This was a 1-1 game through six before the Red Sox scored twice in the seventh and three times in the eighth. Hamilton, who just 3-for-33 coming in, doubled his season hit total tonight. Triston Casas’s injury doesn’t figure to benefit Hamilton overly much, so he can be left on the waiver wire in spite of his stolen base ability.

Kristian Campbell will shift to center field, and Ceddanne Rafaela will take a seat on the bench. Rafaela is hitting .231/.302/.385 with four steals and a 12:2 K:BB ratio over his last 12 games, but Hamilton has not been playing well enough to be a real threat to his playing time. The bigger threat would be the Red Sox calling up Roman Anthony and moving Jarren Duran to center field.

Hamilton’s third-inning round-tripper — his first big fly of the season — represented the lone tally for either side during a rare low-scoring pitcher’s duel at high-octane Steinbrenner Field. The 27-year-old speedster figures to continue splitting time between shortstop and second base whenever Trevor Story or Kristian Campbell require a day off.

Hamilton drew the start at second base for the Red Sox in this one with top prospect Kristian Campbell in the lineup as the left fielder. He smacked a one-out single off of Chris Paddack in the third inning, swiped second base and advanced to third on a ground ball but was left stranded there. Hamilton then led off the fifth inning with a single, deftly nabbed both second and third base and scored on a sacrifice fly. We have seen the 27-year-old speedster make an impact in fantasy leagues in limited action before, and if he finds his way into the Red Sox’ lineup on a regular basis in 2025 his game-changing speed would make him an intriguing option once again.