It has been a welcomed sight for the Boston Red Sox to see Alex Verdugo come to the plate with a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth or in extra innings this season.
And there’s no other place Verdugo would rather be in that situation than in the batter’s box.
The red-hot outfielder showed why again Monday night against the Toronto Blue Jays as Verdugo seized the opportunity in front of him to hit a line-drive, walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth to lift the Red Sox to a thrilling 6-5 win at Fenway Park. It’s the third walk-off hit of the season for Verdugo, who just notched a victory for Boston in a similar fashion two days ago against the Cleveland Guardians.
“I live for it, man. I live for it, bro. I live for that moment,” Verdugo told reporters as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “Everybody kind of gets in there and some people think about the negative results of it. … I’m blessed with that opportunity to do it. You don’t go up there thinking about failure. You go up there and be like, ‘I have a chance to help out the team to win a ball game.’ And I thrive for that moment.”
The Red Sox were only in that situation due to two throwing errors by Kiké Hernández in the top of the eighth inning that erased a two-run lead. But Verudgo, who led off the game with a double, picked up his teammate and wasted no time doing so against Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano. Verdugo’s homer, which got out a hurry by just getting over the wall in right-center, happened so quick that Red Sox manager Alex Cora missed it.
“Honestly, that one I didn’t even see it. I was talking to (Josh Winckowski) about something for next inning and all of a sudden the whole dugout went quiet and I look up, I was like, ‘Whoah,'” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “From pitch one the first at-bat of the game, kind of set the tempo for the game. He’s in a good spot.”
Verdugo said he had envisioned winning another game for the Red Sox prior to his at-bat, but had to stop himself from going after the first pitch he saw from Romano. Instead, the patient approach and Verdugo’s strong clutch gene won out to yet again as he come through in a pressure-packed moment.
“Normally, I’m just trying to see the ball,” Verdugo said. “I think a lot of people when they get in those moments, the adrenaline they kind of let it take over and are already swinging out of the hand. I think for me I was having those thoughts about the first pitch where I was like, ‘Man, I’m just going to swing.’ And I was just like, ‘You know what? You take it, just see it, get your timing off of this guy. See it out of his hand.’ He threw the heater (first pitch). I saw it middle-middle and I was like, ‘That could of been the pitch to hit, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s keep going.’
“And then he threw the slider back door and I was like, ‘All right, get back on time with the heater.’ From seeing that first one I think it really helped me on that swing to kind of see the characteristics of how it was playing tonight. He just left it out over and put a good swing on it.”
Here are more notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:
— Only one swing of the bat from Bo Bichette, who went 5-for-5 at the top of the Blue Jays’ lineup, blemished Corey Kluber’s outing. The veteran right-hander allowed a three-run homer to the skilled shortstop, but Kluber gave the Red Sox 5 1/3 innings and yielded just those three runs. He gave up five runs and four walks as well and tied his season-high with seven strikeouts. Kluber also battled through a cut on his finger on his throwing hand that he got to end the top of the fifth.
“I would say disappointed in the walks that came before the home run,” Kluber told reporters of how he assessed his outing, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “But on the bright side, that’s what I limited them to.”
— Masataka Yoshida has put his early-season struggles behind him for now. The Japanese outfielder stretched his hitting streak to 11 games in the win by rocketing a double off the Green Monster in the first inning to plate Verdugo. He finished 2-for-4 at the plate.
— After spending time on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation, Chris Martin made his first appearance out of the bullpen since April 12. The right-handed reliever allowed two hits and a walk in the top of the seventh, but got Alejandro Kirk to fly out with the bases loaded to not give up any runs in the frame.
— The offensive woes for Red Sox rookie first baseman Triston Casas persist. The 23-year-old went 0-for-3 and now has two hits in his last 22 at-bats. His batting average has dropped to .128 on the season.
— The Red Sox and Blue Jays continue their four-game series from Fenway Park on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
