BOSTON — In the first five months of his Red Sox career, Willson Contreras has made it clear he has a swing fit for Fenway Park. On Friday night, he proved his swing might also fit the Mass. Pike.
Contreras turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead with a mammoth three-run home run off Giants All-Star Logan Webb that easily cleared the Green Monster — and perhaps a couple buildings behind it. Contreras’ homer left his bat at 116 mph and had an final projected distance of 452 feet. It was both the hardest- and furthest-hit ball by a Red Sox batter in 2026.
“It was hit a ton,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “He hit it really good.”
Trailing 1-0 after a Bryce Eldridge RBI single in the top of the inning, the Red Sox got to Webb with two outs in the third. With Nick Sogard on first, Wilyer Abreu smoked a single to extend the inning. In a 1-1 count, Webb left a low changeup over the plate and Contreras demolished it. He admired it for a few seconds, demonstratively flipped his bat while throwing his hands up, pounded his chest and screamed into the dugout where his teammates marveled at his blast.
Some of them remained in awe hours later.
“As soon as I saw him hit the ball, I knew it was gonna be gone,” said Abreu. “I just put my hands up because I knew it.”
Contreras’ homer clearly shook Webb, who had worked around baserunners in two straight scoreless innings to start the outing. Right after the homer, he allowed back-to-back singles to Adley Rutschman and Caleb Durbin before hitting Jarren Duran to load the bases and walking Andruw Monasterio to force in a run and make it 4-1. Three pitches later, Webb plunked Mickey Gasper with a slider to allow another run. His night ended there as the Red Sox scored five in the inning.
“The swing by Willson was huge, that ball was hit well,” said Tracy,“ but I thought the whole game off Webb was very good, even earlier with the zeroes being very particular about what we swung at.”
For Contreras — who left the home clubhouse as reporters waited to ask him about the game — the blast helped extend a career high in homers. After setting a new high mark with his 25th homer Monday night against Arizona, he hit No. 26 in a memorable fashion. The swing was tied for the hardest-hit homer of his career and the longest he has hit in at least three years, according to Statcast.
Contreras now has 12 go-ahead homers this season, tied for the third-most in the American League this year. Friday’s helped starter Sonny Gray secure his AL-leading 16th win of the season — and even tested his Spanish, too.
“I didn’t see it,” Gray said. “I heard everyone else talking about it. I just told him, ‘Pa’ la calle, pa’ la calle.’ I think it means, like, ‘homer out of the stadium.’ I think.”
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