Boston Red Sox slugger Kyle Schwarber couldn’t have drawn up a better time for his first signature moment at Fenway Park.
Schwarber stepped to the plate with the Red Sox trailing by two runs and a runner on second in the ninth inning. He proceeded to tie the game with a two-run blast to center field, measuring 437 feet and scoring Kiké Hernández after a lead-off double.
Schwarber explained his reaction during a postgame video conference after Boston fell in extra innings, 9-6.
“Yeah, that was definitely a really cool moment. Fenway was rocking,” Schwarber said. “In the moment I was very excited. Kind of took it in rounding the bases, looking at the fans and stuff like that. This is a great place to be. Obviously the result wasn’t the result that we wanted. But I can tell you that this team, they want to go out there and they want to keep putting Ws out at the end of the night for these fans, this city and keep it going.”
Unfortunately, the Red Sox left the game-winning run on third base with one out as Alex Verdugo struck out and Hunter Renfroe popped out to the catcher. Hansel Robles then allowed five runs in the 10th inning as Minnesota pulled away.
“It’s a crazy game. This game, you can be at your highest high and next thing you know it can put you right back down,” Schwarber said. “But the beauty of it is we come out tomorrow and have the opportunity to win the series. I think that’s the focus that we have to put this behind us and we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to go out there and put our best foot forward to win the series.”
It was the third multi-hit game of Schwarber’s tenure with the Red Sox, but the first time he recorded three hits in a Boston uniform.
Schwarber and the Red Sox will return to Fenway Park on Thursday for the finale against the Twins, with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET on NESN.
