Ortiz goes deep twice to join exclusive 500-HR club

Only David Ortiz can turn a planned rest day into one of the greatest games of his memorable career.

The Boston Red Sox slugger etched his name into the record books Saturday after going deep twice off Tampa Bay Rays lefty Matt Moore to become the 27th player in MLB history with 500 career home runs.

Ortiz's fifth-inning blast off Moore - his 34th of the season - skied into the right-center stands at Tropicana Field and put the Red Sox ahead 8-0. He joins Albert Pujols as the only players in history to hit home run Nos. 499 and 500 in the same game.

"In the history of the game, you don't see that many players getting to the 500 club, so I'm going to take a lot of pride on that," Ortiz told reporters after Boston's 10-4 win. "They starting mentioning your name, comparing your name to legends, it's something that I'm going to take very humble, I'll take as a compliment."

The Red Sox designated hitter admired the solo blast - a 2-2 hanging curveball from Moore - before making his way around the bases to a standing ovation in St. Petersburg. Ortiz's teammates emptied from the dugout to greet the slugger as he crossed home plate and did his famous gesture to the sky.

Ortiz launched homer No. 499 when he connected on a 1-2 pitch from Moore in the first, a long three-run shot to the stands in right field. He completed his memorable night by flaring a single to center in the seventh, and exited to another standing ovation.

Ortiz's multi-homer effort - the 50th of his 19-year career - almost never happened due to a scheduled day off. However, the nine-time All-Star convinced interim manager Torey Lovullo to put his big bat into the lineup to face Moore, whom he had a lifetime 8-for-19 mark against entering the game.

"A spectacular day for him," Lovullo said. "A well-deserved accomplishment. Everytime he comes up, we all (in the dugout) kind of sit forward because he can do anything at anytime."

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Ortiz's march up the career leaderboard also has him within arm's reach of the franchise home run record. He's four homers shy of matching Eddie Murray for 26th place on the all-time list, and within striking distance of a pair of Red Sox legends.

Ortiz was signed by the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent in 1992 before getting dealt to Minnesota, where he hit 58 homers over parts of six seasons. More than 10 years later, Ortiz finds himself among the greatest players in franchise history.

"Born in the Dominican and coming from where I came from, it's something you never dream of," he said.