BOSTON — The Red Sox lost 9-0 to Toronto on Friday to drop their sixth consecutive game. As manager Alex Cora put it, “They kicked our butt.”
And so Wilyer Abreu’s three-run homer in the first inning Saturday to give Boston a 3-0 lead let the team breathe a little bit.
“I think the whole stadium was able to breathe,” Cora said.
Abreu went 2-for-6 with a homer, double, four RBIs and two runs to help the Red Sox to a 15-1 win over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
“Yesterday they kicked our butt and tonight there were two outs in the first inning and that happened,” Cora said.
Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt retired the first two batters in the bottom of the first inning before a 10-pitch at-bat against Abraham Toro ended in a single to left field. Carlos Narváez followed with a single to right field.
Abreu stepped to the plate and jumped all over Bassitt’s first pitch, a 72.2 mph curveball. The right fielder wrapped a 357-foot three-run shot around Pesky’s Pole.
“That was a good swing on the breaking ball,” Cora said.
Abreu also added an RBI double in the second inning to make it 4-0.
The 26-year-old left-handed hitter is 9-for-27 (.333) since returning from the 10-day injured list June 20. He missed nine games with a left oblique strain. He had stroked just two hits in his previous 14 at-bats before going on the IL.
“We’ve been trying to talk to him about using the big part of the field — left-center,” Cora said. “That’s who he was his first year when he got here and he was able to pepper the ball off the wall (Green Monster). He’s gotten away from that. I don’t know if it’s the homers and you become pull happy. But he’s a complete player. We expect more from Wily. But I think the rest always helps, too. Those 10 days, working on a few things. And it looks like he’s refreshed.”
With Rafael Devers gone via trade, Abreu leads all Red Sox hitters with 14 homers. His first-inning blast marked his first home run in a month. Of course it’s always good to pull a breaking ball like he did but he agreed with Cora that the goal has been to hit the ball more to left-center field.
“That’s really important for me to be able to help the team and use all fields,” Abreu said through translator Daveson Perez. “If I can do that, it’s good for me and it’s good for the team.”
Abreu worked on a couple of things while sidelined with his oblique injury.
“Just working on my timing — being more on time,” Abreu said. “And just recognizing the pitches earlier. Not really making a huge adjustment.”
