Maile delivery: Catcher smacks clutch homer

BOSTON — Luke Maile hit a ball befitting his size on Tuesday night when he cleared Fenway Park’s famed Green Monster with his second career home run, a tying shot in the Rays’ 4-3 win over the Red Sox.

“That’s definitely the highlight [of my career],” Maile said. “It’s a great place to play. I have a lot of family that lives up here. Couldn’t feel better about it and glad we got the win.”

The 25-year-old catcher got every bit of his 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame into a 1-2 pitch from Drew Pomeranz and the ball rocketed over the wall quickly. According to Statcast™, Maile’s blast had an exit velocity of 104 mph.

“I knew he was probably going to throw me something offspeed,” Maile said. “I got him with a fastball last week. I never like to sit on pitches. I’ve always just kind of looked for the fastball, but right there I knew I was going to see something offspeed, so I just tried to stay middle and put a good swing on it.”

Evan Longoria, who hit the tiebreaking homer in the eighth, noted that he was, “Happy that Luke made a great adjustment in that at-bat.”

“Understood how he was getting pitched, got off of the fastball and was able to hit that ball out in a …

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