McAdam: Steve Pearce goes deep three times in rout of Yankees

In the last week, there was plenty of attention paid to the non-waiver trade deadline and the late additions -- pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and second baseman Ian Kinsler -- made to the Red Sox roster.

But lost in the shuffle -- until last night, that is -- was the acquisition of Steve Pearce, who joined the Red Sox long enough ago (June 29) that he took part in the last series played between the Red Sox and Yankees.

In that one, Pearce collected two hits in his first game with the Sox. But that merely the warmup for what took place Thursday, when Pearce slugged three homers off three different pitchers, good for six RBI.

"We made a good baseball move earlier in the season,'' said Alex Cora after the Sox throttled the Yankees, 15-7. "He's been good for us -- good at-bats against lefties, good at-bats against righties, great teammate. He's into the program and we're happy to have him...You've got to give credit to Dave (Dombrowski) — he moved quick. He saw something that we needed and he pulled the trigger. And he's here."

And, it should be noted, making his presence felt. After Thursday night, Pearce is hitting .358 with five doubles, four homers and 12 RBI for the Sox, with a stunning 1.124 OPS.

But Thursday night was something else altogether. After flying out to center in the first, Pearce proceeded to hit three homers in his next four plate appearances - the first off lefty CC Sabathia, the second off Jonathan Holder and the final one off Luis Cessa.

"It was,'' concluded Pearce, "a fun night, a good night, great team win. It's something I'll never forget.''



The beauty for Pearce is that two of three homers came against right-handers. Not that he's incapable of hitting righties, but the reason he was in the lineup in the first place was that Sabathia was the starter and Pearce entered the night with strong numbers (.306) against the veteran lefty.

But after falling behind 4-0 in the top of the second, the Red Sox stormed back against Sabathia and drove his pitch count up quickly, to the point where he had thrown an astounding 77 pitches after just three innings.

That brought a parade of righties out of the New York bullpen, but Pearce kept going deep. The third one was the most majestic of all, a high, arching shot that clanged halfway up the light toward in the Monster Seats. It allowed him to become the third Red Sox player in history to post a three-homer game against the Yankees -- Mo Vaughn and Kevin Millar are the others.

"That's great company,'' said Pearce. "I'm glad I can join them.''

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With the Sox comfortably ahead late in the game, Pearce came to the plate with a chance at history and an opportunity to become the first Red Sox player to ever hit four homers in a game.

And yes, he knew what was at stake.

"For sure,'' he said. "I mean, we're not ignorant. We know what's going on. I just tried to keep the same approach, just stay with what I can do and try not to expand the zone.''

After running the count to 3-1, Pearce took ball four and first base, instead of taking his place in the record books.

Pearce has been contributing for the past month, since he was dealt here from Toronto. He's been around the entire division, having played for all five teams -- some, more than once -- but he sensed something special when he joined the Sox.

"The first day I walked into this clubhouse, they welcomed me with open arms,'' he said. "It was kind of an easy transition for me because I played against these guys for so long, so all I had to learn was learn personalities. I know my role and I'm going to continue to try to add to this team.''

"I'm proud of him,'' said Cora. "It's not easy, his role. But he understands where he's at and why we brought him here and he gives me options throughout the game when he doesn't start. We can put him at second, we can put him in the outfield. He's a good player. He prepares. He's been around the league for a while. You don't survive in this game if you're not a good player.

"He's one of those guys who's been grinding his whole career.''

And for one night, he got to enjoy the game of his life and perhaps remind everyone that not every important in-season move comes in the final two days of July.