Witt Jr. gives Derby preview with first career Fenway homer

BOSTON -- Bobby Witt Jr. grew up visiting Fenway Park during summers with his Dad, a former big league pitcher.

On Friday afternoon, he walked into the old ballpark and took some early batting practice, looking to get ready for next week’s Home Run Derby, crushing one drive after another over the fabled Green Monster.

On his third trip to the plate leading off the fourth inning, the first-time All-Star sent a 1-2 sweeper from Cooper Criswell over the Monster in deep left-center, a shot listed at 429 feet, to help the Royals to a 6-1 victory over the Red Sox in a matchup of surprising teams that are vying for one of the American League’s three Wild Card spots.

“We’re going to do it for a lot more guys tomorrow, to see if we can get it to work,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro joked about Witt taking early BP.

Witt Jr.’s dad grew up in Canton, Mass., about 20 miles from Fenway, so summer trips to see his grandparents, the Red Sox and Cape Cod were something that was a big part of childhood.

He estimated about 10 to 15 family members from his Dad’s side were in the stands watching.

They now have their own neat summer memory of Fenway, too, seeing the star shortstop belt his first career homer in the park. It was also his 124th hit of the season, surpassing George Brett’s 123 in 1979 for most ever by a Royal before the All-Star break.

“I got it over the Monster, finally. That’s something I’ve always dreamed about,” Witt said, still sweating while standing in the clubhouse after a brief visit with his guests. “It happened, so it’s pretty cool to do that. What the offense was doing tonight was great. Playing in Fenway is awesome.”

The victory moved Kansas City into a tie with Boston for the AL’s third and final Wild Card spot and was its 52nd win of the season, just four off last season’s total. It was their fourth straight win.

MJ Melendez added a solo homer for the Royals.

“It’s definitely a lot of fun,” Melendez said of the club’s play so far this season. “Obviously, winning is why we play this game. Ever since we were little kids, we want to be the best and we want to win. We’re trying to build that culture. Coming into the season, you always want to win and that’s what we’re doing. We have the pieces to do that.”

Sure, there’s lots of baseball left to go, but don’t think these Royals aren’t appreciating the type of season they’re having.

“We like our chances because of what we’ve put ourselves to be in to compete for this stuff,” Quatraro said before the game. “Whether we’re up on them or they’re up on us, that stuff doesn’t really matter. We’re in a dog fight and that’s what you play for.”

Lefty Cole Ragans, also a first-time All-Star, held the Red Sox to one run on four hits, striking out seven and walking one over seven innings.

He got on a game plan with catcher Salvador Perez, mixing pitches and dominated.

“I felt overall I commanded it really well,” Ragans said. “I had a few deep counts, missed a few spots early. At the end of the day, I felt like I executed when I needed to execute.”

Coming into the night with the fifth-lowest run support in the Majors (3.28) when Ragans was on the mound, the Royals struck fast grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first on Perez’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly before they made it 4-0 with three unearned runs in the second.

Ragans gave up back-to-back doubles for a run in the bottom of the second before he struck out David Hamilton swinging to end the inning.

“We just put up some runs in the top of that inning,” Ragans said. “I was just trying to minimize and shut it down.”

Quatraro was happy his club’s offense got off to a fast start, especially for Ragans.

“It was nice to get off to a lead, in this park especially, to back Cole. We have done that a ton for him, so to give him some breathing room there was really nice,” Quatraro said.

So with Game 1 in Fenway in the books, the Royals keep their magical season rolling along and are now tied for a playoff slot. In a couple of days it’ll be the All-Star break. They’ll be one of the top stories of the first half.

Royals fans will sit back, along with many of his teammates, and watch for Witt to send a lot of balls sailing out of Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, too.

Just like he always dreamed of doing in Fenway.