Red Sox’s Wilyer Abreu joins rare MLB list

Wilyer Abreu had himself quite a night as the Boston Red Sox knocked off the visiting Cincinnati Reds by a final score of 13-6.

The Red Sox outfielder went 2-for-5 with both a grand slam and a home run, knocking in five runs in Boston’s victory. But it was how those home runs came about that saw Abreu accomplish something we have not seen in the major leagues since Roger Maris did it back in 1958.

In the home half of the fifth Abreu came to the plate with Boston already out to a 7-4 lead, having scored seven runs in the bottom of the first inning. Facing relief pitcher Joe La Sorsa, Abreu launched a towering fly ball to the deepest part of Fenway Park, the “Triangle” in center field, 420 feet from home plate.

Abreu initially thought that the ball was going to be a home run off the bat, as he took a moment at home plate to admire his blast. But the ball ricocheted off the wall in center, sending the outfielders scrambling and Abreu into sprinter mode:

The throw into shortstop Elly De La Cruz came in too late for a relay to the catcher, and Abreu slid headfirst into home with an inside-the-park home run.

Then in the eighth inning, Abreu came to the dish with the bases loaded, and the Red Sox holding a 9-5 lead. He turned on a 99-mph fastball down and in from reliever Connor Phillips, depositing that in the Boston bullpen in right field for a grand slam:

That made a little MLB history in the process.

As noted above, the last player to hit both a grand slam and an inside-the-park home run was Maris, the New York Yankees legend, back in 1958. Maris was with the Kansas City Athletics that season, and in a game against the Washington Senators on August 3, 1958, Maris hit both a grand slam and an inside-the-park home run.

Abreu became just the sixth player to accomplish this rare double:

“When I hit the ball I thought it was a home run,” Abreu said after the game. “When I saw it heading to the track, I thought the ball might not be gone so I started running hard and the ball didn’t go out and I was able to hit an inside-the-park homer.”

And put himself on a path to history in the process.