Kiké Hernández continued in his hot streak Thursday night at Fenway Park and he did so in clutch fashion.
Hernández only had one hit in the Red Sox’s series opener against the Yankees, but it was one of the biggest of the night for Boston. His two-RBI double in the ninth inning leveled the score between the American League East rivals, and the Red Sox rode the momentum to a 5-4 victory in 10 frames.
The two-bagger was laced into the left-center field gap, and as Hernández acknowledged after the game, it might have been a walk-off round-tripper if hit in another stadium.
“Got a fastball over the heart of the plate and I was able to stay short, get the head out,” Hernández told reporters, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “If we were in Buffalo, it probably would have ended the game. But it just tied it tonight.”
Hernández took advantage of Sahlen Field’s short porches Wednesday night, as his low liner just barely snuck over the left-field fence for a two-run shot.
The game-tying double against New York had Red Sox fans going berserk. It was the loudest Hernández has ever heard Fenway Park, probably because the former Los Angeles Dodger erased previous trips to Boston from his memory.
“Yeah, I mean, it was pretty cool,” Hernández told reporters. “I feel like that’s the first time that I’ve done something offensively for the crowd to get that pumped up. Definitely the loudest I’ve heard Fenway this year. I don’t remember a few years ago when they came here in October. We don’t need to talk about that one. Yeah, I mean, the crowd was into it. Of course, they don’t like those guys. It was nice. It was nice to do something to help the team.”
Hernández will look to help his team again Friday night when the Red Sox and the Yankees play the second contest of their four-game set.
