Tyler O’Neill homered in his fifth straight Opening Day recreation to set a serious league document, this time towards the group that drafted him, and the Boston Purple Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Thursday night time.
“You at all times wish to kick the season off with a bang,” O’Neill stated. “Fortuitously, I have been capable of do it a pair occasions in row now. Simply having lots of enjoyable on the market.”
Rafael Devers homered and doubled off Seattle ace Luis Castillo, but it surely was O’Neill’s homer on the primary pitch from Cody Bolton within the eighth inning that gave the Purple Sox a 6-4 lead and made historical past.
O’Neill homered the earlier 4 opening days with St. Louis, tying him with Todd Hundley (1994-97), Gary Carter (1977-80) and Yogi Berra (1955-58). He was a high prospect within the Mariners group earlier than being traded to St. Louis in 2017.
The homers and a few strong pitching helped Boston supervisor Alex Cora take pleasure in his first Opening Day win as a supervisor.
Devers hit an opposite-field two-run homer on an elevated fastball from Castillo within the third inning and his one-out double within the fifth helped result in one other run for Boston. Connor Wong added a two-out RBI single within the sixth on a pitch properly off the plate.
Boston starter Brayan Bello (1-0) pitched 5 innings and restricted the injury to Mitch Haniger’s two-run homer after he spent final season with San Francisco. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for the save after recording 29 final season for Boston.
The Related Press contributed to this report.