Ortiz taking cautious approach

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BOSTONDavid Ortiz said his strained right Achilles tendon is feeling better. But he doesnt know when he will be back in the lineup.

Its getting better slowly, he said after Saturdays loss to the Twins. Its going day by day. But Im starting to feel better. The pains starting to go away. Thats a good sign.

Asked if he thought he could return during the homestand, which ends Wednesday, Ortiz replied:

I dont know. I dont know yet.

Got to wait until I start doing the power drill and be pain free.

Ortiz, who has been on the DL since July 17, has not had any setbacks in his rehab, though.

No I havent, he said. Everything is going pretty much the way they planned because this is an injury that youre going to have those good days and those bad days. This is an injury that the only thing that fixes it is the time off. And its a little difficult for me right now, just being able to watch the game on TV and not being out there to help the ball club.

At the same time Im planning to keep on playing baseball and I dont want to do anything thats stupid that can put my career in jeopardy. So got to do what they tell me to do.

It has been difficult for him to sit on the sidelines and watch, he said. The Sox are 7-11 in his absence, including the current four-game losing streak. Watching Saturdays ninth-inning loss was especially tough.

Its hard, really hard, he said. But its better to be smart than being stupid. I want to be out there. It doesnt depend on me. It depends on how fast my injury heals up, and I can go back on the field without running a risk. Its a serious injury that you got to go day by day with.

We havent been able to keep up, and its just frustrating just looking at the results.

He believes his team can bounce back.

Everythings possible, he said. We still have a lot of games left. We just have to get caught into go straight. Try to come back and play better.

The offense which has been inconsistent for much of the season, has been wildly inconsistent in his absence. In just the last three games against the Twins, they have recorded two hits Thursday, both by Adrian Gonzalez, 14 hits on Friday, and six hits on Saturday, all resulting in losses.

I would call this a funk that we work with in the season and we havent been able to be consistent lately, he said. Hopefully things get better and we find a way to score more runs for our pitchers.

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