BOSTON — Christian Vázquez watched carefully as Rays rookie Luis Patiño pitched to J.D. Martinez and Hunter Renfroe, the first two batters of the 13th inning.
Patiño threw two four-seam fastballs to Martinez who flied out to center on the second pitch of his at-bat. Patiño then started off Hunter Renfroe, who walked, with three four-seam fastballs.
“He was starting with fastball. It was 97, 98,” Vázquez said. “I was looking to hit that velo in front and get a good swing.”
Vázquez crushed the first pitch he saw, a 96.1 mph fastball, into the first row of the Monster Seats for a two-run walkoff homer. The Red Sox won 6-4 over the Rays in 13 innings. Boston leads the best-of-five ALDS, 2-1.
Vázquez’s blast sailed 394 feet and had a 101.3 mph exit velocity.
“Yeah, it’s a big moment for us,” Vázquez said. “It’s a big win. I think no matter what inning, we need to do the job, and somebody needs to do it and take charge there. And I did it. We played good and we’re ready for tomorrow.”
Game 4 is tomorrow (Monday) at 7:07 p.m. here at Fenway Park.
“Christian, he works so hard on his craft,” manager Alex Cora said. “He cares so much about this organization that for him to be in that spot and put a good swing and hit the ball out of the ballpark, I know it means a lot to him. It means a lot to us. It was a big swing. But we’re up 2-1. We’ve still got work to do. We’re in a great spot, but that’s a good baseball team. Let’s be ready for tomorrow.”
Vázquez does care about the organization a great deal. This is his 14th year in the Red Sox organization. Boston drafted the Puerto Rican catcher back in 2008.
He has said multiple times he wants to retire as a member of the Red Sox.
“It’s a city that they like to win,” Vázquez told MassLive.com in late September. “I’m a gamer. I like to win. It sucks when you have a losing season like a lot of teams. It’s fun to win, be in the playoffs and play in front of these fans here. It’s a special city to play.”
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