Fastball

Tyler O'Neill Does Something Not Done Since Former Mariners' OF Back in 2013

The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night and you could certainly say it was a great homecoming for Sox' slugger Tyler O'Neill, who did something that hadn't been done in the last 11 years of baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox designated hitter Tyler O'Neill (17) hits a solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the third inning at Rogers Centre on June 17.
Boston Red Sox designated hitter Tyler O'Neill (17) hits a solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the third inning at Rogers Centre on June 17. / Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
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The Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night to run their winning streak to three games. With the win, they are now 38-35, which is rather incredible considering that Lucas Giolito and Trevor Story are out for the season.

Furthermore, Triston Casas, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello, and Garrett Whitlock have all spent time on the injured list. The Blue Jays loss drops them to 35-37 as they fight to get back to .500.

The Red Sox' win was punctuated by offense as Tyler O'Neill hit two homers and Ceddanne Rafaela and Rafael Devers each hit one.

In O'Neill's case, the performance likely had extra meaning given that he is from Canada and previously represented Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

Per Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald:

Per @Stathead, Tyler O'Neill is the fifth Canadian-born visiting player to have a multi-homer game in Toronto, and the first since Mariners' Michael Saunders on May 4, 2013.

O'Neill has battled concussion and knee injuries this year but has still put together a solid season, hitting .258 with 14 homers. The 28-year-old is in the seventh year of his career and will be a free agent at the end of the season.

As for Saunders, he's now 37 years old and spent nine years in the big leagues with the Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies. He hit a career-high 19 homers for the Mariners back in 2012.

The Red Sox will play the Blue Jays again on Tuesday night at 7:07 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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