Heading into the last few weeks of the season, the Boston Red Sox needed a big win against a contending team like the Baltimore Orioles to lift the spirits and give them a better chance of making the postseason, and they did so on Monday, winning 12-3.
Boston got great nights from multiple players, including veteran outfielder Rob Refsnyder, who had been on fire earlier in the season but cooled off recently.
In the series opener, Refsnyder finished 4-for-4 with two home runs, five RBIs and a walk.
Prior to Monday night’s victory, the 33-year-old had hit just .176 with a .487 OPS in his previous 24 games. He was just happy to get out of that slump.
“I’ve been freaking so bad, so it’s been a grind,” Refsnyder said (via. MassLive). “It’s been a lot of frustrating nights.”
Luckily, Refsnyder’s had a lot of support during this rough stretch.
“Lot of people behind the scenes have been helping me,” he said. “A lot of credit to the hitting department. They (spent) countless hours trying to help me out (and) figure some stuff out. So it felt really, really good to kind of break through. Yeah, it’s been super frustrating. Also, Jarren Duran’s been kind of helping me out behind the scenes, just keeping me positive and things like that. So a lot of teammates have been picking me up.”
He’s also shouldering the blame for the team’s struggles against left-handed pitchers, which is usually his specialty.
“If you want to look at us not hitting lefties well the past couple of weeks, I think you should start with me,” Refsnyder said. “I haven’t done a good job at all getting on base or doing my job. So I’ve taken it pretty hard. Definitely want it but haven’t had the results or the feeling that I wanted. I feel like we stalled out a little bit because I haven’t been able to get on base. So it felt good to do my job tonight. It feels like it starts with me getting on base against lefties. That’s what I’m here for. So I take a lot of pride in it.”
This is the type of accountability Boston’s fan base craves when the team is struggling. It’s great to see a professional own up to his struggles, work through them and come out the other side with a great performance like Refsnyder had on Monday.
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