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Red Sox OF Roman Anthony

One of the aspects of Red Sox rookie outfielder Roman Anthony that both coaches and teammates very often extol is his approach to the game, which is based around the tried-and-true virtues of hard work and humility. Those are admirable qualities. But sometimes, you’ve just got to pull a bat flip.

That’s what Anthony, Boston’s budding 21-year-old star, did on Thursday at Yankee Stadium, after he knocked a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to give the Red Sox a ninth-inning cushion in a 6-3 win over the rival Yankees. The hit came off of reliever Yerry de los Santos, and after Anthony followed through on his swing, he stood for a moment and watched the blast, flipping his bat to the side.

For Anthony, that is about as showboat-ish as it gets.

Manager Alex Cora noted, via MassLive, ““First time I’ve seen that.”

Roman Anthony Makes Impression vs. Yankees

Anthony was pretty well overtaken by the moment, with the Red Sox battling the Yankees for playoff positioning here in late April and badly in need of a win after two frustrating losses to the last-place Orioles this week. He had faced the Yankees before, back in June at Fenway Park when he was first called up to the big leagues, but was 0-for-5 in that series.

Wearing a Red Sox uniform in Yankee Stadium was different for him.

“Yeah, it’s probably what I imagined, and maybe even a little more,” said Anthony, via MLB.com. “I love playing in an atmosphere. I love being booed. I love everything about it. We know the rivalry, and it was exciting.”

As for the bat flip, he said he was not sure where it came from.

“It just happened. I don’t even know. I don’t usually do that,” he said.

Red Sox’s Bregman Has High Praise

The Red Sox win pulls them to 69-59, a half-game behind the Yankees and 5.0 games behind the Blue Jays in the AL East. That puts them second in the wild-card mix. They’re a game up on the Mariners, who currently hold the No. 3 wild-card spot in the AL, and 3.0 games ahead of the Royals.

For Anthony, it was a magical night, as he went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. He is now batting .286 with a .405 on-base percentage and a .448 slugging mark.

Veteran star Alex Bregman had high praise for Anthony after the game.

“To be honest, he is probably the most mature 21-year-old, baseball-wise, I have ever been around in my life,” Bregman said. “I’m trying to find out what he does wrong, honestly. We don’t know if he has any vices or anything. He just does everything the right way. The moment is never too big for him. He knows who he is. He knows what he does well. And he sticks with that and he executes.”

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney