Xander Bogaerts didn’t wait long to get in on the first-inning fun with the Red Sox during Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
J.D. Martinez singled home Rafael Devers to give Boston an early 1-0 lead, and on the next at-bat, Bogaerts hit his 16th home run of the season to put the Red Sox up 3-0. The blast traveled 413 feet, with the cutter from Ryan Yarbrough flying off the bat at 104 mph.
Bogaerts has been going through a bit of a slump lately. Through 20 games in the month of July, he was hitting just .227 entering Saturday — well below his season average of .308.
Here’s hoping the home run is enough to get him back on track.
