Surging Ortiz stays hot, smacks 495th HR against rival Yankees

The Boston Red Sox may not have much to play for down the stretch, but don't tell David Ortiz. He's got big numbers to chase.

Ortiz continued his recent surge at the expense of his hated division rivals, smacking a home run and a double in consecutive at-bats against the New York Yankees on Monday.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Ortiz's fourth-inning solo drive over the Green Monster - his 29th home run of the season - left the Red Sox slugger five shy of the exclusive 500-homer club. His sixth-inning double, meanwhile, moved him to within one of 21st place on the all-time leaderboard.

"It's exciting for every one of us," Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo told reporters. "He's downplaying it in his typical David humble way, to not make a distraction. He doesn't want to make it about himself. He wants to make it about the team and how we're playing right now, but it's exciting for all of us to walk in every day.

"It's bigger than a lot of things that are happening right now, and it'll be fun if he gets that 500th."

As Ortiz continues to hunt down the major milestones, big bonus money also looms. Ortiz entered Monday 20 plate appearances short of tacking on an additional $1 million to next year's salary. He can also trigger bonuses of the same amount if he reaches 575 and 600 plate appearances this season.