ST. PETERSBURG - David Ortiz wasn't supposed to play Saturday against Tampa Bay. That was the plan, anyway.

But when Boston manager Torey Lovullo texted his star designated hitter the morning of the game and asked how he felt, Ortiz responded with two words:

"I'm in."

And why wouldn't he be, in a dome that has surrendered more long balls to Ortiz that any other visiting player.

With Ortiz in the lineup, the balls were flying out at Tropicana Field, as the Red Sox veteran smashed his 499th and 500th career home runs in a 10-4 victory over the Rays in St. Petersburg.

As he circled the bases after becoming the 27th major leaguer to join the 500-homer club, his teammates flooded the top step of the dugout and poured onto the field to greet Ortiz.

"Every time he comes up we all kind of sit forward because he can do anything at any time," said Lovullo, "but that moment was a little extra special."

Ortiz didn't waste any time setting up his historic night, hitting a three-run homer in the first inning off Rays starter Matt Moore.

In his second at-bat, Ortiz was given the green light on a 3-and-0 count, and popped up. Ortiz said there was no added pressure when he reached 499.

"Well, the last couple of weeks I think there was one day I was really trying to hit a homer and it was the day I went 0-for-4 with four punchouts," he said. "So I've been just working on trying to put a good swing on the ball and whatever happens, happens."

It happened in the fifth inning, again off Moore.

Ortiz has now hit seven home runs in his last 14 games as he continues to defy his soon-to-be 40 years of age. The homers were his 32nd and 33rd at Tropicana Field, the most by any visiting player.

"To hit home runs, you need to have the good mojo going on," he said.

Among active players, only Alex Rodriguez (684) and Albert Pujols (555) have more homers than Ortiz.

"You never want to be on that side of history," said Moore. "I'm probably going to see that swing quite a bit over the next however long. Didn't execute. Same thing as his first at-bat. I think there were two strikes in both the at-bats and I wound up not executing."

The Red Sox also got home runs from Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and rookie Travis Shaw, and Rick Porcello continued to pitch well since coming off the disabled list.

Porcello pitched seven solid innings, the fourth straight game and fifth time in six outings he went at least seven innings. He allowed three earned runs, five hits and struck out eight to improve to 8-12 on the year.

"He did a good job. He in his Rick Porcello special way kept a steady, calm demeanor and made pitches when he had to. He's on quite a run himself."

The loss was another blow to the Rays' on-life-support wild-card playoff chances. They entered the day five games out of the final spot.

Moore made it through five innings for just the third time this season, but gave up nine hits and six earned runs.

Moore's last start against the Red Sox - three innings, nine hits, six runs on Aug. 1 - earned him a trip to the minor leagues, and Saturday's outing began just as poorly.

The Red Sox didn't hit a ball out of the infield in the first inning but picked up singles by Betts - extending his hitting streak to 17 games - and Xander Bogaerts, and Ortiz crushed a Moore fastball over the wall in right field.

Moore gave up back-to-back home runs to open the top of the third inning. Betts led off with a towering shot to left field for his 15th home run, and Pedroia lined his 10th a few moments later into the seats in left-center to give the Red Sox a 5-0 lead.

A two-run double by Pedroia in the fourth inning extended the Red Sox lead, and Ortiz made it 8-0 an inning later.

"One of those games that we just got beat," said Rays manager Kevin Cash. "They came out and swung the bats obviously very well. Porcello was tough on us, made some good pitches, had the sinker working really well. You don't read too much of that game other than they just came out and beat us."

The Rays scored on a two-run homer by leadoff hitter John Jaso, his third this season, in the fifth inning, and Richie Shaffer also homered for the Rays.

NOTES: Going into Saturday's game, the Red Sox (.299) and Rays (.294) had the two highest batting averages in baseball since Aug. 1. ... The Rays snapped a string of four straight games facing left-handed starters when they squared off against Porcello. Not that the Rays minded all the lefties - they are 26-16 versus southpaws, second-best in the majors behind Toronto, which is 20-12. ... The five home runs surrendered by the Rays matched a season-high.