With Alex Cora away from the Red Sox on Monday to attend his daughter's college graduation, it was up to fill-in skipper Ramon Vazquez to lead the team from the bench. The Red Sox made sure Vazquez's managerial debut was a successful one, earning a tough 3-1 victory over the New York Mets at Fenway Park.

It was not an easy assignment for Vazquez or the Red Sox on Monday. After dropping two of three to the Atlanta Braves over the weekend, in came the first-place Mets for a three-game set. On the bump for New York was Kodai Senga, who entered the night with a National League-leading 1.02 ERA.

The Red Sox countered with fill-in starter Hunter Dobbins, so on paper, it looked like Boston would be heading for a sixth loss in its last seven games. But the Red Sox put together a mostly clean game in the field, the bats got some timely hits early, and their fill-in manager made all the right moves out of the bullpen for a much-needed victory.

It earned Vazquez a celebratory beer shower in the locker room -- and potentially a summer cold.

"It was a cold beer shower in there. I'm still freezing right now," Vazquez joked from the podium after the win. 

The Red Sox didn't wait around to get their skipper a few runs in his debut. Jarren Duran led the game off with a double on Senga's first pitch, and he scored a few batters later on an RBI groundout by Alex Bregman. 

"That's Jarren for us," Vazquez said after the win. "When he starts like that, we score early. It's a game changer. It was good to see him go out there and be aggressive today. Scoring early in the game, when we do that, I feel like we have a really good chance to win the ballgame when we score first."

An RBI single by Trevor Story plated another run in the bottom of the first, giving Boston an early 2-0 edge. Duran made it a 3-0 game in the bottom of the second with an RBI triple that scored catcher Carlos Narvaez. 

The Red Sox got to Senga for three runs over six innings, which marked a season-high for the New York righty.

There wasn't much margin for error for Boston in such a tight contest, but Vazquez managed the bullpen masterfully for Boston. He pulled Dobbins after 66 pitches in the top of the fifth with two on and two outs. Vazquez turned to southpaw Justin Wilson to face the always dangerous Francisco Lindor, and Wilson won the battle when he struck him out to end a 10-pitch at-bat.

The bullpen put up zeros all night for Boston. Wilson started the top of the sixth and let the first two runners reach, but got Brandon Nimmo to ground into a double play. Greg Weissert got the final out of the frame, and then the first two outs in the top of the seventh.

When Weissert let two reach with a walk and a single, Justin Slaten came in and got Lindor to ground out to end the seventh. He set down the Mets 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman got the final three outs (including a third double play turned by the Boston defense) to log his seventh save of the season.

Vazquez was pumped to earn his first career victory, though he joked he took a lot more steps than he thought he would thanks to those trips to the mound. And with a 1-0 record as a manager, Vazquez said he's happy to go out on top.  

"I only played here half a season, but I've been here with Alex since '18," he said. "This is a special place. The fact that I was able to manage my first game in the big leagues with this organization and at this ballpark, it makes it even more special. I'm officially retired as a manager, today and on."