Red Sox Notes: Why Kiké Hernández’s Game-Winning Hit Was ‘Meant To Be’

Kiké Hernández wasn’t going to leave New York without making a difference for the Boston Red Sox.

The prideful Puerto Rican had more than enough reasons for wanting to deliver, especially with thousands of his fellow countrymen celebrating in the city Sunday for the annual Puerto Rican Parade.

Hernández didn’t disappoint, recording two hits in his final two at-bats, including driving in the game-winning run in the top of the 10th, in a 3-2 extra-inning win for the Red Sox over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

“To take two out of three here in New York was huge,” Hernández said on “SportsCenter” following his clutch performance. “Puerto Rican parade here in New York, so I had to show out for my Puerto Rican people. It was meant to be.”

After scoring the game-tying run in the eighth, Hernández did his job again once the contest went to extra frames. Facing Ron Marinaccio with Adam Duvall on third and one out, Hernández’s approach was key to him taking a 1-1 sweeper from the Yankees reliever to left field to put the Red Sox in front.

“Coming up with a runner at third, less than two outs, infield in, my job is to get something up in the zone to drive it. A pitch I could handle,” Hernández said. “Very important to put the ball in play there. … The first pitch was a change-up, good change-up. I went a little bit around it and I wanted to make sure I stayed inside the ball.

“I was going one pitch at a time. Try not to think about the pitch prior to that, but stay in the moment, stay present and after that he threw me a second-pitch change-up down and away for a ball and then he hung the slider. All I had to do was put the ball in play, hit something hard and sure enough with the infield in, hitting the ball hard was all I needed to do.”

While the spotlight was focused on Hernández for his big-time contribution, he made sure to credit Triston Casas for putting him in that position in the 10th with an unheralded at-bat right before he came to the plate.

“Casas did a great job by getting the runner over to lead off the inning,” Hernández said. “That was huge.”

Red Sox Wrap: Boston Pulls Through In Extra Innings To Top Yankees

Jun 11, 2023

Here are more notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Yankees game:
— The Red Sox took the first series of the season against the Yankees and with the two road wins, they matched their total from all of last season at Yankee Stadium, according to ESPN.

— With the Red Sox using Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the ninth, they turned to Chris Martin in the 10th to secure the victory. Martin stranded the tying run at third base, ending the game with back-to-back strikeouts to notch his first career save as a member of the Red Sox.

— The Red Sox caught some tough luck early in the contest, most notably when Jose Trevino’s routine grounder up the middle with two outs in the second inning hit the second-base bag and allowed two runs to score to give New York an early lead. Red Sox manager Alex Cora shrugged off the play, though, and then in the third inning more misfortune came Boston’s way when Alex Verdugo’s hit connected with Jarren Duran as he tried to steal second, resulting in Duran being out.

“I mean just bad luck,” Cora told ESPN’s Buster Olney during a mid-game interview. “It is what it is. We just got to keep throwing strikes and play good defense.”

— There was another error committed by the Red Sox — this time courtesy of third baseman Rafael Devers — but they also made some slick plays in the field. Masataka Yoshida highlighted the defensive effort with a ranging and sliding grab down the left field line and shortstop Pablo Reyes also made a diving stop before throwing on to first for a web-game play.

— Boston made sure Anthony Rizzo’s slump continued. The Yankees first baseman went 0-for-3 and is now hitless in his last 24 at-bats, which is the longest stretch of his career, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

— The Red Sox move on from New York and right into an interleague series with the Colorado Rockies at Fenway Park on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.