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David Ortiz got off easy. After lining a winning double with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday, Ortiz was blasted with a white powdery spray by his teammates at second base. Hanley Ramirez was on deck when Ortiz delivered the big hit and rushed out to celebrate. Continue to Article

May 14, 2016 9:31:pm EST

Saturday belonged to David Ortiz.  The ageless Boston Red Sox star finished his team's 6-5, 11-inning victory against the Houston Astros just a single shy of the cycle, but he made each of his other three hits count in a significant way.  [Elsewhere: Max Scherzer finds perfect place to celebrate a 20-strikeout game ] The biggest one was the final one. With the game tied in the 11th inning and Xander Bogaerts on first base, Ortiz reached a milestone, launching his 600th career double to center field. This allowed Bogaerts to score the game-winner, and it put Ortiz in truly elite territory.  600 double/500 home run club Hank Aaron Barry Bonds David Ortiz That is the entire list — Michael Dyer (@Mike_Dyer13) May 14, 2016 Those are incredible numbers. The 513 homers are impressive enough, but stacked on top of 600 doubles? That's pretty amazing. That takes remarkable consistency over a 20-year career, and that's exactly what Ortiz has been.   Then, there's this.  David Ortiz: 20th career walk-off hit. The last player with more walk-off hits than Ortiz was Dusty Baker (21), whose career ended in 1986. — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 14, 2016 When you double 600 times and walkoff the opponent 20 times, we think we can justify swiping a bag.  really gives new meaning to stealing a base pic.twitter.com/bV7uVAz0Hx — Lana Berry (@Lana) May 14, 2016 As we noted, all three of Ortiz's hits were significant. Rewinding to the third inning, that's where Ortiz connected for a solo home run off Houston starter Collin McHugh. The home run was No. 513 in Ortiz's remarkable career, which moved him  past Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews and into sole possession of 22nd place on the all-time home run list.  So we've established there was a good beginning and a good ending. There was also a huge hit in between that Boston couldn't have won without. With two outs and the tying run on base in the ninth inning, Ortiz extended the game by doing something he hadn't done since June 15, 2013. He tripled.  Ortiz's rocket was just out of the reach of a diving Jake Marisneck, who was playing center field in place of Carlos Gomez. Perhaps Gomez catches it, perhaps he doesn't, but the dive definitely allowed Ortiz to motor around to third base and allowed him to have a game unlike any he's had since 2006.   David Ortiz has tripled and homered in the same game for the first time since July 15, 2006, the fourth time in 2,291 games — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 14, 2016 There's a reason Ortiz has never hit for the cycle. Even in his younger days, games like this were a rarity, but we're quite thankful he gave us one more before retiring at season's end.  Continue to Article

May 14, 2016 8:08:pm EST

Saturday belonged to David Ortiz.  The ageless Boston Red Sox star finished his team's 6-5, 11-inning victory against the Houston Astros just a single shy of the cycle, but he made each of his other three hits count in a significant way.  [Elsewhere: Max Scherzer finds perfect place to celebrate a 20-strikeout game ] The biggest one was the final one. With the game tied in the 11th inning and Xander Bogaerts on first base, Ortiz reached a milestone, launching his 600th career double to center field. This allowed Bogaerts to score the game-winner, and it put Ortiz in truly elite territory.  600 double/500 home run club Hank Aaron Barry Bonds David Ortiz That is the entire list — Michael Dyer (@Mike_Dyer13) May 14, 2016 Those are incredible numbers. The 513 homers are impressive enough, but stacked on top of 600 doubles? That's pretty amazing. That takes remarkable consistency over a 20-year career, and that's exactly what Ortiz has been.   Then, there's this.  David Ortiz: 20th career walk-off hit. The last player with more walk-off hits than Ortiz was Dusty Baker (21), whose career ended in 1986. — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 14, 2016 When you double 600 times and walkoff the opponent 20 times, we think we can justify swiping a bag.  really gives new meaning to stealing a base pic.twitter.com/bV7uVAz0Hx — Lana Berry (@Lana) May 14, 2016 As we noted, all three of Ortiz's hits were significant. Rewinding to the third inning, that's where Ortiz connected for a solo home run off Houston starter Collin McHugh. The home run was No. 513 in Ortiz's remarkable career, which moved him  past Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews and into sole possession of 22nd place on the all-time home run list.  So we've established there was a good beginning and a good ending. There was also a huge hit in between that Boston couldn't have won without. With two outs and the tying run on base in the ninth inning, Ortiz extended the game by doing something he hadn't done since June 15, 2013. He tripled.  Ortiz's rocket was just out of the reach of a diving Jake Marisneck, who was playing center field in place of Carlos Gomez. Perhaps Gomez catches it, perhaps he doesn't, but the dive definitely allowed Ortiz to motor around to third base and allowed him to have a game unlike any he's had since 2006.   David Ortiz has tripled and homered in the same game for the first time since July 15, 2006, the fourth time in 2,291 games — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 14, 2016 There's a reason Ortiz has never hit for the cycle. Even in his younger days, games like this were a rarity, but we're quite thankful he gave us one more before retiring at season's end.  Continue to Article

May 14, 2016 8:08:pm EST

May 14 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Saturday's Major League Baseball games: Cubs 8, Pirates 2 Jake Arrieta earned his 18th straight winning decision and the Chicago Cubs hammered the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2. National League Cy Young award winner Arrieta (7-0) struck out a season-high 11 and allowed two runs and three hits in eight innings The Cubs have outscored the Pirates 37-11 in winning all five games against their NL Central rival this season. The Cubs have outscored their opponents 213-103 this season. ... Continue to Article

May 14, 2016 7:45:pm EST

David Ortiz is showing no signs of slowing down. Neither is Jackie Bradley Jr. or the rest of the powerful Boston Red Sox lineup. Bradley puts a 20-game hitting streak on the line when the hot-hitting Red Sox cap a prolific homestand Sunday against the Houston Astros. Continue to Article

May 14, 2016 7:39:pm EST