Red Sox
“He hit two for the twins. Can’t just go one. For the twins, you’ve got to go two.”
The Rangers’ home ballpark of Globe Life Field has held plenty of meaning for Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu over the last two seasons.
In August 2024, the outfielder recorded the first multi-homer game of his MLB career — just a day after his grandmother passed away in his native Venezuela after battling a long illness.
“I was playing for her,” Abreu said after that game.
The venue was the same on Thursday afternoon for Abreu — as was the lofty stat line.
But after providing the heroics in Boston’s 5-2 season-opening win over the Rangers, Abreu had plenty to smile about when it came to the inspiration behind his latest standout game — as his wife gave birth to twin boys earlier this month.
“To be honest, I didn’t expect that,” Abreu told MassLive’s Sean McAdam via team translator Carlos Villoria-Benítez. “But when I hit the second one, I figured it was one for each.”
Just weeks after the arrival of two new additions to the Abreu family, the Red Sox outfielder once again left the yard twice against the Rangers — going 3-for-3 with two home runs, a single, three runs scored, four RBI, and a walk in Boston’s win.
“He’s such a good player,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Abreu on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Dynamic. He had a big one here last year. Big game when his grandmother passed away. He hit two for the twins. Can’t just go one. For the twins, you’ve got to go two.”
As noted by OptaStats, Abreu did it all in his season debut against Texas:
- Reached base during every at-bat
- Drove in four runs
- Slugged a game-tying home run
- Hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later
- Scored or drove in all of his team’s runs
No other MLB player has accomplished those five feats in any single game since the RBI became an official stat in 1920.
After slugging a solo shot in the fifth inning to knot the game up at 2-2, Abreu broke that same deadlock in the top of the ninth against Texas.
With runners at first and third, Abreu golfed a slider from Texas reliever Luke Jackson into the bullpen in right field for a three-run shot — giving Boston a 5-2 advantage that it would not surrender.
Per former Red Sox staffer J.P. Long, Abreu is just the second Red Sox player to hit at least two homers and reach base at least four times on Opening Day — joining Carlton Fisk (1973).
“It was a very special moment for me,” Abreu noted. “Even better when you can start the season with a win like this.”
At one point, it looked as though Abreu wasn’t even going to be on the Opening Day roster.
The outfielder missed a majority of spring training while battling a gastrointestinal virus — leading to him dropping over 10 pounds and keeping him sidelined well into Grapefruit League play.
Abreu didn’t play in a spring training game with Boston until March 15, and he missed the following game to be there for the birth of his twin sons. His abbreviated spring training ramp-up saw him go 1-for-20 across six games before reaching Opening Day.
“There was one point, I was very worried about the whole situation,” Cora said of Abreu’s status after a tough spring. “Thank God nothing happened. He was able to get his at-bats and get his strength back. His weight is still down. He’s a good player. I’m happy he’s here.”
The last two months have been a roller coaster for Abreu as he braced for his second full season in the big-league ranks.
But the 25-year-old outfielder sure didn’t look like he missed a step at all on Thursday in Texas.
“Although I didn’t have much playing time in the big league games, I was able to get a lot of at-bats in the minor league games,” Abreu told McAdam. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to take all the at-bats that I could. That put me in good position to be ready for Opening Day.”
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