Red Sox Had To Get Creative With Replacement Home Run 'Cart' In Buffalo
BOSTON (CBS) -- If there was ever an evening to have a laundry cart ready to give quick rides in the dugout following round trippers, Monday night was the night for the Boston Red Sox. Alas, the team was without an actual cart in Buffalo, so they had to get a bit creative.
On an evening where the Red Sox sent six baseballs over the fence at Sahlen Field, the team had to improvise with those celebratory joy rides. With a laundry cart nowhere to be found, Boston opted to use a cooler with wheels as a replacement.
It must have been one heck of a cooler, since it received quite the workout during Boston's 13-4 win. The Red Sox mashed three homers in the first inning alone -- a two-run jack by rookie Jarren Duran, a grand slam by Hunter Renfroe, and a two-run shot by Enrique Hernandez after the team batted around. Rafael Devers added a solo laser in the second inning, with Danny Santana clubbing a solo bomb in the fourth. Hernandez added another homer -- a solo shot -- in the sixth inning.
Red Sox didn't have a laundry cart to use so they used a cooler ???? pic.twitter.com/dqmpIx2w0m
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 20, 2021
Boston's homers traveled a collective 2,400 feet on Monday night. Their rides in the dugout were considerably shorter, and likely a little more bumpy considering wheeled coolers aren't usually meant to have professional athletes riding them, but the Sox made the most out of the situation.
As to where the laundry cart was on Monday, Alex Cora said one isn't always available to his players, so they use whatever they can get.
"There are some places that there is no cart. I guess that's what they did today. We'll get back to it when we get home," Cora said of Boston's usual set of wheels.
Cora shuffled his lineup a bit Monday night, hitting Duran second while dropping Alex Verdugo to sixth, and moving J.D. Martinez from third to fifth to get some more runners on in front of him. The team responded with a 13-run, 14-hit evening, and Martinez went 4-for-4 in his new slot.
Cora wouldn't commit to that lineup again on Tuesday night, but the skipper would be wise to ride the hot lineup. And the players would be wise to keep the cooler that did much more than just keep beverages cold on Monday night.