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.
Mayer, who hits seventh in the Red Sox order, 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.
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 who showed the Rays that he’s a force in his 15th MLB game.
The pair represent the future for the Red Sox. But a Boston team that limped out to 33-36 start before Wednesday is hoping that both of them can make a difference now as it looks to gain ground in the AL playoff race.
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