Much was made this week of the arrival of baseball’s No. 1 prospect, Roman Anthony, to the Red Sox.
But he’s not the only star rookie in Boston. The Red Sox previously called up shortstop Marcelo Mayer, the No. 8 prospect in the sport. And he broke out Wednesday night with two home runs in his first two at-bats against the Tampa Bay Rays.
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Mayer, who hits seventh for the Red Sox, gave Boston an early lead in the second inning. With the game tied at 1-1, Mayer launched a first-pitch slider from Rays starter Zack Littell over the right-field wall at Fenway Park.
Two innings later, he did it again.
This time, Littell left an 82 mph sinker over the heart of the plate on a 1-1 count. Mayer made him pay with another shot over the right-field wall close to the location of his first home run.
This home run gave the Red Sox a 3-1 lead before the Rays came back to tie the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning.
The home runs were the first at Fenway Park for Mayer and tripled his career total to three. It was the second straight night a Red Sox rookie did damage against the Rays after Anthony’s early two-run double on Tuesday proved to be the difference in a 3-1 Red Sox win.
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Anthony arrived in Boston on Monday with enormous hype, thanks to an offensive skillset that has scouts drooling. Mayer made his big-league debut three weeks earlier to considerably less fanfare. But he’s one of baseball’s most coveted prospects and showed the Rays he’s a force in his 15th MLB game.
The pair represent the future for the Red Sox. But a Boston team that limped to 33-36 start before Wednesday is hoping both can make a difference now as it looks to gain ground in the AL playoff race.
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