Red Sox’s James Paxton Wants To Hear This Every Time He Starts

The Red Sox needed a win Tuesday night, and James Paxton rose to the occasion to halt Boston’s losing streak.

Boston secured a 5-4 win over Cleveland at Progressive Field thanks in large part to seven strong innings from Paxton, who only allowed two earned runs on six hits while racking up nine strikeouts. The veteran left-hander finished up his outing with a very strong seventh, retiring the Guardians in order to keep the Red Sox’s deficit at one.

Prior to silencing Cleveland in his final frame, Paxton warmed up to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” a classic tune that is played at most Major League Baseball parks before the bottom of the seventh. In a perfect world, the hard-throwing southpaw will hear that song every time he’s on the mound.

“It was great,” Paxton told reporters, per MLB.com. “That’s always the goal, is to hear that seventh-inning stretch song when you go out there.”

Paxton ultimately was rewarded for his longest outing since 2019. Rob Refnsyder and the rest of the Red Sox offense put together a four-run eighth inning and Kenley Jansen shut the door with his 13th save of the season.

Boston will try to notch another win over Cleveland on Wednesday night. NESN’s full coverage of the middle game begins at 6 p.m. ET.