BOSTON — Tucked away behind a pole inside the cramped visitors’ clubhouse at Fenway Park, Toronto Blue Jays rookie Travis Snider sat at his temporary locker with a laptop in hand, unaware that a group of reporters was waiting to talk to him.
After Snider caught on that the assembled crowd wanted to interview him, he emerged from his hidden stall. As the young outfielder, who graduated from Jackson High School in 2006, prepped to take his first question, following Toronto’s 8-1 romp over Boston in the opener of a doubleheader on Saturday, Toronto pitcher A.J. Burnett squeezed past the group.
“Attaboy, hero,” said Burnett, forcing a smile from Snider.
The 20-year-old Snider continued to defy his age (or lack thereof) with yet another strong showing at the plate, matching a franchise rookie record by driving in five runs in the game. Pitching on short rest, Burnett cruised to his 18th win of the year behind six strong innings of work.
Boston won the second game of the doubleheader 7-5.
Snider was 2-for-4 with the five RBI — three on a fifth-inning home run and two on a sixth-inning double in the first game. At 20 years and 224 days, Snider became the youngest player to drive in five runs in a game for the Jays, and he is only the 10th rookie to do so in club history.
Snider was 1-for-2 in the second game, walking with the bases load to drive in a run and scored a run.
Since being promoted from Class AAA Syracuse on Aug. 29, Snider — currently the youngest player in the league — has hit .316 (12-for-38) with two homers, three doubles, seven runs scored and eight RBI over 12 games. That showing has come against sound competition from the Yankees, Rays, Twins, White Sox and Red Sox.
“He’s having success against teams that are in the running,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. “He’s just not having success against teams that are out of it.
These guys here, they have a chance. He’s played well — just keep going.
“He has an idea of what he wants to do. He’s a kid that’s 20 years old, but he’s very mature.”
Snider, who began this season with Class A Dunedin, hasn’t displayed the kind of rookie jitters that affect many young players. Instead, the stocky left-handed hitter has made the transition from the minors to the majors look easy. Snider credits the time he spent in big league camp with the Jays during spring training.
“I think it was huge,” Snider said. “You get around a great group of guys, and you get into this atmosphere, and you kind of thrive off of that adrenaline. For me, I’m just happy to be here, and I’m happy I had that chance in spring training to get a taste of it, so I knew what to expect coming up here.”
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