Red Sox: Christian Arroyo shifts momentum of season with 3-run blast

The Boston Red Sox avoided a four-game sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros with a 5-1 victory Thursday afternoon behind the masterful pitching of Martin Perez and an early three-run blast from an unlikely source that hopefully awaken a lineup that has been shut down the previous three games.

With the bats silent up and down the lineup during the series against the Astros, the Red Sox were looking for that one big hit to get the bats booming again and that hit didn’t come from J.D. Martinez, Alex Verdugo, Rafael Devers or Xander Bogaerts.

That big hit came from second baseman Christian Arroyo whose first homer of the 2021 MLB season couldn’t have come at a better time.

With runners on first and second in the second-inning, Arroyo won a battle at the plate with this blast into the Minute Maid Park stands against Astros starter Jake Odorizzi:

Talk about setting the tone, the three-run homer not only gave the Red Sox an early lead to play with, but it also helped support the brilliant pitching effort of Perez, who pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings in the victory.

Christian Arroyo provides a momentum shift in the Boston Red Sox season

Most importantly, the early runs allowed for the Red Sox offense to breathe a bit and hopefully get out of its cold spell ignited by the great at-bat by Arroyo.

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"“It was a big at-bat, especially the way we swung the bats in the first three nights,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following the game, via MLB.com.  “You got first and second, 3-2 count, we’ve been chasing a lot of pitches, and he put a good swing on it.  It was actually a really good at-bat, and you could feel it in the dugout, kind of like we were able to breathe.  For him to hit that home run, it was big for us.”"

It was probably big for the Boston Red Sox season as a sweep by a team like the Houston Astros could’ve really set the team back considering the upcoming schedule that features the New York Yankees and the Astros again.

To say an at-bat in early June is the biggest of the season may be a stretch, but it is one of those pivotal moments and games that can change the direction of a team quickly both at the plate and while Perez did his thing on the mound, Arroyo picked a great time to power his first homer of the season.

"“It’s always good to get the first on the board,” Arroyo said.  “It’s funny, I talked with Hunter [Renfroe] in Spring Training about it, he’s like, “you always forget that you can hit homers until you get the first one.’  There’s been sometimes where I thought maybe I had a chance earlier when it was a little bit colder, the ball wasn’t flying as far.  I’ll take it.  Good to get the first one.”"

The Boston Red Sox offense will take it also as Arroyo provided the momentum shift, they have been looking for throughout the series.  It would’ve bene nice if they could’ve put up a few more runs, but at least in the last two games of the series, they showed they can compete with a good team like the Astros with solid starting pitching and clutch hitting.

That formula will keep the Red Sox in playoff contention for the remainder of the season, especially when those clutch hits are coming from supporting players like Christian Arroyo.