Boston Red Sox

‘Excited is an understatement’: Christian Arroyo enjoyed first homer in front of fans at Fenway

Christian Arroyo
Christian Arroyo certainly earned his cart ride on Thursday night against the Astros. Elise Amendola / AP

By Tom Westerholm

2 minutes to read

Red Sox infielder Christian Arroyo had never homered in front of fans at Fenway Park before Thursday, but when he finally did, it was a big one.

Arroyo obliterated a pitch off the Draft Kings sign in left field in the bottom of the fifth inning, which drew the Red Sox back even with the Astros in the final game of their series. The Astros took the lead one more time, but the Red Sox scored five more runs in the bottom of the sixth to claim a 12-8 victory.

Arroyo’s homer set the tone.

Alex Cora said the Red Sox were on the verge of making some tough decisions about competing in the later innings.

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“[Arroyo’s homer] was huge,” Cora said. “Especially where we were bullpen-wise today, it was kind of like, if we have the tie, we’ll go with the big boys. If not, then we’ll have to scramble, and we were about to scramble. He put a good swing on it, and he gave us a chance to get a win.”

After ripping the pitch to deep left, Arroyo flipped his bat and jogged around the bases ecstatic and yelling.

“I think that it was pretty sweet to be able to do that,” Arroyo said. “That was my first Fenway homer in front of fans. It was pretty awesome. I’m an emotional player when it comes to that kind of stuff. I like to win. I hit it, I saw it, and at that point that I knew it was out, I kind of blacked out a little bit and I was just excited. …

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“I went in there with a plan, I was fortunate enough to execute a plan, and fortunate enough for it to work out. Like I said, if I went in there and hit a line drive, and the left fielder catches it, what can you do? To say I was excited is probably an understatement.”

The next inning, as the Red Sox made their final rally, Arroyo walked in a second run. He finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.

The home run was the highlight, however.

“At that point in the game, it was a roller coast ride back and forth, back and forth,” Arroyo said. “I thought it was awesome to be able to do that and tie the ball game up, give us a chance to win.”

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