The Red Sox snapped their four-game losing streak thanks to Pablo Reyes’ first home run of the season that lifted Boston to victory over the Kansas City Royals.
After the game, Reyes was asked by NESN’s Jahmai Webster why he told starting pitcher Brayan Bello that he would hit a home run this week.
“My teammates, everyone was asking me, ‘Pablo, when are you going to hit a homer?'” he told Webster, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I said, I’m going to try this week. When I have the opportunity, when they give me the opportunity, I’m going to go there and I’m going to try.’ So I’m starting to go good with two base hits, so then I say, ‘Well, I’ve got to try to go for the big swing. And it happened.”
It certainly did happen. Reyes not only launched his first home run, but the bomb was a grand slam to give the Red Sox the 6-2 win at Fenway Park. The 29-year-old shortstop had a solid night at the plate for the Red Sox going 3-for-4 from the plate — only a triple away from hitting the cycle.
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Red Sox manager Alex Cora praised Reyes’ at-bats and how he scored the game’s first run in the third inning.
“He is a really good player and a good kid,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He put a good at-bat in the first one, then the steal to second. Gets to third and then score the run.”
On the field after hitting the grand slam and being congratulated by his teammates, Reyes spoke through translator Carlos Villoria about what it’s like to play for the Red Sox.
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“You can’t put these feelings into words,” Reyes said through Villoria. “When you see the fans on their feet, and playing in this ballpark. Words can’t explain it.”
Reyes is slashing .312/.357/.416 on the season with 24 hits and 13 RBIs in 33 games for the Red Sox.
Featured image via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
