Mitch Moreland has developed a habit of hitting three-run homers when his team needs them most.
As you might recall, Moreland smashed a three-run dinger with the Boston Red Sox trailing 4-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the 2018 World Series. The Red Sox went on to win that game and, of course, won the Fall Classic the next night.
Well, the slugging first baseman did it again Friday night.
With Boston trailing the Seattle Mariners 6-4 in the ninth inning and in danger of dropping to 0-2 on the new season, Moreland connected for a three-run blast off Seattle reliever Hunter Strickland. The Red Sox held on at T-Mobile Park to secure their first victory of 2019.
Take a look:
Crushed.
Let’s watch that again, this time on the Mariners’ broadcast:
The game also featured the debut of Matt Barnes as the new Red Sox closer. The hard-throwing right-hander did his job, striking out two to pick up just the third save of his career.
Here’s the final out:
As nice as the comeback win was for Boston, it certainly wasn’t all positive in Game 2 of 162. A Red Sox starter got pounded for the second consecutive night, as Nathan Eovaldi followed up Chris Sale’s clunker by giving up six runs in five innings.
Either the Mariners simply are red-hot to start the season, or Boston’s starters still have considerable rust to shake off after a light spring training. Or, you know, maybe it’s a combination of the two.
The Red Sox and Mariners will meet Saturday night for Game 3 of their four-game set. Boston will send lefty Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill, while Seattle will counter with right-hander Mike Leake. First pitch at T-Mobile Park is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. ET.
