Red Sox Reliever Justin Slaten Makes Better Memory In Follow-Up Act

Boston Red Sox reliever Justin Slaten had a rough introduction to life on an MLB mound.

Slaten faced just one batter in his big league debut Saturday night as he surrendered the game-winning hit to Julio Rodríguez in the bottom of the 10th inning.

But the right-hander’s follow-up act Sunday went much smoother.

Slaten handled the Seattle Mariners with relative ease to close out a 5-1 win for the Red Sox at T-Mobile Park. He pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, allowing no hits and no runs while striking out one. He threw 12 of his 15 pitches for strikes.

And after he struck out Dylan Moore to end the game, Slaten came away with his first career save.

“As good as last night was being the major league debut, it’s awesome, but still you kind of have a little bit of a sour taste in your mouth,” Slaten told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “So, to get the opportunity to come right back at it today, it was everything. Just to feel like I had that support behind me just to go and give it another try, it was great.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought Slaten on with two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the seventh. Slaten, who was the third pitcher of the inning for the Red Sox, needed just one pitch to end the frame as he got Seby Zavala to fly out.

He only needed seven pitches to get through the top of Seattle’s order, which included a rematch with Rodríguez, in the eighth and followed it up with another 1-2-3 inning in the ninth.

“(Saturday) wasn’t the best debut, right?” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “Like I told you guys, he was a big leaguer and now he’s really a big leaguer. He went out there, mixed up his pitches — cutter, curveball, good fastball — against the heart of their order and did an outstanding job.”

The Red Sox obtained Slaten in an unusual fashion this offseason. The 26-year-old was selected by the New York Mets from the Texas Rangers in the Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox then promptly traded for him.

And the Red Sox truly believe he can go from an undervalued asset to a key piece in Boston’s bullpen this season.

“He’s not just a Rule 5 guy,” Cora said. “This a guy that if we keep him in the strike zone, he’s going to be good for us and he’s going to help us win a lot of games.”