Red Sox's Jake Bennett Has Perfect Reaction to Striking Out Yordan Alvarez

In what has been a frustrating season for the Boston Red Sox on the whole, perhaps a memorable major league debut can spark a mini-turnaround.

Jake Bennett took the mound for the Red Sox on Friday night for one simple reason: There weren't many other options. Ace Garrett Crochet hit the 15-day injured list on Wednesday, where he joined a laundry list of other guys Boston was hoping it could count on this season: Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, Kutter Crawford, and Patrick Sandoval.

Not only did Bennett take home the win in his first-ever start against the Houston Astros, but he picked a memorable name to set down for his first major league strikeout: formidable slugger Yordan Alvarez, who tormented the Red Sox during the two teams' first meeting of the season in Houston.

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What Bennett said about win, punching out Alvarez

Bennett got ahead of Alvarez 1-2, then nipped the outside corner with a filthy 95-mph sinker that only tailed back and clipped the zone at the last possible moment.

“Super special moment,” Bennett said, per Tim Crowley of MLB.com. “He's an incredible hitter. For the first one, it was awesome.”

But a good first inning didn't guarantee a good outing for Bennett. He had to work hard to escape a jam in the second, and after he let up a solo home run to Carlos Correa in the third, he buckled down to allow just two baserunners over his final nine outs recorded.

The 25-year-old, who arrived to the Red Sox in an offseason trade with the Washington Nationals and hadn't yet made it to Triple-A when the season began, seemed to be soaking it all in postgame.

“Just an unreal experience,” said Bennett, per Sean McAdam of MassLive. “Words really can’t put it into perspective....dream come true. Incredible atmosphere, and I’m super blessed to be able to do it.”

Boston's highly touted starting pitching staff could hardly have been more inconsistent early in the season, and that's before you delve into all the injury concerns. This was a team that desperately needed a feel-good story to boost morale. Bennett may have just given them one.

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