ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For six innings, Wander Franco put on a show Friday night.
A 389-foot home run with an exit velocity of 109.7 mph in his first at-bat. A hard grounder at 106 mph that was misplayed in the third inning. And a 363-foot homer with an exit velocity of 112.4 mph in his third at-bat, followed by a spectacular running catch of a pop fly down the left-field line by the shortstop.
Yet for all those heroics, the Red Sox elected to challenge the American League’s hit leader in the seventh inning. With first base open and the tying run on second with two outs, reliever Hansel Robles got Franco to fly out to left field.
