Kiké & Vázquez: Little League to ALCS

BOSTON -- Enrique “Kiké” Hernández and Christian Vázquez have known each other since they were kids and Little League teammates in Puerto Rico.

More than 20 years later and after being rivals in the 2018 World Series, this duo is back to being teammates on a Red Sox team that is aiming even higher after clinching the AL Division Series against the Rays on Monday.

In fact, the last two Boston victories in that series came after walk-off swings from the Puerto Rican players, a home run from Vázquez in extra innings on Sunday and a sacrifice fly from Hernández on Monday, after the former started a rally with a single in the ninth inning.

“I know there’s a lot of happy people in Puerto Rico. Many bar owners are seeing their places full to watch the games and the people are spending money,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora, also a Puerto Rican native, said with a smile after clinching on Monday. “But all kidding aside, both have been tremendous.

“What Christian has done with the [pitching] staff in the last three days has been tremendous. Kiké, on the offensive side, has been excellent. On defense, we all know what kind of player he is, so I’m extremely proud of both.”

If a Most Valuable Player award was given in the Division Series, Hernández without a doubt would have taken the award after his performance in the ALDS vs. Tampa Bay. He hit .450 (9-for-20) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBIs, a 1.329 OPS and 18 total bases. Meanwhile, Vázquez hit 6-for-16 (.375) with that walk-off homer, four RBIs and three runs.

"I've known Christian -- I played with Christian when I was 7 years old in Puerto Rico," Hernández said.

"He's always been a stud ever since we were that young, he's always been a stud."

Neither of them has had an easy road toward the success that they’ve seen in the last week. Hernández, in his first season with the Red Sox after signing a two-year, $14 million deal last winter, hit .213/.294/.371 in the last month of the regular season after being one of the many affected by the COVID-19 outbreak that impacted the club in August and September. Vázquez registered only a .659 OPS with six homers during his second full season in the Majors, after hitting 23 home runs in 2019.

After going 0-for-4 in the Red Sox's loss against the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS, Hernández studied videos with the hitting coaches and came into the second game of the series focused on not expanding the strike zone. In the next three games, he went 9-for-16 with two homers and six RBIs.

“He was putting good at-bats after good at-bats,” said Cora, who also has known Hernández since the utility player was a kid. “He did an amazing job against a tough pitching staff, and we're very proud of him.”

Vázquez didn’t even start behind the plate for the AL Wild Card Game against the Yankees, since the veteran Kevin Plawecki had been catching starts from Nathan Eovaldi, who started that game against New York and Game 3 of the ALDS.

“He understands, but at the same time, he doesn't like it, and it's part of it,” said Cora. “That's the competitor, the catcher, the guy that has been in this organization for a long, long time.

“He's been working hard on his swing lately. He's been doing a lot of the things that he did in 2019. He's been hitting the ball hard.”

Just as Cora pointed out, Vázquez was drafted and developed by the Red Sox, then was a member of the Boston team that defeated the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series. Hernández decided to sign with the Red Sox after six seasons with Los Angeles -- which lost to Boston in that Fall Classic three years ago -- because he wanted to be in the lineup every day no matter what, in contrast with his days with the Dodgers.

"For me personally, like free agency, my main priority was finding a place where I could play every day,” said Hernández, who aside from center field, has also played second base and some shortstop this year. “I didn't just want to play every day to play every day in the big leagues. I wanted to play every day where it mattered.

“Boston ended up being the greatest of fits. I don't regret that decision one bit.”