What Pablo Reyes Thought Amid Risky, Game-Winning Run To Home

Just a little over a week after his walk-off grand slam, Pablo Reyes provided another game-winning effort for the Red Sox.

Reyes saved Boston from what could have been a disastrous fourth inning at Nationals Park. The Red Sox knotted things up with the Washington Nationals on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, but a baserunning mistake on the game-tying play left the visitors with only one man on and two outs.

Boston was able to push that run across, as Reyes sprinted home on a wild pitch and narrowly avoided the final out of the frame. The run gave the Red Sox a 5-4 lead, which ended up being the final score thanks to a brilliant effort from Boston’s bullpen.

After the series opener, Reyes broke down his game-changing dash.

“I was focused and ready for that play before it happened,” Reyes told reporters, per MLB.com. “I just got a good jump, but it surprised me when it hit that back net, so it went back to the catcher very close (to home plate). On the way to home plate, I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to go, I’ve got to go.’ It was too close. And I had no chance to go back to third base, so I just kept going and made it to home plate.”

The Red Sox are fortunate Reyes successfully bolted across the dish. A loss to the Nationals, who entered Wednesday with the fifth-worst record in all of baseball, would have been a tough way to kick off a 10-game road trip.

Boston now will try to move to 2-0 on its latest stretch away from Fenway Park on Wednesday. NESN’s full coverage of the middle game in Washington, D.C. begins at 6 p.m. ET.