Alex Verdugo took center stage for a moment on Saturday afternoon, boosting the New York Yankees with a two-run homer off of his former Boston Red Sox teammate Josh Winckowski.
Verdugo, who entered the game hitting .244 with a .693 OPS, took his time to enjoy the homer with a trot that lasted more than 30 seconds. Rafael Devers also had an emotional reaction to a long ball of his own later in the game to energize the Red Sox.
Did the reaction from the former teammate affect Winckowski?
“I’m not too worried about it,” Winckowski told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He rides the rollercoaster a bunch. That’s what he does.”
The Red Sox righty had a point with that jab.
Verdugo got the better of Boston on Saturday, though he’s been in the middle of the Yankees’ struggles. New York is just 6-15 in its last 21 games after Saturday. In that span, Verdugo hit just .198 as the Yankees failed to find production outside of their superstars in Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.
Verdugo hit his second homer in five games against the Red Sox this season to give him 10 total in 2024. With recent matchups potentially injecting life back into the rivalry, Verdugo is playing a central role.
