Xander Bogaerts hit one of the great no-doubters of the Major League Baseball season Saturday at Fenway Park.
The Boston Red Sox shortstop turned on a 91 mph four-seam fastball from Los Angeles Angels pitcher Dylan Bundy and sent it 446 feet, clearing not just the Green Monster but the entire ballpark. It's possible that ball is still rolling around somewhere on Lansdowne Street.
"It's just a different sound of the bat," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said in a postgame video conference of Bogaerts' three-run shot after Boston's 9-0 win.
"They attacked him with breaking balls earlier in the game, he puts the ball in play and gets a double. There he gets fastball," Cora said. "It looked like it was made of metal and he didn't miss it."
It was one of three balls to leave the yard for the Red Sox on Saturday. Bogaerts, a three-time Silver Slugger, now has nine homers on the season.
"He's a good hitter. He can hit .300 (batting average) every season if he wants to. But the fact that he's a power-hitting shortstop, in the middle of this lineup, is impressive," Cora said. "He didn't miss that one. He's having a heck of a start. He's been very solid."
Bogaerts was 2-for-2 with three RBIs and two runs in the win over LA. And it wasn't just Bogaerts who had success Saturday as the Red Sox compiled 12 hits with Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers each hitting their own 400-foot bombs.
Bogaerts and the Red Sox will return to action Sunday against the Angels at Fenway Park.
