Middlebrooks: ‘Fun to play in front of all my friends and family'

Share

ARLINGTON, Texas -- This was homecoming week for Will Middlebrooks and the Red Sox rookie third baseman performed like a king.
Playing his first three major league games in his native state, Middlebrooks had multi-hit games in each. On Wednesday, he singled in the second and homered in the fourth. The only disappointment for Middlebrooks was on the scoreboard. "Yeah, I had a decent series,'' said Middlebrooks, who grew up about 35 minutes from the The Ballpark in Arlington before moving to Texarkana, some 2 12 hours away, at 11. "But we lost two out of three and we're here to win games.'' Middlebrooks had plenty of family and friends among the 44,104 at The Ballpark in Arlington and hitting a homer to left off Texas starter Derek Holland was a particular thrill in front of the home folks. "It was a lot of fun,'' said Middlebrooks. "It would have been a lot more fun if we had won. But it was a lot of fun to play in front of all my friends and family.'' Middlebrooks has multi-hit games in four of his last five games. As a rookie, he's constantly had to make adjustments to pitchers who are seeking out a weakness. He had been having trouble with off-speed pitches and breaking balls, so there was some satisfaction that he belted a changeup for his 12th homer of the season. "He left it up a little bit for me,'' recounted Middlebrooks. "It's always good when I hit a good off-speed pitch.'' Still, beyond the personal satisfaction, there was the gnawing frustration that the Sox had a chance to win the series here -- and didn't. "It's tough, man,'' he said. "We're out there grinding, we're out there playing hard and we're just trying to get runs to support Josh (Bekcett); he went out there and pitched his butt off and we were just trying to support him.'' Though this marked the first time Middlebrooks played in Texas as a big leaguer, it wasn't his introduction to The Ballpark in Arlington, having played in a high school all-star game about four years ago. "This is a little bit different atmosphere,'' said Middlebrooks with a chuckle. "I think there was probably about 150 people here for that last one. But this was a lot of fun and it was good to see everybody.''

Contact Us