Wagner extends stellar introduction with 1st career HR -- at Fenway

BOSTON -- On a night when not a lot was going right for the Blue Jays, rookie Will Wagner stepped to the plate and connected for his first big league home run.

Wagner's sixth-inning blast at Fenway Park was part of a 3-for-4 night with two doubles, cementing him as Toronto's most productive hitter in a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday.

“Honestly, I still haven’t processed it yet,” Wagner said postgame. “It is really cool.”

The Blue Jays' No. 19 prospect per MLB Pipeline also became the first player in franchise history to record at least two doubles and one home run in the same game within his first 13 career games.

“He’s got a really simple swing,” said manager John Schneider. “He hit the ball hard four times tonight. Pretty cool for him to get it here in Fenway, cool place to do that. Will’s been great.”

Wagner has hit .326 with an .868 OPS, six RBIs and five doubles in 13 games since earning his big league promotion.

The son of former All-Star closer Billy Wagner, the 26-year-old Will admitted to having nerves coming into this historic ballpark, where his dad briefly pitched as part of the Red Sox in 2009.

Despite the fact that Billy Wagner played in Boston for six weeks, Will's only prior trips to the cathedral on Lansdowne Street came as a baby, when his father participated in the 1999 All-Star Game, and as a fan a few years ago, while playing summer ball in the NECBL.

On advice from his dad, Will signed inside the Green Monster prior to Tuesday’s game, though he was unable to find Billy's signature from years ago.

Then, in his first at-bat of the night, Wagner inside-outed an offering from Cooper Criswell and kissed the very same wall with a second-inning double.

“I always wanted to hit a double off the Green Monster too,” Wagner said. “You see so many guys hit the ball the other way and get a double off the Monster, so I thought that was pretty cool.”

But Joey Loperfido was thrown out at home plate on that particular play as he tried to score from first, ending the inning and the threat. It was one of three outs that the Blue Jays ran into on the basepaths in this game.

“When you’re putting pressure on the other team to make really good plays, we’re good with that,” Schneider said about his club’s aggressive baserunning. “Tonight, they made really good plays.”

Wagner doubled again in the fourth inning and then stepped to the plate with two outs in the sixth. On a 3-1 count, he hit a ball that kept Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu backpedaling to the home team's bullpen.

“I didn’t know if Abreu caught it,” said Schneider.

Wagner had a similar thought.

“I didn’t think it was getting out,” added Wagner, who initially stopped at second base thinking the ball had been caught. “I thought I popped it up, but then saw the right fielder still going back for it.”

With his mighty blow, Wagner sent his first big league home run 382 feet into the Red Sox's bullpen. He was able to get the ball back, which he intends to gift to his parents.

“It’s everyone’s dream to hit a home run at Fenway,” said Wagner, who noted that he will be busy returning congratulatory text messages for a while. “For it to be my first home run, it’s so special, so cool.”

Despite Wagner's best efforts, the Blue Jays couldn't mount a comeback, halting a season-high five-game winning streak.

Starter Yariel Rodríguez had a rough first inning, allowing a leadoff home run to Jarren Duran -- only the third homer he's yielded to a left-handed hitter this season -- and a two-run single to Masataka Yoshida to put the Blue Jays behind by three runs.

The right-hander locked in over the next three innings, allowing just a single and retiring seven straight before Boston got to him for another three runs in the fifth.

“After the first, he was efficient and he made good pitches,” said Schneider. “It came down to the fifth, where he’s in that spot [and] his pitch count was OK, but he made a couple of mistakes with breaking balls.”