Wilyer Abreu homers twice in rout of White Sox

Both homers were two-run shots off lefties. The first helped knock Ian Seymour out of the game after three. The second came after the Rays inserted Garrett Cleavinger to face him in the seventh. That homer made it a 7-6 game and concluded the scoring for the day. Abreu had four two-homer games last season, but he was without one this year until the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. He has 15 homers on the year, and he ended the game with an .800 OPS for the first time since May 24. The win was Boston’s 12th straight, and the Red Sox are now back over .500 for the first time since winning on Opening Day.

Abreu went deep off of Rays starter Mason Englert in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 2-2. Abreu would take Englert deep again in the third inning to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead after the Rays had briefly tied the game, pushing his home run total to 13 on the season. He’s hitting on .234 in the month of July, but Abreu is enjoying a bit of a power surge, as seven of his 11 hits on the month have gone for extra bases.

Abreu put this game to bed with a two-run homer in the ninth inning that stretched the Red Sox’s lead out to five runs and put the finishing touches on this stellar game. He’s now hit safely in eight of his last 10 games and is hoping to turn some of that contact into power with this being his first home run since June 23rd.

Abreu put the Red Sox on the board early, knocking a triple to drive in a run in the first inning. He then drew a walk in the third and stole second before extending the Boston lead with a solo homer off Sean Sullivan in the fifth inning. The 27-year-old outfielder is slashing .279/.344/.452 with 10 homers, 35 runs scored, 38 RBI, and six steals across 324 plate appearances.

It’s an extremely rare day off for Abreu, who has started 73 of 74 games to open the season. His last day off was on April 15. The 26-year-old slugger mashed a two-run homer, his ninth long ball of the season, during Saturday’s win at T-Mobile Park. It’ll be Nate Eaton getting a look in right field in his place on Sunday afternoon.

Abreu’s homer was a 416-footer to dead center, giving him nine on the season. At .275/.334/.433, he’s been a pretty average this season, but against all expectations, he has a .921 OPS against lefties and just a .707 OPS versus righties. Most likely, the OPS versus lefties will tumble, but some improvement versus righties should counter that and keep him useful in mixed leagues.

As usual, the Red Sox’s offense was practically nonexistent here. They were shutout and his double was their only extra-base hit. While they’ve lacked consistency as a club this season, Abreu has been there through it all and performed. He’s missed just one game all season and has a .278 batting average and .770 OPS, but with just eight home runs and five stolen bases.

Abreu connected for a two-run homer in the third off Chris Bassitt, his first since May 8. The lefty-swinging outfielder began the season on a tear but cooled in May. The Red Sox certainly hope he’s ready to go on another hot streak, as he continues to play every day and bat third. Abreu has lowered his strikeout rate in 2026, helping his batting average but hurting his power so far.

Abreu has been an everyday player for Boston this year, having sat just once on April 15. The lefty-swinging right fielder primarily bats third or fourth, but the team’s lack of run-scoring so far has held back his counting stats. Abreu finishes May with season totals of six homers, four stolen bases, and a .350 OBP.

Abreu had a 137 wRC+ through the end of April, but he hasn’t hit for quite the same power in May. The young right fielder remains a lineup fixture for Boston, as he’s hit third in 15 straight contests while missing only one game this season. He’s lowered his K% by nearly five points from 2025, down to 19.4% through Wednesday. He’ll continue his path to stardom if he can rediscover April’s power stroke alongside those plate-discipline gains.