Boston Red Sox right fielder Alex Verdugo. (Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports)
After a rough 24 hours for Boston sports fans, Alex Verdugo eased the pain of Red Sox fans with another walk-off effort to beat the Blue Jays.
Boston sports fans have been put through the ringer this week between the Bruins blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Panthers and the Celtics blowing Game 1 against a Joel Embiid-less 76ers squad in the span of a day.
Enter Alex Verdugo! The hero of Boston who is single-handedly trying to take the pain away.
On Monday night, not long after the Celtics fell to Philadelphia, Verdugo hit a walk-off homer to lift the Red Sox over the Blue Jays.
It was his third walkoff RBI of the season and it was just what the doctor ordered for the ailing Boston sports fan demographic.
Verdugo’s hit wasn’t just a thrilling bit of heroics for the Fenway faithful. The stats prove it puts him in pretty rare company.
Alex Verdugo’s third walk-off put him in Red Sox history
The right fielder is now the first Red Sox player to hit at least three walk-off RBI in the first 30 games of the season, according to J.P. Long. He’s just the fourth player to do so in MLB history, joining Joe Crede for the White Sox in 2004, Andruw Jones for the Braves in 1999 and Bobby Bonds for the Giants in 1973.
Red Sox fans were extremely happy to point out that Verdugo has passed Derek Jeter for career walkoff hits with eight.
Boston got the 6-5 victory to begin their series with Toronto. The Red Sox had a 5-3 lead going into the eighth but a pair of Kiké Hernandez errors helped score two runners to tie the game. Verdugo was the first batter in the bottom of the ninth and he needed three pitches to send the fans home happy.
Boston and Toronto will face off three more times this week.
