Brenton Doyle raced back, back, back, but the roaring Fenway Faithful already knew what the Colorado Rockies center fielder was about to be forced to accept.
Roman Anthony’s first Fenway home run was long gone.
418 feet, at 106.4 mph, to be precise.
The Red Sox rookie’s second big-league blast, but first at the ballpark he finally gets to call home, landed among the jubilant fans nestled in the left-field corner of the bleachers.
Anthony’s homer headlined a night of wild firsts for the Red Sox. Starter Richard Fitts picked up his first big-league win. Batting in Rob Refsnyder’s place in the bottom of the seventh, Jarren Duran picked up his first-ever pinch-hit RBI.
And when all was said and done, the Red Sox triumphed 9-3.
“We kept going, and we didn’t stop,” manager Alex Cora said.
The Rockies may have arrived at Fenway with a 21-69 record, but they didn’t make things easy for their hosts. Left-hander Austin Gomber yielded five runs (four earned) on seven hits, but he largely had a handle on the Boston bats in his 4 ⅔ innings. After giving up a three-spot in the second – though only two runs were earned, thanks to an error by third baseman Ryan McMahon – Gomber settled back in until two outs in the fifth, when Anthony stepped up to the plate.
“It felt great,” Anthony said. “To get that first one out of the way was great… We’re rolling right now. It’s fun, and it’s contagious, so we just gotta keep it going.”
One batter later – Refsnyder singled – Gomber’s night was over.
The mood in the ballpark quickly turned incredulous in the top of the sixth, when the Red Sox thought they’d escaped a jam, only to be ordered back onto the field by the umpires.
Fitts got two quick outs to begin the inning, but his night came to an end when he gave up a single to left-fielder Mickey Moniak and a double to second baseman Thairo Estrada.
Batting against left-hander Chris Murphy, Michael Toglia hit into a fielder’s choice, and though Estrada was right in Nate Eaton’s path, the third baseman didn’t apply the tag.
After both managers took their turns speaking with the umpires, the inning restarted, with a run on the board for Colorado. McMahon’s RBI single plated another before Murphy struck out Doyle to end the frame for good.
Only two ball clubs entered Monday with more than 65 errors this season, and they were the ones playing at Fenway that night. Each side had already been charged with an error when Eaton received Boston’s second. For a moment, the Red Sox had overtaken the Rockies in one of the game’s most frustrating metrics.
A scoring change shortly thereafter removed the Eaton error and reattributed the two runs to Fitts. Thus, over 5 2/3 innings and 91 pitches (62 strikes), the righty yielded three runs, two earned, on five hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. Neither team made another error, so the Rockies remained atop the leaderboard.
“It felt like everything clicked tonight for us,” Fitts said. “I wanted to get through six.”
“He’s been good for us. Really good,” Cora lauded. “Gave us a chance to win almost every time. I remember two bad ones: the last one last year, and the one against Anaheim. The rest, solid. Good velocity, changing, mixing up the off-speed pitches. He’s good, he’s a good pitcher, and he gave us a chance to win tonight.”
But to paraphrase the immortal words of ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ anything the Red Sox could do, the Rockies could do better. Which in this case, meant giving up runs.
The Red Sox put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth on solo homers by Ceddanne Rafaela and Gonzalez. It was Rafaela’s third game in a row with a home run.
Gonzalez’s traveled 454 feet, not only the longest home run of his big-league career, but tying Angels star Mike Trout for the longest homer at Fenway this season.
“Definitely great company,” Gonzalez said. “I remember that ball Mike hit, it was incredible, so just for it to be even close, crazy.”
“I knew I hit it really well. I didn’t think it was gonna get that far,” the versatile utility-man continued. “I kind of put my head down and ran. I didn’t want to pimp it or anything, but yeah, I squared it up for sure.”
“I was on deck,” Anthony said with a chuckle, “and that was pretty sick. But it’s kind of bad that I almost like, expect that from him when a left-handed pitcher’s up, because he’s been so amazing this year.”
Asked how he feels facing lefties this year, Gonzalez answered, “Tremendously locked-in.”
Boston tallied 14 hits and gave up seven. Gonzalez, Carlos Narváez, and Wilyer Abreu contributed two hits apiece, but Anthony led the way with three, his sixth multi-hit performance in his last nine games.
“He’s a good player, good hitter,” Cora said of Anthony. “That’s why he’s playing every day.”
Gonzalez also earned his manager’s praise, but not for the home run.
“He had a hell of a game at second base today,” Cora lauded. “He did an amazing job… He’s very versatile. He’s a good player, he’s a good runner, and I’m glad that he’s playing for us.”
Garrett Whitlock, Brennan Bernardino, and Jorge Alcala pitched the remainder of the game, combining for 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Red Sox are 47-45. They’ve won four games in a row.
But this was Fitts’ first win in the majors, a long-awaited achievement, even if pitching wins and losses are a passé metric nowadays. It was still a moment to be savored, especially after going on the injured list and being optioned and recalled from Triple-A.
“I got the lineup card for tonight, so I’m happy with that,” a beaming Fitts said. “It’s felt like a roller coaster. I feel like I’m just on an uphill climb but then all of a sudden hit an obstacle. But I feel like I’m in a good spot right now, and all the work that I’ve put in this year, I think is building and it’s just going to get better as we keep going.”
“I’ve been waiting a while for it,” the rookie said of the win.
The scorecard will be framed, just like the one from his debut last fall. Maybe the jersey he wore on Monday, too, he said.
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