Gil Velazquez was emotional about his first major-league hit on Friday.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Don’t tell Gil Velazquez and George Kottaras these games are meaningless.

Just because the Red Sox have clinched a postseason berth, and the Yankees will end their season today, most have written off this series between Boston and New York as pointless. That’s definitely not the case for the pair of September call-ups.

“It wasn’t meaningless to me,” said Velazquez, 28, who spent 11 seasons in the minors before making his major-league debut here on Thursday. Kottaras, a 25-year-old catching prospect, would agree.

Friday night was a special moment for both even though the Red Sox lost to the Yankees, 19-8, because they both registered their first major-league hits.

While both have achieved their lifelong goal of reaching the majors, it’s been a little more difficult road for Velazquez, which made Friday night extraordinary.

Sergio Arturo Velazquez died in Los Angeles in 2001 when his son, Gil, was a 21-year-old prospect playing at the Double-A level in the Mets’ organization. Velazquez’s father was driving from work to the ball field to coach his traveling Little League team when he was shot and killed in a random act of violence.

“Nobody ever solved the crime,” said Velazquez. “It’s something that’s always going to be there for us. It was pretty hard for us. It was really hard for me the first couple of years after it happened. Now I’m recovered and I’ve bounced back, but it was hard. It’s in the past and we have good memories of him. He was a good man.”

The last few days have also been emotional ones for Velazquez and his family. But for a very different reason.

Gil was at home in Las Vegas when the Red Sox called and told him to report to instructional camp in Fort Myers due to the number of injuries to the club’s infielders. Velazquez, who was a major contributor to the PawSox’ success last summer, spent three days in Florida before his contract was purchased by the Red Sox and called up to Boston.

Because everything was happening so quickly, he didn’t have time to really think about it.

When he boarded the plane in Fort Myers for the trip to Boston, he thought about his father and began to sob in his seat.

“I started crying like a baby,” he said.

Gil Velazquez made his major-league debut against the Indians on Thursday at Fenway, but did not get an at-bat. He finally stepped into a big-league batter’s box on Friday against the Yankees in the bottom of the second inning.

In the bottom of the fourth inning Velazquez got his first hit, an RBI single. In the stands at Fenway were seven members of his family, including his mother, his wife, three brothers, his uncle and his wife. They flew in from Los Angeles to see the game.

As Velazquez stood on first base, he pointed to his family in the stands.

“It was emotional because my dad passed away a couple of years ago,” explained Velazquez as his eyes began to water. “He coached me for so many years and he wasn’t here to see it. It was a good experience, but I started to get a little emotional when I thought about my father while I was sitting in the dugout. My brothers told me they were crying after I got my base hit.”

Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi congratulated Velazquez and made sure he retrieved the ball for him as a keepsake.

“I always look at the scoreboard with some of the young kids and they don’t have averages,” Giambi said. “Maybe they’re 0-for-4 or something, so I’ll ask them if that was their first hit. If it was, I’ll get the ball. That’s a time you never forget.”

Velazquez and Kottaras won’t.

“It meant a lot for me and my family,” Velazquez said. “We all grew up as a baseball family and that’s all I remember. Having them in the stands meant a lot to me and they were jumping out of their seats.”

With his first major-league hit already in the books, the rain at Fenway became more intense, forcing a delay in the top of the fifth inning. Velazquez, his family and the Red Sox were getting a little nervous, thinking the game wouldn’t become official.

But the game resumed and both Velazquez and Kottaras had their first hits.

“It was awesome,” Velazquez said.

The Red Sox were fired up about the situation, too.

“(Friday) was a miserable night — in a lot of ways,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “But you see those two guys get their hits, and the crowd amazes me. When Gil had his first at-bat, and however many people were here, they saw the scoreboard [announcing his first major-league at-bat] and they reacted to it. I don’t know if it’s that way in a lot of other places.

“Our dugout wasn’t real energetic (Friday),” said Francona. “We were getting our butts kicked, guys are hurt, it was raining and it was just a bad night. But everybody was real excited for those two, myself included. They shouldn’t ever apologize for being excited on a night when we’re down by 12 and they get their first major-league hit. They shouldn’t have to act like they don’t enjoy it.”

Kottaras registered his first knock, a double in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“It feels like a weight off my shoulders to get it out of the way,” he said. “It was a great feeling. Gil and I gave each other a fist pump and it was exciting for both of us. Every time we get in a game it means a lot and we try to make the best of it whenever we can.”

jmcdonal@projo.com