Enmanuel Valdez Drives Much-Needed Lift For Red Sox Lineup

The Boston Red Sox quickly fell behind 7-0 on Tuesday night to the Tampa Bay Rays and badly needed an offensive spark.

Infielder Enmanuel Valdez more than stepped up at the plate to help his club climb back into the contest.

Facing Tampa Bay starter Zach Eflin, Valdez launched a three-run home run to right field to cut the deficit to four in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“Trying not to get too big with him and trying to stay up the middle,” Valdez said through a translator regarding his approach at the plate, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Just make contact with the ball and happy it went the way it did today.”

The homer marked No. 6 on the year for the 24-year-old to put the Red Sox on the board.

“In that situation, I just wanted to put the ball in play,” Valdez explained. “Luckily, I hit it hard enough that it was a home run. My main goal there was to put the ball in play.”

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In the eighth inning, Valdez knocked in another run on an opposite-field double to score Trevor Story and bring the game to a just a two-run lead for the Rays.

On the evening, Valdez went 3-for-4, drove in a career-high four runs and finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

Along with Wilyer Abreu, who drove in two runs on Tuesday and is hitting .378 in September, the return the Red Sox received in the 2022 Christian Vázquez trade appears to be working out for Boston.

“He’s a good hitter, man,” Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Both of them. They’re advanced. They swing at strikes. They swing at strikes hard, both of them. They’re short to the ball and they get to fastballs. Both of them. They’re very advanced in the way that they approach the at-bat. They put good at-bats. They’re good, both of them.”

Valdez is red-hot in the month of September, hitting .383 in 11 games as the young infielder continues to fight for his future at the big league level in Boston.

“Just be ready to get good at-bats and quality swings,” Valdez added.