Red Sox’s Kiké Hernández, Alex Verdugo Rob Rays Of Go-Ahead Homers

The Boston Red Sox weren’t their sharpest on the defensive side Sunday in their loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, charged with a pair of runs due to their sluggish outfield play on a Little League home run.

Yet, it only took 24 hours for Boston to flip the switch and instead steal runs from Tampa Bay rather than handing them over on Monday.

It started with Kiké Hernández, who was moved to center field to shortstop after committing two errors there in Game 2 of Boston’s doubleheader with the league-best Rays. But back in the spacious outfield turf that he’s well-accustomed to guarding, Hernández stunned the Fenway Park crowd by robbing Luke Raley of a sure-thing home run and Tampa Bay of a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

Again, that was just the start.

Getting in on the fun of legal robbery, Alex Verdugo followed Hernández by doing the exact same. In the third inning, Verdugo leaped over the right field wall by Pesky Pole and brought back a near solo home run off the bat of Francisco Mejía, raising the team’s total in stolen runs to three.

Not only did Verdugo save a scoreless bid for starting pitcher Brayan Bello, but he also backed up his talk when taking a stand in defense of manager Alex Cora during Sunday’s postgame press conference.

Cora took all the blame for the poor defensive showing, but Verdugo stepped forward and took accountability on behalf of the Red Sox locker room.

“At the end of the day, we are the players,” Verdugo said. “We are the ones that have to go out there and make the play and get it done.”

Boston entered the division clash having committed seven errors in its previous six games.