PORTLAND, Maine — When Roman Anthony first sprained his hand he didn’t think it would be a big deal. He might miss a few games, sure, but before long he’d be back in the lineup and ready to help the Red Sox right the ship after a poor start.

It took a lot longer than that, but after nearly four months of starts and stops Anthony finally walked into Hadlock Field in Portland on Tuesday afternoon ready to play a baseball game.

“I was driving here today and it just felt weird to finally be here,” Anthony said. “It’s been a long process for me, it took a lot longer than I could have expected when I first did it, but I’m happy it’s all behind me and I can just play baseball.”

He sure looked like his old self in his first game back.

Anthony began his rehab assignment at Double-A Portland in style on Tuesday, hitting a towering home run to cap off a perfect day at the plate. Batting second for the Sea Dogs as the designated hitter, Anthony went 2 for 2 with two walks, a sharply-hit single and a two-run home run that was measured 108.1 mph off the bat and flew more than 400 feet clear over the right-field stands and into the adjacent Fitzpatrick Stadium.

It was a cathartic moment for the 22-year-old, who backed up his words several hours earlier that his hand is no longer an issue.

“I’m good, I’m good to go,” Anthony said pregame. “I’ve been swinging, I had a quick little ramp up in Fort Myers, for me when I felt good enough to swing and I felt good enough to take (batting practice) and hit off a machine, that was for me, ‘All right, let’s get out of here.' ”

Anthony first suffered the injury on May 4 in Detroit, when he partially tore a tendon in his right ring finger while checking his swing. Originally the belief was the injury wasn’t serious and that he could return after the minimum 10 days were up, and Anthony said he thought that as well.

“I was under the same impression when it first happened,” Anthony said. “For me, looking at it from a non-medical standpoint, when I hear finger that doesn’t seem too intense to me. Obviously I’ve learned that’s not the case.”

Anthony described the pain he felt as “general hand and wrist pain” centered mainly in the ring finger, and the biggest problems he dealt with were gripping a heavy bat and finishing his swing. He hoped those issues would subside after a couple of days, but reality sunk in that he was looking at a longer recovery when the pain lingered into the next week.

“I think I got to a point where I tried to swing again around the Atlanta, Kansas City series and something didn’t feel right to me,” Anthony said. “I was just a little confused on everything, I’d gotten the shot and done everything I could do to give myself the best chance of playing and knew that it was going to be longer than I thought.”

Anthony said the Red Sox medical staff “nailed” his diagnosis, but he still received a handful of additional opinions and said it was made clear to him at various points that he’d likely miss several months. But knowing the timetable didn’t make the experience any easier, especially once he was transferred to Fort Myers to continue his rehab in early July. But he told himself every day that one way or another he’d make it back to help the team again.

“Obviously it didn’t go super smooth at all times but again I’m sitting there just telling myself in my head, ‘Man, this is just a finger injury, why is this taking so long?’ There’s no way this is going to make me miss the entire year,” he said.

Eventually by late July, Anthony turned the corner, and the first time he picked up a bat and swung pain-free “didn’t feel real.” He steadily ramped up in his hitting program, and once he reached a point where he could hit off high-intensity pitching machines without issue he knew he was ready to go.

“For me being out here and being on the field is what gives me more peace than anything,” Anthony said. “To get out of there and out of hot Fort Myers and be able to come back here and play a baseball game today, it’s a blessing.”

While Anthony has been away the Red Sox have completely turned their season around, going from 13-21 at the time of his injury to 67-58 and in playoff position entering Tuesday night. Anthony said it’s been amazing to watch and that most nights it’s felt like the club was going to win no matter what happened.

He added that it was exciting to see the club buy aggressively at the trade deadline, though he acknowledged it hit him hard to see Marcelo Mayer, his close friend and longtime teammate coming up as top prospects in the minors, dealt away.

“Obviously Marcelo hit a little different, I came up with him and lived with him every day, and he was my roommate since I was 18, 19 years old,” Anthony said. “So seeing him go, I was excited for him to get a new opportunity and almost like a refresh and to be back close to home, I think it will be good for him and hopefully get to see him come to Boston, that would be pretty cool, right?

“But yeah, I was sad, obviously spoke to him, still speak to him quite a bit. I hope all goes well for him always and I don’t think the friendship or the relationship when guys get traded it doesn’t really change.”

When Anthony first stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first inning he described feeling jittery — “I felt like I was debuting at Fenway again,” he said — but calmed down after drawing a walk and settled in for the rest of the game.

While the tape-measure home run in his third at-bat will obviously draw the most attention, he said his opposite-field single his second time up, which also went 108 mph off the bat, was actually the plate appearance he was happiest with.

“I think that was the swing I was most impressed with today, just going out and getting it, hitting it where it was pitched. I was happy about that, taking the walks, hitting that one the other day and knowing that’s still in there,” Anthony said postgame. “It was good, after that I felt very comfortable, saw a lot of pitches and used the other side of the field and that’s when I feel like I’m at my best, when I’m going that way. Trying not to get too excited about one day of performance, but it was good.”

As for what comes next, Anthony said the club hasn’t decided what he’ll do Wednesday, but if he’s feeling good he hopes to be back in the lineup again.

“If I come in feeling good I’m going to play,” Anthony said.

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