Ortiz ties club record with 9th 100-RBI season

BOSTON -- David Ortiz swung his way to yet more milestones in Thursday night's 4-2 loss to the Rays when he snapped an 0-for-15 drought with a two-run homer over the Green Monster.

The homer was Ortiz's 36th of the season and put him over the 100-RBI barrier, marking Ortiz's sixth 35-100 season, as he passed Manny Ramirez and Jimmie Foxx for the most in Red Sox history.

It is also his ninth season of 100 RBIs, tying Ted Williams for the club record.

"When you start to throw Ted Williams' name around and you're drawing comparisons, that's impressive," said Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo. "That speaks volumes for me in itself. We get the complete package of David Ortiz day in and day out. He's much better than just the 30 home runs and 100 RBIs every year. He's a complete player. He's a great teammate. It's very impressive what he's done."

Through his first 196 at-bats of the season, Ortiz was hitting .219 with six homers and 21 RBIs, and it seemed improbable he would achieve some of his usual numbers.

"Given the start he got off to, he put himself behind the eight-ball a little bit," Lovullo said. "But I've been saying all year you can just book him for 30 and 100, it's a given here at Fenway Park."