Xander Bogaerts had an incredible run with the Red Sox. He won two World Series championships, made four All-Star teams and developed from a highly touted prospect into one of the most successful shortstops in team history.

But out of all his accomplishments, one moment in particular stands out to Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

“Gerrit Cole,” Cora said. “That home run just changed the whole night.”

Bogaerts’ two-run home run off the New York Yankees ace in the first inning of the 2021 American League Wild Card game was instantly iconic, helping propel the Red Sox past their longtime rivals in the winner-take-all one-game playoff. The home run immediately set the tone for the eventual 6-2 Red Sox win, and when the ball left the yard the Fenway Park crowd was so frenzied it resembled a college football student section after a big touchdown.

“This place was just awesome,” Cora said. “It was the loudest it’s ever been.”

“That Wild Card hit was a good one,” Bogaerts said later. “Probably the loudest I’ve heard Fenway, to be honest with you.”

Coming into that Wild Card game the Red Sox faced a daunting task. Cole had just wrapped up a dominant season in which he finished second in the AL Cy Young vote, and barely a week earlier the Yankees had come into Fenway Park and swept the Red Sox, making their path to the playoffs far more precarious.

Boston ultimately clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the season, and once they knew they’d be facing Cole and the Yankees the club did everything in their power to figure out how to attack him.

“We worked so hard before that game trying to find something on Cole, sequencing, tipping, how he used his fastball, and he had a gameplan and he executed,” Cora said. “It was a slider for a ball, a changeup for a strike and he didn’t miss it.”

Bogaerts wound up spending one more season in Boston before opting out of his contract and signing an 11-year, $280 million deal with the San Diego Padres in free agency. This weekend marks his first time back at Fenway Park since then, but while the infielder won’t take the field thanks to a recent shoulder injury, he looks fondly on his time with the Red Sox.

Yet while that home run ranks high on the list of his favorite Red Sox memories, another actually surpasses it in his mind.

“Probably the best one was, 2013 World Series, eighth inning, base hit off of (Trevor) Rosenthal to tie the game,” Bogaerts said. “I always consider that my biggest hit of my career so far.”

That took place in Game 3, which the Red Sox went on to lose 5-4 on a Jon Jay walk-off fielder’s choice, but Boston went on to win the next three straight to clinch their third World Series title in nine years.