TORONTO — Tyler O’Neill grew up about 4,300 km (2,700 miles) from Toronto in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, so his trip to Rogers Centre with the Red Sox this week doesn’t exactly represent a perfect homecoming. But for O’Neill, the chance to play in his home country is always special — especially when he produces like he did in Monday’s 7-3 Red Sox win.
O’Neill, who opened the scoring with a solo homer in the first inning and added another two innings later off Blue Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi, had never before hit a major league home run in Canada, in large part because he has spent his entire career with the Cardinals and had played just two games in Toronto before Monday. But on Monday, he was able to accomplish the feat while fueled by one of his home country’s most famous chain restaurants: Tim Hortons.
“I want to show up in front of the home crowd, I guess you could say,” O’Neill said. “Lot of Maple Leaf (flags) around, walking around today. I made sure to get my Tim Hortons this morning. Seriously. It was good.”
BetMGM BET UP TO $1,500! BONUS BET REFUND AFTER A LOSS
STATES: AZ, CO, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MD, MI, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms and Conditions. 21 years of age or older to wager. MA Only. New Customer Offer. All promotions are subject to qualification and eligibility requirements. Rewards issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets. Bonus bets expire 7 days from issuance. In Partnership with MGM Springfield. Play it smart from the start with GameSense. GameSenseMA.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org. US Promotional Offers not available in New York.
O’Neill and his wife, Stephanie, made sure to stop at the popular breakfast spot after waking up late following a 3 a.m. arrival for the Red Sox in Toronto after a Sunday Night Baseball win over the Yankees in Boston. O’Neill wanted to get a dozen donuts but Stephanie said no, so they settled on four donuts and a 10-pack of Timbits (think Dunkin’ Munchkins). The trip served its purpose.
“Sour cream glaze, chocolate glaze,” O’Neill said. “My favorite.”
O’Neill’s homers accounted for half of Boston’s power output Monday as Rafael Devers (back-to-back with O’Neill in the first) and Ceddanne Rafaela also hit solo shots off Kikuchi to give the Sox an early lead. One night after setting a franchise record with nine steals, the Sox used power instead of speed to get a solid win.
“It’s a dynamic lineup. We can do a lot,” O’Neill said. “We’ve got speed, we’ve got some burners. Pop the ball out of the yard any time. There’s lots of ways we can put runs on the board and we’re doing a good job of that as of late.”
The injury-prone O’Neill, who has been limited to just 49 of Boston’s first 73 games due to various issues throughout the first 2½ months of the year. After playing O’Neill in the outfield in each of the last three games, manager Alex Cora saw an opportunity for some rest Monday and put O’Neill at designated hitter in place of the scuffling Masataka Yoshida with a left-hander on the mound. Doing that — as well as mixing in full off days — is important so the Sox can keep O’Neill healthy for the stretch run. He has generally produced while healthy, as he’s tied for the team lead in homers with 14 and has an .888 OPS.
“That’s why we try so hard to keep T.O. in the lineup,” Cora said. “That’s on us, to keep him healthy, because he can impact the baseball. It’s a better lineup when he’s playing.”
Cora has learned the balance of keeping O’Neill healthy so far by trying not to push him too hard.
“He just wants the best out of his players over the course of (162) games,” O’Neill said. “I’ve been working with him just trying to feel as good as I can on a day-to-day basis so I can produce at the level I want to produce at.”
O’Neill, who said he grew up rooting for the Jays because their games were broadcast nationally in Canada, wasn’t the only Canadian who posted a solid performance for the Red Sox on Monday. Fellow British Columbia native Nick Pivetta, making his seventh career start in Toronto, matched a season-high by going seven innings. He ran into traffic (nine hits and a walk) but held Toronto to just three runs while pitching with the lead.
Pivetta’s mom and aunt were in the crowd for the start.
“It’s always very exciting for me to pitch in my home country … I was happy we were able to put a win together,” he said.
Pivetta obviously won’t pitch again before the Red Sox return to the United States but O’Neill is excited for the opportunity to add to his strong start to the first series between the AL East rivals this season. He’ll return Tuesday in hopes of homering again — having completed the same exact pregame breakfast routine.
“It’s always fun coming back home, breathing that northern air and being up here for a little bit,” he said. “I’m getting Tim Hortons in the morning for sure.”
