Red Sox 10, Rays 4
ST. PETERSBURG - Rick Porcello continued his string of quality starts and was backed by five home runs, including a pair of history making shots from David Ortiz, as Boston beat Tampa Bay Saturday night 10-4 at Tropicana Field.
In front of 20,698 fans, many of them in Red Sox gear, Ortiz his the 499th and 500th home runs of his career, and Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and rookie Travis Shaw also went deep as Boston jumped out early and cruised past the Rays.
Porcello pitched seven solid innings, the fourth straight game and fifth time in six outings he went at least seven innings. He allowed three earned runs, five hits and struck out eight to improve to 8-12 on the year.
The loss was another blow to the Rays' on-life-support wild-card playoff chances. They entered the day five games out of the final spot.
David Ortiz didn't waste any time Saturday night reaching a significant career milestone, powering two home runs in his first three at bats to reach 500 for his career.
Ortiz hit a three-run shot in the first inning, and a solo shot in the fifth, to become the 27th player in major league history to reach 500.
Among active players, only Alex Rodriguez (684) and Albert Pujols (555) have more than the soon-to-be 40-year-old Ortiz.
Both homers were hit off struggling Rays starter Matt Moore, who lasted five innings for just the third time this season but gave up nine hits and six earned runs.
Moore's last start against the Red Sox - three innings, nine hits, six runs on Aug. 1 - earned him a trip to the minor leagues, and Saturday's outing began just as poorly.
The Red Sox didn't hit a ball out of the infield in the first inning but picked up singles by Mookie Betts - extending his hitting streak to 17 games - and Xander Bogaerts, and Ortiz crushed a Moore fastball over the wall in right field.
A few innings later, he would hit another to almost the same spot. It didn't come as too much of a surprise Ortiz reached his milestone against the Rays. The homers were his 32nd and 33rd at Tropicana Field, the most by any visiting player, and No. 500 was his fourth homer against Tampa Bay this season.
Moore, who struck out two batters in the second inning and looked to be settling down, gave up back-to-back home runs to open the top of the third inning. Betts led off with a towering shot to left field for his 15th home run, and Dustin Pedroia lined his 10th a few moments later into the seats in left-center to give the Red Sox a 5-0 lead.
A two-run double by Pedroia in the fourth inning extended the Red Sox lead, and Ortiz made it 8-0 an inning later.
The Rays, who didn't do much early against Boston starter Rick Porcello, finally reached him for a two-run homer by leadoff hitter John Jaso, his third this season.
NOTES: After some talk about giving David Ortiz the night off Saturday, the designated hitter was penciled in the lineup in his usual clean-up spot. Ortiz has only missed two games since the All-Star break. ... Going into Saturday's game, the Red Sox (.299) and Rays (.294) had the two highest batting averages in baseball since Aug. 1. ... The Rays snapped a string of four straight games facing left-handed starters when they squared off against Red Sox starter Rick Porcello. Not that the Rays minded all the lefties - they are 26-16 versus southpaws, second-best in the majors behind Toronto, which is 20-12.