Slugging outfielder makes debut for Boston

FORT MYERS, Fla. --On the third pitch Wily Mo Pena saw as a member of the Boston Red Sox, the strapping slugger drilled a hard single through the shortstop hole into left field.

Not quite one of the long homers the team hopes he can produce on a steady basis. But, more important, not another of the many strikeouts that have slowed his development.

Pena made his debut with Boston on Tuesday, one day after a trade that sent right-handed pitcher Bronson Arroyo to the Cincinnati Reds. Pena replaced Trot Nixon in right field in the sixth inning then came to bat in the seventh with one out and a runner on first base in a 9-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

He took two balls on the outside, then swung hard. The crowd cheered as the ball shot into left field.

"I don't think about home runs," Pena said before the game. "Just make contact, because (when) you make contact, I know I'm going to hit. When I make contact I know it's going to be a homer."

Not every time, certainly. But often enough that he gives the Red Sox three potential 40-homer hitters along with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.

In 2004 with the Reds, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Pena hit 26 homers in 336 at-bats. Last year, he had 19 homers in 311 at-bats. But he had 108 strikeouts in 2004 and 116 in 2005.

"I was working on that back home in winter ball, just to make a lot of contact and cut down on the strikeouts," said Pena, who played for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic that ended Monday night.

The right-handed Pena was slated to be the starting left fielder with Cincinnati. With Boston, he'll be the fourth outfielder and give manager Terry Francona an alternative to lefty Nixon when a left-hander pitches.

"We get a 24-year-old kid that's kind of got Ortiz power and I think he complements Trot very well," Francona said. "Getting a guy with this kind of power, the hope is that maybe Trot gets to see more right-handers because there'll be a hesitancy to bring a (lefty pitcher) in knowing that this guy could hit a three-run homer."

Francona is even pleased when Pena walks. He drew just 22 bases on balls in 2004 and 20 last year. On Tuesday, in his second at-bat with Boston, he showed unusual patience. He watched a ball go by, then a strike. And he laid off the next three pitches, all balls, and trotted to first base.

That put runners at first and second with two outs in the ninth and Boston trailing 9-7. But Willie Harris grounded out, ending the game.

"I was pleased with his last at-bat," Francona said. "The best thing we can do is just watch him play and get to know him before you start jumping in (with advice), but I think he was already aware of" trying to walk more.

If he can do that and cut his strikeouts he should have a chance to play more, and put on crowd-pleasing power displays. For now, he said, he doesn't mind being the fourth outfielder.

Or switching from the National League to the American League.

"Everybody's pitching with the same ball," he said.

The same ball the Red Sox hope he hits far over the left-field wall at Fenway Park.