ST. PETERSBURG -- David Ortiz moved within one home run of the 500 mark on Saturday night after dispatching a 1-2 fastball from Matt Moore into the right-field seats in the first inning in Boston's game against the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Ortiz hit a towering drive with Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts aboard, his 33rd homer of the season, and gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. With his next homer, Ortiz will become the 27th player in Major League history to join the 500-home run club, and the nine-time All-Star will join Alex Rodriguez (684) and Albert Pujols (555) as the only active players in Major League Baseball to have accomplished the feat.