Boston Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu achieved an MLB feat not seen in nearly 67 years in a win over the Cincinnati Reds — recording an inside-the-park home run with a grand slam in the same game.
Abreu delivered the historic performance as part of his team’s 13-6 triumph Monday in Boston. He went 2 for 5 with five RBIs and two runs scored.
“I was very excited, but at the same time I was very tired,” Abreu said on the NESN broadcast.
With his first career grand slam, Abreu became the first MLB player since Roger Maris to hit the two types of home run in the same game. Maris accomplished it while playing for the Kansas City Athletics in a 12-0 win over the Washington Senators on Aug. 3, 1958, in Kansas City, Mo.
The Red Sox scored seven times in the first inning and carried that advantage into the top of the fourth at Fenway Park. They then allowed the Reds to score four times to trim the deficit.
Abreu came to the plate to lead off the bottom of the fifth after the Reds scored their fourth run. The Red Sox outfielder fell behind 0-2 in the count against starting pitcher Joe La Sorsa. The left-handed pitcher finished the exchange by issuing a 93.4-mph fastball up in the zone.
Abreu chopped at the middle-of-the-plate offering, smashing the pitch 104.2 mph toward the 420 sign in right center field. The ball drilled the top of a short fence and caromed left. Reds outfielder T.J. Friedl slipped in the warning track dirt, allowing the ball to trickle further out of reach.
Abreu flew around the bases as the Reds struggled to gain possession and finished the play with a headfirst slide into home for the Red Sox’s eighth run.
Reds designated hitter Austin Hays answered with a 414-foot solo homer in the next half-inning, but the Red Sox replied with five more runs down the stretch. Outfielder Jarren Duran clubbed a 373-foot solo homer just inside the right field foul pole in the bottom of the sixth.
The Red Sox then loaded the bases for Abreu in the bottom of the eighth. The Red Sox outfielder hit the first pitch he saw from Reds relief pitcher Connor Phillips to right field for a 407-foot grand slam.
Second baseman Matt McClain hit an RBI single for the final run in the top of the ninth, but the Reds could not overcome the massive deficit.
Abreu became the sixth player overall to record a grand slam and inside-the-park home run, joining Jim Tabor, Charlie Gehringer, Everett Scott and Jocko Fields, in addition to Maris.
His inside-the-park homer was also the first for a Red Sox player since Eduardo Nunez accomplished the feat in 2018. It was the first grand slam by a Red Sox player at Fenway Park since Jacoby Ellsbury in 2011.
Abreu, a Glove Glove-wining outfielder, hit .256 with 16 home runs and 45 RBIs through his first 74 appearances this season.
Shortstop Trevor Story, third baseman Marcelo Mayer, catcher Carlos Narvaez and designated hitter Roman Anthony joined Abreu as the Red Sox players who collected two hits apiece Monday. Story went 2 for 4 with a three-run homer, a walk and a run scored.
HAVE YOURSELF A NIGHT WILYER ABREU!
He has an inside-the-park home run AND a grand slam tonight pic.twitter.com/o7XjO4MDpw— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2025
Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet allowed seven hits and five runs, including four earned, over six innings, but still earned his eighth win of the season.
Reds starter Chase Burns allowed five hits and seven runs, including five earned, over just one-third of an inning to drop to 0-1 this season.
McClain and Hays were the only Reds players to record multiple hits. McClain went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, a run scored and a strikeout. Hays went 2 for 4 with a home run, triple, three RBIs, two runs scored and a strikeout.
The Red Sox (42-44) will host the Reds (44-41) in the second game of the series at 7:10 p.m. EDT Tuesday at Fenway Park.
