It looks like David Ortiz still has a few swings left in that bat of his. After a few years of slow starts, Big Papi got the bat going a bit sooner this time around. The 35-year-old DH cracked his 14th home run of the season on Tuesday night, lifting his Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees with a 6-4 win and bringing the two teams into a tie for first the American League East standings.

Ortiz had a typically slow April, hitting .267 with two home runs, three doubles and 11 RBI (and an unexpected triple), but he exploded in May with 10 long balls, 16 RBI and nine doubles (but no triples). He’s continued that streak into June, adding another two blasts, four doubles and five RBI. He was named AL Player of the Week last week and has brought his average up to .324 with a .992 OPS.

MLB released its latest update for All-Star voting, and Ortiz had passed Texas’ Michael Young for the designated hitter’s spot. Ortiz holds a lead of about 127,000 votes. The last time Ortiz started an All-Star Game was in 2007 as a first baseman. He ended up hitting .332 with 35 home runs and 117 RBI that season, finishing fourth in MVP voting. He’s currently on pace to have his best season since that 2007 campaign.

Ortiz isn’t getting any younger, but that’s not stopping him from continuing to be a contributing member of the Red Sox. After all the talk about his slow starts and being dropped in the lineup, he and his teammates have to like seeing some positive publicity. Ever since he almost single-handedly beat the Yankees in the 2004 postseason, he’s been a hero to the BoSox faithful. Expect him to stick around for years to come.