A Ruthian Milestone for Boggs

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Wade Boggs helped himself and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays reach new heights.

Boggs hit a two-run homer and later passed Babe Ruth for 33rd place on the career hits list as the expansion Devil Rays won their team-record fifth consecutive game, 11-5, Monday night over the Oakland Athletics.

“When you talk about a name like Babe Ruth, I don’t care if you beat him in eating hamburgers, it’s some kind of name,” Tampa Bay Manager Larry Rothschild said. “It was electric. It was exciting. I think the night belonged to Wade Boggs.”

Boggs had three hits. He broke an 0-for-14 slump with a single in the third, homered to highlight a five-run fifth and moved past Ruth with an RBI single in the eighth. Boggs has 2,874 career hits.

“It was a thrill,” said Boggs, who left the game to standing ovation when pulled for pinch-runner Bobby Smith in the eighth inning. “Normally it’s saved for major milestones. I thank the fans for it. It’s very special when you pass somebody as big as Babe Ruth. It’s a big day in my career.”

Bryan Rekar (1-2) earned his first victory since June 21, 1997. Blake Stein (4-6) took the loss despite striking out four batters in the fourth inning.

Mike Blowers and Miguel Tejada homered for Oakland, which lost its season-high seventh in a row.