The story behind Rich Hill's potential historic return
The night began with all too many reminders that the good vibes were not initially in the Red Sox' corner.
The streets outside Fenway Park were littered with Mets hats, t-shirts and jackets. Inside, the New Yorkers were using their batting practice to make it clear this was their show. They had the record, sitting 11 games over .500, and they also had their own music thanks to an enormous customized Mets-themed boom box that was overtaking Fenway's organ music.
The Red Sox? They were banking on Kristian Campbell learning first-base footwork in pregame drills while desperately looking to put the last week in the rearview.
Three-plus hours later, the script had been flipped.
Ramon Vazquez - the bench coach who was taking over for manager Alex Cora (who was celebrating his daughter's college graduation) - sat at the postgame podium in shorts, flip-flops, and a towel, still wet from his celebratory beer shower.
Thanks to a game in which the Red Sox bobbed and weaved through Mets' fans' chants and the visitors' lineup, Vazquez claimed his first victory as a big league manager thanks to a 3-1 win over the other New Yorkers.
"It was a cold beer shower in there. I’m still freezing right now," noted Vazquez. He added, "I only played here half a season but I have been here with Alex since ’18. This is a special place. The fact that I was able to manage my first game in the big leagues with this organization in this ballpark makes it even more special. I’m officially retired from being a manager. It’s exciting. Thank God it happened for me. I’m very excited about that."
Adding to the satisfaction of the moment was knowing that Vazquez was a big part of the solution when it came to this end result.
With starting pitcher Hunter Dobbins sitting at just 66 pitches two outs in the fifth inning, the potential tying run at first base and Francisco Lindor coming to the plate, Vazquez made the aggressive move to call on lefty reliever Justin Wilson.
While the strategy would be necessitating the bullpen getting 13 outs, there was plenty of logic behind it. Lindor hit significantly worse from the right side of the plate (.561 OPS compared to .885 OPS vs. righties). In his 13 plate appearances against Wilson, he had already struck out six times. And Dobbins' success the third time through a batting order had been an issue.
It worked. Make that seven strikeouts in 14 plate appearances.
Then, with two outs in the seventh and the two Mets runners once again threatening to tie the game, Vazquez had another decision to make against Lindor. This time, instead of turning to a lefty, he replaced Greg Weissert with the bullpen's second-highest-leverage reliever, Justin Slaten. One pitch. One ground ball back to the pitcher.
All that was left were some diminished Mets chants from the wave of traveling New Yorkers and another easily-executed save from Aroldis Chapman.
"There was a lot of blue out there. They had them tucked away in right field. I saw that. It was cool," said Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, who had two more hits including his MLB-leading sixth triple. "It’s always cool to have a little of the enemy on this side. Have them and the fans going at it, cheering for each other and going against each other. It’s always cool to see, especially at Fenway."
And to top off the reversal of fortune, it was the Mets who left Fenway wondering where all those pregame vibes had gone. That was thanks to a head-scratching bit of messaging from New York manager Carlos Mendoza and his star player, Juan Soto.
Soto, who had already entered the evening carrying some buzz thanks to various reports about his overall demeanor, did not hustle on a single that hit high off the left field wall in the sixth inning. He ultimately stole second, but the Mets' threat was ended thanks to a Brandon Nimmo double-play ball.
When asked about the play after the game, Mendoza said, "We’ll talk to him about it. Tonight, obviously, if someone gets a hold of one and knows when he gets it, it’s Juan. He thought he had it. With the wind and all that, in this ballpark -- anywhere, in any one, but particularly in this one with that wall right there -- you’ve got to get out of the box. Yeah, we’ll discuss that."
Soto's response?
"I think I’ve been hustling pretty hard. If you saw it today, you could tell," he said.
Seemingly within a blink of an eye, the jealousy of seeing the main object of the Red Sox' offseason desires, Soto, glide around the Fenway field while being serenaded by a Mets boom box and fan base was gone. Unwanted controversy (and a less-than-spectacular stat line ... .246 batting average and .815 OPS) was just another thing making the Red Sox finally feel good about themselves.
"It was great to be out there," said Vazquez.