The Boston Red Sox trailed the Seattle Mariners 8-5 entering the bottom of the eighth inning on Monday night at Fenway Park. The offense had gone cold through the middle innings while Seattle piled on runs to seize control.
It took two innings to turn everything around. The Red Sox scored four runs across the eighth and ninth to force extras, then won it in the 10th. The final score read 9-8.
The rally started with one swing from a 22-year-old who had not played in front of a Fenway crowd in nearly four months.
Anthony Sparks the Red Sox Comeback
Roman Anthony led off the bottom of the ninth with the Red Sox still trailing by a run. He drove a sinking line drive into center field. Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez went to the ground to cut it off, but the ball got past him and kept rolling toward the wall.
Anthony took off. Three months removed from competitive baseball at the major-league level, he sprinted around the bases and slid into third with a triple. The packed house at Fenway roared.
“I couldn’t really feel my legs,” Anthony said. “It had been a while since I played baseball in that atmosphere and done something like that…it was amazing. It was electric.”
Two batters later, Ceddanne Rafaela made contact on a fly ball to left that carried far enough to bring Anthony home. The game was tied. The momentum had completely shifted.
Without Anthony’s triple, there is no rally. There is no extras. There is no walkoff. His at-bat changed the entire trajectory of the night.
The Numbers Say He Is Back
Anthony finished 2 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored. Through his first two games since being activated Sunday, he has collected a triple and two doubles among his four hits while reaching base in more than half of his plate appearances. The bat has looked sharp from the moment he stepped back into the lineup.
Anthony credited the rehab process for making sure the transition back would be seamless.
“I think that was the biggest thing about the rehab,” Anthony said. “Making sure that with this group and what they’ve done over the past few months… that when we come back, there’s no hiccups.”
The Focus Has Shifted to October
Anthony was out since early May with a torn tendon in his right ring finger. He watched the Red Sox climb from the bottom of the American League standings into comfortable possession of a playoff spot. He worked his way back through Portland and Worcester, progressing quietly while the team he wanted to rejoin kept finding ways to win.
Now that he is back, the objective is singular.
“There’s one goal,” Anthony said. “There always is, but I think even more so now entering September. Your eyes are kind of on one thing, which is playoff baseball.”
Final Word for the Red Sox
Roman Anthony spent three months watching this team transform without him. He came back Sunday. By Monday night, he was standing on third base at Fenway Park after a triple that ignited the biggest rally of the season.
His legs were numb. His bat was not.
September has arrived. So has Anthony. If Monday was any indication of what the final month will look like with him in the lineup, the Red Sox just got significantly more dangerous.
Red Sox Roman Anthony Makes Major Statement in Fenway Return