BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — It was a magical night at the ballpark last night in Kansas City - for a couple reasons.
Before the Red Sox went out and faced the Royals, they were on the field for batting practice, and Boston manager Alex Cora noticed a boy in the stands in a Sox cap and jersey holding a sign that said, "It's my birthday, and I really wanna meet Mookie."
So, Cora grabbed the sign and pulled the kid from the stands onto the field, walked him right over to the reigning league MVP, and Betts shook his hand and introduced him to some teammates.
Heck of a birthday present! And good karma, too, because the Red Sox rallied from down two early for an 8-3 win in the series-opener, helped by Eduardo Nunez's pinch-hit power-stroke in the eighth.
Rafael Devers drove in a pair, and J.D. Martinez added three hits to lift his average back over .300.
Eduardo Rodriguez earned the win in his 100th career start.
WBZ NewsRadio's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports