," Ortiz admitted after the Red Sox annihilated the Rangers for a second consecutive game, this time by a 13-2 margin. "When I had to run to the plate, I told myself, 'You have to go and see how you're feeling.' I felt fine. Everything went good. It didn't bother me at all."

Ultimately, Ortiz scored only because Rangers catcher Mike Napoli, perhaps in an attempt at self-preservation, dropped the throw from right fielder David Murphy. But that was beside the point. Ortiz, who barely could walk eight days earlier, was healthy once again."