Alex Verdugo hosts another walk-off party for Red Sox at Fenway Park
BOSTON -- While the TD Garden has been a house of horrors these last few nights, Fenway Park has been filled with some good juju this season. Shortly after the Celtics were stunned by James Harden for a brutal Game 1 loss to the 76ers, Alex Verdugo gave Boston fans something to celebrate on Monday night.
Verdugo hosted another walk-off party at Fenway Park, coming through with some more late-inning magic for the Red Sox. The outfielder crushed a 385-foot homer into the Boston bullpen to lift the Red Sox to a 6-5 win over the Blue Jays.
Verdugo absolutely demolished a 93.8 mph fastball from Toronto closer Jordan Romano for his third walk-off hit in Boston's first 30 games. He also came through with walk-off RBI singles against the Twins on April 18 and against the Guardians over the weekend.
Verdugo is now up to eight walk-off hits for his career.
"I live for it," Verdugo said of coming through in high-pressure situations. "I live for that moment. I'm blessed with that opportunity to do it. You don't go up there thinking about failure. You go up there and think, 'I have a chance to help the team win a ballgame.' And I thrive for that moment."
Monday night's game-winning blast was Verdugo's fifth homer of the season, which is good for second on the Boston roster behind Rafael Devers' 10 round-trippers. But Verdugo sits atop the stat sheet in a number of other categories, leading Boston with 38 hits, 24 runs scored, and seven doubles. His .311 average is the best among Boston's everyday player.
He's been pretty clutch too, and not just in late-inning situations. Verdugo is hitting .355 (11-for-31) with runners in scoring position, and is 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position with two outs.
With Monday night's win, the Red Sox are 16-14 on the year and are no longer occupy last place in the AL East. That spot now belongs to the New York Yankees, who sit a game behind Boston at 15-15.
