Vaughn Grissom feeling better, contributes for Red Sox

Vaughn Grissom celebrates after hitting a two-run double in the eighth inning of the Red Sox’s 9-2 win over the Twins on Sunday in Minneapolis. Bruce Kluckhorn/Associated Press

Red Sox second baseman Vaughn Grissom is trying to regain weight after losing 14 pounds while battling for the flu last week.

“His breakfast today was very unhealthy,” Red Sox Manager Alex Cora said on Sunday after Boston’s 9-2 win over the Twins. “Some rice and beans and whatever.”

Grissom – who is eating and drinking a lot of shakes and water to put the weight back on – actually threw up some of his breakfast while warming up before the game.

“Yeah, first time for that,” Grissom said. “But stuck through it and just fought it out.”

He battled through it and had enough strength to belt a 93.1 mph cutter from Kody Funderburk off the wall in right field.

Grissom’s first hit as a member of the Red Sox went 367 feet for a two-run opposite-field double, giving the Red Sox a 5-1 lead in the eighth inning.

“He can do that and that’s the difference between his at-bat and others – that he can hit the ball to right field,” Cora said. “We do believe he’s going to hit the ball for power. But right now, we’ll take the hitter and just keep growing.”

Grissom, who Boston acquired from the Braves for Chris Sale in December, was scheduled to return from the IL (hamstring) on April 30. His regular-season debut got pushed back to Friday because he was sick. Cora gave him a day off Saturday. Grissom returned to the lineup Sunday.

When 23-year-old hit the double, he reacted like he hit a home run

“It was like a hopeful (home run) pimp,” Grissom joked. “There’s two types of pimps in my opinion. One where you know it and you stand in the box and you’re like, ‘Heck, yeah.’ And then the other one where you hit and you’re like, ‘Yeah, finally’ and then you run really fast. That was the one I chose.”

Grissom is looking forward to returning to Atlanta. The Red Sox will play at Truist Field on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will face Sale on Wednesday.

“It’s going to be weird at first being on the opposite side but yeah, it’s going to be fun,” Grissom said.

Grissom said he wanted to play for one team his entire career.

“For me, you always want to be with the same team forever,” he said. “That’s every guy’s dream. All the pictures I have of me in a uniform have Atlanta on it. So that part of it, it’s like sad but not really. I knew eventually there was going to be something that happened, some transaction. So it is what it is. It’s part of the baseball life. No one actually ever gets to stay with the same team forever. It’s just something that’s like a dream. It’s going to be interesting. It’s going to be fun. And it’s going to be some good baseball.”

Ceddanne Rafaela hits a two-run home run in the fifth inning of the Red Sox’s 9-2 win over the Twins on Sunday in Minneapolis. Bruce Kluckhorn/Associated Press

CEDDANNE RAFAELA ENTERED Sunday batting just .198 with a .226 on-base percentage and .345 slugging percentage.

Hitting coach Peter Fatse suggested a hitting drill before the game.

“He’s grinding. He’s grinding. Pete talked to him today a little bit. I know you like old school stuff. They played pepper before the game,” Cora said. “He needs to find the barrel. He needs to. He’s such a good athlete that he will. He will find it. But just thinking outside the box. Most of the time it’s the machine at 100 mph. Today was just a good, old game of pepper with a hitting coach outside and talk a little bit.”

It worked. With a full count, Rafaela connected on a 93.1 mph fastball from starter Joe Ryan and bashed it into the left field stands for a 398-foot two-run homer to give Boston a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning.

“He was behind in the count and he battled his way through that count and put a good swing on it,” Cora said. “Got a fastball down. We haven’t seen a fastball down from that kid (Ryan) in years. And we got it and we didn’t miss it. It was huge for us. Huge.”

Rafaela said he thinks the game of pepper helped a lot.

“It helped me to relax and have fun,” Rafaela. “And having fun, I was just focusing on hitting the ball.”

Rafaela’s mentality in that situation with a runner at third and two outs?

“Just bring in the run. Just hit the ball,” he said. “I was just focusing to hit the ball and then good things happen.”

After Rafaela’s homer, the offense came to life, including a two-run double by Grissom and a two-run homer by Rafael Devers.

“We were able to breathe,” Cora said. “We put good at-bats. I was joking with the guys. We’ve got a bunch of new coaches and like Raffy never leaves Minnesota without hitting a homer.”