Vazquez en fuego at Fenway Park

BOSTON — Something about Fenway Park brings out the best in Christian Vazquez.

The Red Sox catcher has a .198 batting average on the road this season, but at Fenway he’s hitting .381, the best home average among American League players with more than 100 at-bats.

Vazquez is only one of the many reasons why entering Saturday the first-place Sox had such a better record at home (39-21) than on the road (31-30). Rookie Rafael Devers (.400) and Eduardo Nunez (.383) rank first and second, respectively, in home batting average among A.L. players with 50-100 at-bats, but they’ve been more productive than Vazquez on the road, hitting .261 and .304, respectively.

In his three seasons with the Sox, Vazquez has hit .298 at Fenway in 282 at-bats with five home runs, 31 runs batted in and an OPS of .984 while hitting .210 on the road with no homers and 25 RBI with an OPS of .482.

As far as Vazquez is concerned, the reason he hits so much better at Fenway is simple.

“I’m in front of my crowd,” he said. “I love these fans and this is my home.”

“There’s comfort in your home ballpark,” Red Sox manager John Farrell agreed. “Whether it’s the hitting background that he feels more familiar with just because of the number of at-bats here, I think comfort is the main reason.”

Vazquez, who turns 27 on Monday, said he doesn’t change anything at the plate on the road.

In a 9-6 victory over the Yankees on Friday night, Vazquez went 3-for-3 with a home run, two singles and a walk. He scored three runs and drove in one. It was the 10th three-hit game of his career, and the Sox have won all 10 of those games.

Vazquez smashed his home run off Yankee starter Jordan Montgomery to lead off the fifth and give Boston a 3-0 lead. Vazquez said he looked for an inside fastball and got one. Vazquez’s homer traveled 435 feet.

“Wow,” he said. “[That] surprised me.”

In his last 10 home games, Vazquez is hitting 19-for-43 (.442). The Sox won eight of those 10.

Vazquez usually shares the catching duties with Sandy Leon, but he started seven consecutive games from July 30 through Aug. 5 while Leon was sidelined with a knee injury. Farrell believes he gained additional rhythm and confidence by playing every day.

Vazquez didn’t start Saturday because Leon is healthy again and he usually catches Chris Sale.

Leon batted a career-high .310 last season, but is hitting .238 this year. Like Vazquez, he’s better at Fenway (.276) than on the road (.204). The two have combined for nine homers and 55 RBI. Each has hit a walk-off home run.

“No complaints whatsoever,” Farrell said, “on the way those two guys have worked together. The way they work together and the respect they have for one another to me is what really makes their tandem work.”

As a rookie in 2014, Vazquez hit .240 with one home run and 20 RBI in in 55 games. After undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and missing all of 2015, he hit .227 with one homer and 12 RBI in 57 games last season. Vazquez wasn’t completely healthy in 2016 and he made the mistake of adding a high leg kick to his approach at the plate.

“I was trying to get more power last year,” he said. “I was trying to hit more homers and that’s not me. My game is base hit, doubles. That’s it.”

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound native of Puerto Rico dropped the leg kick when he was sent down to Pawtucket in July last season and the change paid off this year.

“He used it for the wrong reason,” Sox assistant hitting coach Victor Rodriguez said of the leg kick, “to create power instead of timing. When he eliminated that, now his lower half is more under control. Now he’s seeing the ball better. His bat path is better to the ball.”

Overall, Vazquez is hitting .286 in 72 games with three home runs and 24 RBI, all career highs.

“Last year was a tough year, a learning year,” he said. “Came from the surgery so this year I feel 100 percent healthy.”

Vazquez is not a fast runner and Farrell admitted that “he’s not a guy we’re going to turn loose,” but on Friday Vazquez stole his sixth base in seven attempts this season after not trying to steal a base in either of his first two seasons with the Sox. Two of his steals have come on the back end of double steals and one came on the front end. The other three were straight steals.

“He’s a smart player,” Farrell said. “When you have a guy who’s maybe a below average runner, just by shear timing, it’s their instincts that make up the difference.”