BOSTON -- Willson Contreras was brought to the Red Sox for his energy, his grit, his defense and ... oh yeah, his pull-side power.
Playing his first home game at Fenway Park, Contreras unleashed a towering 423-foot solo homer to left-center that soared over the Green Monster and wound up on Lansdowne Street.
It was the go-ahead run for the Red Sox in a much-needed 5-2 victory over the Padres in Friday’s home opener.
And it was validation for Contreras, who waived his no-trade clause three days before Christmas to leave the Cardinals and embrace the Boston experience.
Part of that experience for a right-handed hitter is belting baseballs over the Monster. That is why Red Sox manager Alex Cora immediately slotted Contreras into the cleanup spot by January.
“Opening Day, right away, boom,” said Cora. “That happened. You could see it even in BP. That was a pretty swing.”
The timely blast came off starter Michael King, snapping a 2-2 tie with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Marcelo Mayer added a two-run homer into the visitors' bullpen later in the frame.
Contreras belted King’s 93.4 mph heater at an exit velocity of 108.7 mph. It was his second home run at Fenway, but first while wearing the home whites of the Red Sox. He did a stylish bat flip to commemorate the occasion.
“I feel like a Hall of Famer just walking into this clubhouse and playing at home in Boston, where so many Hall of Famers played here,” Contreras said. “It’s really special, and that brings a little extra energy. But you have to do a great job keeping your composure, playing for the team, doing the small things. I’m just loving it here.”
While Contreras often gets under the skin of his opponents, he figures to be the type of player Boston fans will love.
In his first plate appearance, he was initially called out looking by home-plate umpire Chris Segal on a 3-2 pitch. Contreras not only tapped his helmet to challenge, but jogged his way to first base right as he did it.
It might have seemed brash, but that’s just the way Contreras plays.
“On the challenge, it was a ball, for sure. That was my reaction. I didn’t try to show up the umpire, or anything like that,” said Contreras. “But I took the homer personally, because in the first at-bat, it got away from [King], and it was close to my face. I’m just glad that we won today.”
And Contreras was a big part of the win by playing his way.
“I'm not trying to disrespect anybody. That's the way I play. If people like it or not, I don't care. But I'm here to win,” Contreras said. “I'm here to play for this team, to go forward with this team. And like I said, I'm loving it here. I think we have a really good group of players that can do a lot of damage, and it’s a long season and we’re going to be there.”