Abreu's Two-Homer Night Rescues Boston After Ugly First-Inning Error
Wilyer Abreu went 2-for-4 with two home runs, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored to carry Boston past Tampa Bay 5-3 on Friday. The story of the night was how quickly Boston turned a self-inflicted two-run deficit into a lead — all within the same inning.
Tampa Bay drew first blood in the first inning when DeLuca singled to left, scoring Caminero and Vilade, and a throwing error by left fielder Duran allowed Mullins to reach third safely. That single play swung Boston's win probability from 44% to 28% — a 16-point drop that made things look bleak early. But Boston didn't flinch. Abreu answered immediately, launching a 422-foot home run to right center that scored Rafaela and knotted the game at 2. Contreras then followed with a 367-foot shot to left center, and just like that Boston had flipped a two-run deficit into a one-run lead, all in the first inning.
Tampa Bay refused to go quietly. Caminero — who had scored on DeLuca's single — came back in the third and crushed a 423-foot solo shot to left to tie it at 3. It looked like the Rays had found their footing. Then Abreu happened again. He went back to right center for a 405-foot home run in the same inning, his second of the game, to put Boston back on top 4-3. That back-to-back exchange in the third inning was as good a stretch of baseball as this game had to offer, and Abreu was right in the middle of all of it. Seigler added an insurance run in the fourth, doubling to right to score Cheng and push the final margin to 5-3.
On the mound, Mason Englert absorbed the loss for Tampa Bay, allowing 5 earned runs on 8 hits over 5.0 innings with 4 strikeouts. Boston's bullpen arms were sharp in relief — Jovani Moran threw 2.0 hitless, scoreless innings without issuing a walk, and Aroldis Chapman followed with a clean inning of his own, striking out two. Craig Kimbrel worked a scoreless ninth for Tampa Bay but it was too little, too late. The Rays look like a team that can generate offense — Caminero and DeLuca each went 2-for-4, and DeLuca drove in two — but giving Boston's lineup a two-run gift via error in the first inning, then watching Abreu collect two home runs in response, is not a formula that holds up. Abreu's night was the kind that carries a ballclub.