BOSTON — Mookie Betts isn’t a conventional leadoff hitter.
While Betts reaches base at a high rate, his power and contact ability presents a major challenge to opposing pitchers from the get-go. This much was clear in the Boston Red Sox’s 14-1 win over the New York Yankees on Tuesday at Fenway Park.
Betts led off the game with a ringing two-bagger, the first of his two doubles on the game. The right fielder also singled, drew a walk and most notably, clobbered a grand slam as part of his 4-for-4 night at the dish.
It’s not a total shocker Betts is experiencing so much success in his first season with Alex Cora. The new Red Sox manager understands all that Betts can bring to the table, and he stresses to the 25-year-old to not be fearful of mistakes while he’s in the box.
“A slugger leading off,” Cora said of Betts. “First of all, he’s gonna make contact. Now he understands that he can do damage in the strike zone. He’s just going to have to put the ball in play. I know that he’s not swinging and missing, but I told him that there’s nothing wrong with swinging and missing at pitches. Doesn’t matter. Go for it. With his ability, he’s going to put the ball in play later on in the at-bat. You can see he’s ready to hit.”
Betts’ new approach is something that’s been in the works for nearly six months. After the win over the Yankees, Betts acknowledged that back in October, Cora showed him numbers on his swing percentages and urged the right fielder to “swing more often.”
Well, Betts has been swinging alright, and he continues to be a sparkplug for a Red Sox team that’s rattled off nine straight wins.
Here are some other notes from Red Sox-Yankees:
— Boston became just the third American League team in the last 15 seasons to win nine of its first 10 games.
— Chris Sale picked up his first win of the season, tossing six innings while allowing one run on eight hits with eight strikeouts. The left-hander has allowed one run or less in each of his three starts on the year.
— Hanley Ramirez went 2-for-2 with two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly. The veteran slugger has recorded multiple hits in six of his last eight games.
— Andrew Benintendi smacked a two-run triple as part of a 2-for-3 night at the plate. He’s driven in nine runs in 17 career plate appearances against Luis Severino, the most any hitter has collected against the Yankees ace in his career.
— Cora is the second manager in Red Sox history to win at least nine of his first 10 games.
