Kyle Farmer and the Reds seek 1st win at Fenway Park since Game 7 of the 1975 World Series

Overall, it was a good week for Reds Country. After dropping the first two contests of the seven-game homestand, the Cincinnati Reds (16-31) rallied to win four of their last five to complete a 4-3 week. If the Redlegs are victorious tonight, they will have finished May with a winning record which seemed inconceivable following a disastrous 3-18 mark in April.

Cincinnati relied on incredible starting pitching to take two of three from a solid San Francisco Giants squad. The trio of Graham Ashcraft, Vladimir Gutierrez, and Tyler Mahle combined to toss 18 innings of one-run baseball against a potent Giants lineup.

The Boston Red Sox (23-26) find themselves in an uncharacteristic position as the calendar prepares to turn to June. Boston currently sits in fourth-place in the ultra-competitive American League East, trailing their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees, by 10.5 games.

Can the Reds get their 1st win at Fenway Park since 1975?

Don't let the record fool you, the Red Sox can light up the scoreboard. Boston leads the AL with a .262 team average and is second in the league with a .426 slugging rate, as play began yesterday. Their league-leading 117 doubles are 34 more than the Minnesota Twins, their closest competitor, in the junior circuit. Wow.

However, success has been more difficult to find on the pitching mound. The Red Sox staff has compiled a 3.91 ERA and is prone to surrender the long ball. BoSox hurlers have been taken deep 61 times during the 2022 campaign. Only the Seattle Mariners staff has allowed more round-trippers in the AL.

Since interleague play was introduced beginning with the 1997 season, no team has dominated the Reds like Boston. The Red Sox hold a ridiculous 12-1 advantage over Cincinnati, including a perfect 5-0 record at Fenway Park.

You have to go back to October of 1975, with Joe Morgan driving home Ken Griffey in the top of the ninth in Game 7 of the Fall Classic breaking a 3-3 tie, to find the last time the Reds celebrated a victory in America's oldest ballpark.

Reds SS Kyle Farmer has played very well the past 2 weeks, but Jose Barrero has as well.

What a couple of weeks it's been offensively for shortstop Kyle Farmer. Over his last 15 games, the University of Georgia alum is slashing .346/.407/.654 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. In addition, Farm Dawg also had his first multi-homer game.

The importance of Farmer to the Cincinnati lineup has been a source of great debate in among Reds Country for the past couple of years, but, most importantly for Farmer, the person whose opinion matters the most is clearly a fan.

Last week when speaking with reporters, Reds skipper David Bell (via MLB.com) was quoted as saying "Farmer's a big part of our team, and he makes us better in ways you can't quantify." It's critical Farmer has that type of support because the Cincinnati roster is going to get interesting sooner rather than later.

Top shortstop prospect, Jose Barrero, could be added to the big league roster at any moment. Following a wrist injury suffered in spring training, the 24-year-old Cuban has been impressive at Triple-A Louisville since joining the Bats on May 20th.

Entering play yesterday, Barrero was slashing .269/.345/.577 with two homers in 26 at-bats. Once he receives the call, it's safe to assume he'll take over the shortstop duties from Farmer as he offers an immediate upgrade defensively.

However, I don't expect Farmer to ride the pine. It's obvious David Bell lovee Kly eFarmer, and he'll find a way to get him into the lineup as much as possible. He may have his detractors, but Kyle Farmer is not leaving the Cincinnati lineup any time soon, regardless of Jose Barrero's presence.

Prediciton

It's gonna happen, Reds Country. For the first time since October 22, 1975, the Cincinnati Reds will celebrate a victory at Fenway Park. However, let's not get carried away.

Look for Cincinnati and Boston to split their brief two-game set before the Redlegs return home to battle the Washington Nationals to kick off an eight-game homestand on Thursday night.