The Boston Red Sox connected for a franchise record four consecutive home runs in a 2007 game against the New York Yankees.
Giving up back-to-back home runs must be a demoralizing experience for a pitcher that can shake their confidence. We can only imagine how rattled a pitcher would be after coughing up four homers in a row since very few have ever done it. The Boston Red Sox are one of the few teams that have tortured a pitcher with the long ball in four straight plate appearances and they did it against their greatest rival.
It was April 22, 2007 and the New York Yankees were in town wrapping up a three-game series at Fenway Park. Left-hander Chase Wright was thrown into the fire of this epic rivalry in only his second career start.
The Yankees tagged Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka for three runs in the first two innings to take an early lead but Wright wouldn’t be able to hold it for long.
The rookie showed some early jitters with consecutive walks to open the bottom of the first but he retired the heart of the order to get through the frame. Another walk followed by a double put two in scoring position in the second inning but Wright got out of the jam by inducing a routine ground ball to shortstop.
Wright was a bit shaky out of the gate but he managed to get through two innings unscathed and appeared to be settling in when he retired Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz on a pair of fly outs to begin the third inning. Unfortunately for the rookie, letting Red Sox hitters get the ball in the air against him wouldn’t pan out.
Manny Ramirez stepped to the plate with the bases empty and two outs in the third. He saw a 2-1 pitch over the middle and crushed it over everything in left field. Boston was on the board and the floodgates had been opened.
J.D. Drew was up next, aiming to make a strong impression early in the first season of his $70 million free-agent deal. 2007 was a rough year for Drew but this would be one of the rare highlights. He had fallen behind in the count 1-2 before sending the next pitch into the center field bleachers. Back-to-back homers and the Red Sox were in business.
The season would end with Mike Lowell earning World Series MVP honors but on this night he would have to settle for being a part of history. The veteran third baseman crushed a 1-1 pitch deep to left that flew by the Coca-Cola bottles on its way to making a dent on Landsdowne Street.
The game was tied but the Red Sox weren’t done yet. Jason Varitek put his team ahead with a solo shot into the monster seats on the first pitch he saw. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs.
Wright would mercifully escape the inning by striking out Wily Mo Pena but the damage was done as the lead had evaporated as quickly as Wright’s career. The rookie would make one more appearance as a September call-up that year but never saw the majors again after that.
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The Yankees rallied to retake the lead against Dice-K in the sixth but another home run by Lowell, this time a three-run shot, put Boston back ahead for good. The Red Sox would go on to win 7-6 to sweep the series.
Any victory over the Yankees is cause for celebration but this one was historic. It was the first time in franchise history that the Red Sox had hit home runs in four consecutive plate appearances and they were only the fifth team in major league history to do it. Boston was the second team to hit all four against the same pitcher, joining the 1963 Cleveland Indians.
Prior to the Red Sox joining this elite group, the Los Angeles Dodgers had blasted four consecutive home runs in September of 2006. Coincidentally, Drew was also a part of that quartet during his final season with the Dodgers.
Only four other teams have joined the four consecutive homer club since the Red Sox accomplished this achievement. The most recent entrant was the Washington Nationals who went deep four straight times in July 2017 and did it again in June of last season. The Nats are the only franchise to appear twice on this list.
Scoring was rarely a problem for a Red Sox lineup that finished third in the American League in runs that season but they weren’t a team that identified themselves as a group of sluggers. Boston was a mere 18th in the majors in home runs that season.
They knew when to make them count though. Boston would end up winning a tight division race with the Yankees and that April sweep made the difference. They needed those home runs to put the Bronx Bombers away and Boston’s bats would pile up a few more memorable dingers that year on their way to a World Series title.