TORONTO — Red Sox veteran first baseman Nathaniel Lowe was eager to get to the ballpark Tuesday after a day off Monday and a three-strikeout game Sunday in Tampa.
“I came in pretty excited,” Lowe said. “We got together last night, got the guys together, went to dinner, had a good time with everybody there, and then been really grinding with the staff here.”
Lowe stroked two RBI singles to help the Red Sox win 4-1 over the Blue Jays in the opener of a crucial three-game series at Rogers Centre.
Lowe has not only been grinding with the hitting coaches.
“Even (Alex) Bregman gave me some pretty big cues as far as when to get ready and how to fix up some of the errors that I’ve been making,” Lowe said. “So I’m really happy with other players and staff here that are putting me in a position to help contribute.”
Lowe put the Red Sox ahead 1-0 in the second inning with an RBI single after Masataka Yoshida led off with a double. He extended the lead to 2-1 in the sixth with another RBI single.
“He’s been grinding,” manager Alex Cora said. “It’s part of it. The other day, it didn’t go his way. But there’s a guy that’s been there, done that. He has a World Series ring to show it and we trust him.”
As Cora referenced, Lowe won the 2023 World Series with the Rangers.
“Thankfully, the experience kind of adds to being able to relax a little bit and just play the game,” Lowe said.
Lowe put his three-strikeout game in a loss to the Rays on Sunday behind him quickly. He also walked twice and scored in addition to his two RBI singles.
“We got to wipe it away pretty quickly with all the travel and the off day,” Lowe said. “Kind of decompress a little bit. And after a bad one, you always want to jump right back in the saddle. But a day off is good for the body and mind.”
The Red Sox (86-71) remain in the second AL Wild Card spot, one game ahead of the Tigers and one and a half games ahead of the Astros. Houston will play the Athletics at 10:05 p.m. eastern time.
“Big one today,” Cora said. “Big one. The road trip so far has been a positive one. We’ve got the big boy (Garrett Crochet) tomorrow on the mound, and we got (Brayan) Bello the last day. See how it goes. But just keep putting up good at-bats. I think offensively, we kind of found a stroke, a rhythm in Tampa, and today was another good day.”