Hunter Pence homered Tuesday night, but it wasn’t too customary of a dinger.
In the sixth inning of the Boston Red Sox’s 9-5 loss to the Texas Rangers, Pence hit a ball toward Pesky’s Pole. Brock Holt went diving into the stands to try and catch it, but missed, however the ball hadn’t left the park, so it just hit off the fence and kept rolling along the wall in right field.
As the ball kept rolling, Holt didn’t give chase to it, instead staying leaned over the wall for a moment. Center fielder Mookie Betts was nowhere near the play, so Pence got an inside-the-park homer with ease.
.@hunterpence with just your casual inside-the-park homer. pic.twitter.com/USoRmDQI5i
— MLB (@MLB) June 12, 2019
In the moment, it was inexplicable why Holt didn’t go after the ball.
Following the game, here’s what the utility man said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage, about why he stayed put.
I thought it went over the fence. So it was one of those things where I’ve kind of got to know where the ball is. The ball was slicing away from me, and when I ended up two rows deep in the stands I figured, or I assumed that it had gone out. I had no idea that it was still in play. So that’s kind of embarrassing on my part. So I’ve got to do a better job of paying more attention, and yeah that one was on me. I don’t know if I would have been able to keep Hunter to a triple there or what, but I’ve got to go get that ball and get it in.
(I didn’t know the ball was in play still) until I turned around and saw Mookie go get it. I saw the ball out there and was kind of wondering where it came from. Just went into the stands, most balls from a righty are going that way, most of them curve around that pole, so when I didn’t get it and I was in the stands I just assumed that it was three, four rows deep. I had no idea it was still in play, so yeah I’ve got to pay better attention.
I don’t know (if it hit my glove), I feel like I was close. But I didn’t even watch the replay, so I felt like I was close — it either hit my glove or just out of reach. Just one of those plays where I was trying to get there and make a play and didn’t, lost the ball and thought it was in the stands when it wasn’t.
Holt started the game in left field, but moved to right when Andrew Benintendi (and Alex Cora) got ejected.
