Marcelo Mayer hits first 2 career home runs at Fenway Park to help Red Sox beat Rays

BOSTON (AP) — The soundtrack to Marcelo Mayer’s first major league home run was a chorus of boos as he rounded the bases at New York’s Yankee Stadium last week.

The Red Sox rookie added his latest two homers on much friendlier soil.

Mayer hit a pair of solo home runs, two of four on the day for Boston, to help the Red Sox claim the rubber match of their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Wednesday night.

“I’d much rather get cheered than booed,” Marcelo said. “I love the energy that Fenway Park brings. It’s something that I’ll remember the rest of my life.”

The 22-year-old, who has played 15 games since being called up on May 24, is the youngest Red Sox player to have a multi-homer game since Rafael Devers in 2018.

He’s the third-youngest player in team history to do it in five career games, behind only Billy Conigliaro (21) and Ted Williams (20).

“It was a good one,” Cora said of Marcelo’s performance. “They had a good game plan going into it and they executed it.”

Marcelo said his comfort level is rising with each one of his appearances at the plate. He credits the work that he’s put in with the Red Sox assistants.

“The process always stays the same I feel more comfortable every single day I’m here,” he said. “All the adjustments I’ve made have helped me a little more on the timing.”

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Boston is off on Thursday, then will open a three-game series against the Yankees on Friday.

Though he’s faced the Yankees already, this was be his first time seeing Boston’s rivals at Fenway.

“I know this place is going to be rocking,” Marcelo said. “We’ll see what happens.”

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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/MLB