BOSTON -- It’s the week of top prospects in Boston.
Roman Anthony, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline, was called up and made his big league debut at Fenway Park on Monday in the series opener against the Rays. On Tuesday, Anthony notched his first career hit with his family in the stands.
And in the finale Wednesday night, Boston’s No. 2 prospect, Marcelo Mayer, recorded his first multihomer game with two solo drives in a 4-3 win over the Rays.
Following their offensive onslaught over the weekend in New York, the Red Sox hit four solo homers on Wednesday en route to taking back-to-back series for the first time since early May.
“It was a good one,” manager Alex Cora said. “Some good swings, played good defense. It was a good approach. They had a good game plan going into it, and they executed. We were very aggressive early in counts. … Was a good day for the offense.”
Jarren Duran led the charge with a first-pitch leadoff homer against Rays starter Zack Littell, who surrendered four homers for the first time since April 10 against the Angels. Abraham Toro homered in the fifth for his second homer in his last four games.
Mayer sent Littell’s first pitch of the second inning into the right-field stands for his first Fenway homer. In the fourth, he hit a 1-1 splitter to nearly the same spot just beyond Pesky’s Pole to become the youngest Red Sox player (22 years and 181 days old) with a multihomer game since Rafael Devers (21 years, 337 days) in 2018.
“They felt really good,” Mayer said. “To get the first one at home was special. And then obviously to get the second one -- any time you could help the team out offensively, means a lot.”
The 22-year-old has been in the big leagues for just under three weeks. He ended May hitting .222 in his first seven games, and has bumped his average up to .294 after hitting his first Major League homer at Yankee Stadium on Friday and notching a double and two homers in the series against the Rays.
“We had a plan against him, and I just didn't execute the plan,” Littell said. “I can't throw the ball over the middle of the plate to good hitters. And after that at-bat, it's just a matter of going out there and continuing to compete.”
Cora called Mayer’s swings “effortless,” and noted how Mayer is able to put together a “complete at-bat.” In his second at-bat, Mayer fouled off a first-pitch fastball, sat on a low splitter and then turned on a middle-inside splitter.
“The process always stays the same,” Mayer said. “I feel more comfortable every single day I'm here. Obviously a little bit of adjustments I've made have helped me do a little bit more on time.”
Mayer’s homers helped push the Red Sox to the other side of a one-run game in which the Nos. 7-9 hitters combined for five hits. Boston went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but the solo homers were enough to get it done on Wednesday.
“We can talk about putting another ball in play with men in scoring position, or walking and running the bases well,” Cora said. “In this league, that plays. When you hit homers, it's a lot easier, and we did it over the weekend in New York.
“Today, the one we talked about [was] Marcelo, but the one Toro hit [was] in a huge spot. He's been amazing for us, and we're getting that good feeling, right? We won the series in New York. We won this one, two rivals, two good teams. And now, like I said, enjoy the off-day and be ready for Friday.”