David Ortiz got punk’d by Dustin Pedroia

Remember last week when David Ortiz burst into Terry Francona’s media session and went on a profanity-laced tirade over a lost RBI, the result of a changed scoring decision?

Well, apparently no one got a bigger chuckle out of it than little Dustin Pedroia. Says the CSNNE.com report:

Pedroia told Ortiz that John Henry and Theo Epstein ordered the official scorer to take away Ortiz’s RBI in an effort to keep Ortiz’s stat totals low and therefore give him less leverage when it comes time to negotiate a new contract.

It sure makes Ortiz sound awfully gullible, but he was upset about losing the RBI anyway and this likely just provided the nudge that sent him over the edge.

Fortunately, Ortiz has recovered well. Last night, he homered and singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth in the win over the Twins. He’s on pace to drive in 105 runs, which would be his high total since he finished with 117 in 2007.

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Update: Lo and behold, Ortiz has been credited with the RBI after all.