How Marcelo Mayer Settled Into Big-League Life With ‘Special Day’ 

BOSTON — Red Sox top prospect Marcelo Mayer looked much more settled in for his second day of work as a big leaguer.

And the results showed that, too.

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With his family in the stands, Mayer put together a two-hit performance in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. The hits marked what undoubtedly will be an unforgettable experience for the 22-year-old infielder as he sets off on his major league career.

“It was awesome waking up as a big leaguer,” Mayer said. “Just the whole day, getting prepared for the game with my family in town. It was a special day.”

It was a much more straightforward day for Mayer, who didn’t have to worry about getting from Worcester to Boston. All he had to think about was how he could contribute with Alex Cora penciling him in at third base and in the six-spot in the lineup.

Mayer, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his debut, wasted no time, singling to left field off Orioles starter Dean Kremer to begin the bottom of the second inning for his first career hit. The Fenway crowd roared at Mayer’s accomplishment and Orioles first baseman Emmanuel Rivera even flipped the ball to Mayer after he had reached base.

Mayer tossed the ball into the Red Sox dugout for safekeeping and the memento will probably go in his father’s office with other memorabilia from his career.

“I was just trying to get a pitch to hit,” Mayer said. “I ended up getting two strikes I think. Shot it to left field. It was a really cool moment.”

Mayer grounded out in his next two at-bats, but displayed why he was ranked as the No. 8 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline in his final at-bat. He also showed his ability to make adjustments in the plate appearance, too.

The left-handed slugger laced a double into the right-center cap, which came off the bat at 105.1 mph. It had to be extra satisfying for Mayer since Orioles reliever Andrew Kittredge, who let up the extra-base hit, struck out Mayer with a heavy diet of sliders in his MLB debut.

“I feel like today in general I was just way better with my approach, kind of what I’ve been working on all year,” Mayer said. “He got me yesterday with some sliders down, so I just tried to see them up and I got a good pitch to hit.”

The excitement surrounding Mayer’s first two hits was contagious in the dugout as he looked to give the team a much-needed spark. And contributing like he did Sunday sure will help that cause.

“It was awesome. I was screaming like it was my first hit. I was yelling at him to go three on the double. Just little silly things like that,” Duran said. “That’s what makes baseball baseball. You can be losing 5-0, but to see a young guy like that get a first hit and then hit a double, it kind of puts the game in perspective and you got to enjoy it sometimes.”