ORTIZ HITS 30 AGAIN: David Ortiz’s homer in the 4th inning yesterday was the 496th of his career and 30th of the season…This marks his 9th career 30-homer season, all since joining Boston in 2003, surpassing Ted Williams (8) for the most 30-HR campaigns in Red Sox history.
STILL CRANKING AT 39: At 39 years and 292 days old yesterday, Ortiz became the 3rd-oldest player ever at the time of his 30th HR, behind only DET’s Darrell Evans in 1987 and SF’s Barry Bonds in 2004 (Source: Elias Sports Bureau).
· This is Ortiz’s 3rd straight 30-homer season…He joins Hank Aaron (1971-73) and Barry Bonds (2002-04) as the only player ever to reach that mark in each of their age 37, age 38, and age 39 seasons.
BETTS ARE ON: Mookie Betts went 3-for-4 yesterday to extend his hit streak to 11 games (.378, 17-for-45), the longest active streak in the AL and 1 shy of the longest in MLB (STL’s Stephen Piscotty, 12 G)…This marks his 2nd-longest career hit streak after a 13-gamer from 6/11-26/15.
· Betts has hit safely in 19 of his last 20 games dating back to 8/14 (.348, 31-for-89, 8 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 15 RBI).