Kenley Jansen thought Red Sox lost, turned to clubhouse, then he heard ‘fans screaming’
BOSTON — Kenley Jansen, like everyone at Fenway Park, thought the Red Sox lost when Masataka Yoshida hit a routine fly ball to left field with two outs in the ninth inning.
“It’s crazy,” Jansen said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, man. We fought hard today and we came up short.’ And then I turned my back and I started to go to the clubhouse and I hear the fans screaming. Then I turned back and looked and he had dropped the ball.”
Baltimore left fielder Ryan McKenna dropped Yoshida’s 240-foot fly ball. That extended the game for Adam Duvall who crushed a two-run walkoff homer to lead the Red Sox to a 9-8 comeback victory over the Orioles at Fenway Park.
“We did a great job. Duvy came in and made them pay,” Jansen said. “So it was a nice win. Nice team win.”
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Jansen made his Red Sox debut in the top of the ninth. He pitched a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two. He was awarded the win.
The 35-year-old righty played here at Fenway Park against the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series. He said being on the other side is a “totally different feeling.”
“I’m telling you, that excitement ... it’s crazy,” Jansen said. “This atmosphere is electric. It’s great. I’m loving it. And I’m gonna feed off of it the whole season. That will be my fuel and my energy.”
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Duvall’s 106.7 mph line-drive homer just cleared the Green Monster. It had a 20 degree launch angle and hit the shelf between the wall and the Monster seats.
“It was more when it hit (the shelf), I wasn’t sure if it was a homer or not,” Duvall said. “And then I saw them stop going for it. I saw the lights start to flicker. So I was hoping it was gonna stand as a homer. But I feel like I was still kind of running it out because I really wasn’t sure.”
