NEW YORK — Red Sox cleanup hitter Carlos Narváez considered doing something cleanup hitters hardly ever do before his at-bat in the sixth inning with runners at first and second base and no outs.
The Red Sox were trailing the Yankees, 3-2.
“I was in my head a little bit to bunt there to be honest,” Narváez said.
But he quickly reconsidered and instead blasted a go-ahead three-run home run against his old team. The Red Sox won 11-7 here at Yankee Stadium.
I talked to Huddy (third base coach Kyle Hudson) and it’s like, ‘OK, I’m just gonna be aggressive.’ … I found myself in a two-strike approach.”
His goal then became just to put the ball in play. Behind in the count 1-2, Narváez connected on an inside 94.6 mph four-seam fastball from Yankees left-handed starter Carlos Rodón. He pulled it 372 feet to left field. It left his bat with a 101 mph exit velocity.
“Just happy I found some barrel,” Narváez said.
The Red Sox acquired Narváez in a trade with the Yankees at the Winter Meetings in December.
He initially signed with New York as a 16-year-old Venezuelan amateur catcher in 2015. He spent almost a decade in their organization and made his major league debut with the Yankees last season.
“Special,” Narváez described the home run.
Manager Alex Cora said he felt like Narváez was “trying hard the whole weekend.” Cora considered giving the rookie a day off Sunday.
“Today I was a little bit hesitant to play him,” Cora said. “But decided kind of like, ‘You know what? He can play three and then Connor (Wong) can play on Monday.’ Put (together) some good at-bats. Went the other way, worked the count and he took a gamble there with that pitch and he pulled it in the air and that was a huge one for us.”
Narváez admitted he felt “a little bit” like he was trying too hard early in the series. He went 0-for-6 in the first two games but he also drew three walks and scored three runs.
He reached base three times (two hits, one walk) in the finale.
“Anxious a little bit like coming into this ballpark again,” he said. “To be honest, I only was the first two at-bats (Friday). … I got my walks in the first two games. That’s huge for me. Like I said, I just want to keep the line moving. The walk is a way to do that.”
