{"id":191376,"date":"2025-07-21T01:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T01:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/191376\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T01:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T01:22:10","slug":"failed-bunt-led-to-boston-red-sox-first-lead-after-24-innings-big-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/191376\/","title":{"rendered":"Failed bunt led to Boston Red Sox\u2019 first lead after 24 innings; \u2018Big moment\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 Slugger Wilyer Abreu tried to bunt Trevor Story over to second base with no outs and the Red Sox<\/a> down 1-0 to the Cubs in the seventh inning Sunday.<\/p>\n

“We didn\u2019t have a runner in scoring position the whole game so I was trying to get things going,” Abreu said through translator Carlos Villoria Ben\u00edtez. <\/p>\n

Abreu missed a 93.5 mph sinker below the strike zone from Cubs reliever Ryan Pressly on his first-pitch bunt attempt. He then ripped the next pitch into the right field bleachers to give Boston its first lead of the three-game series after 24 innings either tied or trailing (mostly trailing).<\/p>\n

The Red Sox won 6-1 over the Cubs at Wrigley Field<\/a> to salvage the final game.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I missed that pitch, I moved away from it. I was trying to look for a pitch to drive and I was able to get it,\u201d Abreu said.<\/p>\n

Abreu connected on a 94.8 mph fastball from Pressly. He hit it 406 feet and 108.8 mph off his bat for his 19th homer.<\/p>\n

Abreu was not only looking to advance Story into scoring position after Story led off the seventh with a walk; he also was trying to bunt for a hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was trying to get on base because the third baseman was playing in the shortstop position (in the shift),\u201d manager Alex Cora said. \u201cWe like it. We don\u2019t like it. It doesn\u2019t matter. He was trying to get on base. That\u2019s it. And then he got a good pitch to hit and pulled it in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abreu showed some frustration after his first at-bat when he grounded out to shortstop in the second inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t able to contribute the whole series to my team so I was annoyed for a bit,\u201d said Abreu, who went 0-for-5 while the Red Sox scored just one run in the first 24 innings of this series. \u201cBut then I turned the page and I found a way to help the team win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abreu flipped his bat and glared into the Red Sox dugout to celebrate with his teammates as he jogged to first.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously a big home run, a big moment for us … to start a new (winning streak),\u201d he said<\/p>\n

Abreu added his 20th homer in the eighth inning to put Boston ahead 6-1. He leads the Red Sox in home runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the evolution of the player,\u201d Cora said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen it throughout the league. Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez used to hit 50 doubles. And now he hits 35, 40 homers. I\u2019m not saying Wilyer is going to do that. But he\u2019s a good hitter. He controls the strike zone. It\u2019s a compact swing. There\u2019s a few things he\u2019s still working on, trying to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2014 Slugger Wilyer Abreu tried to bunt Trevor Story over to second base with no outs and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,668,505,669],"class_list":{"0":"post-191376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bestof","10":"tag-national-league","11":"tag-topix"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114888608624538841","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}