Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran continuously makes an impact with his speed on the basepaths.
But Duran hasn’t had to use his speed as much lately due to his power surge at the plate.
Duran belted his third home run in as many games Tuesday night in an 8-3 Red Sox win over the lowly Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. It was also the sixth homer for Duran in the last 10 games.
The round-tripper accounted for the 10th home run and 100th hit of the season for 27-year-old, who became the first player ever in the American League to reach those benchmarks along with 10 triples and 20 stolen bases before the All-Star break, according to Red Sox senior manager of media relations and baseball information J.P. Long.
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“Just putting a good swing on the ball. I’m not trying to do anything different. Just trying to get on base and cause havoc,” Duran told reporters, per NESN postgame coverage. “I’m just putting a good swing on the ball and happens to go out. As you can tell, I’m sprinting around first base hoping it goes off the wall or something.”
Duran, who also had his 21st steal of the season in the game, didn’t have to book it out of the batter’s box on his eighth-inning tank shot against Marlins relief pitcher JT Chargois. He could have admired to solo homer it if he wanted to since it was a no-doubter as he launched it 433 feet to right-center field.
The power certainly is there for Duran this season as he showcases another tool to go along with his speed and improved fielding. Red Sox manager Alex Cora sees a different approach at the plate from Duran than in years past and it’s allowing the ball to fly out of the park more than any other time in Duran’s career — he never hit more than eight homers in a single campaign prior to this season.
“He’s not trying to hit homers. I think he’s just trying to hit the ball hard to left-center and then able to catch it out front,” Cora told reporters, per NESN postgame coverage. “I think that’s the difference between Jarren now and the Jarren in 2020, 2021. In those three years, he was a show in BP, just hitting the ball in the air to pull side.
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“Now, he has learned how to handle the at-bat, how to hit the ball hard and be on time. He’s a very dangerous hitter right now.”
Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Marlins game:
— Weather stopped Kutter Crawford after an inning into his last start, making him well-rested and ready to go against the Marlins. He turned in a strong outing, allowing just three hits and one run with no walks and seven strikeouts. With the game in hand, Cora took Crawford out after six innings even though the righty had thrown only 72 pitches.
“We kind of looked at that one as a de-load start and then having an extra day with the two off days, I felt good going into this one,” Crawford told reporters, per NESN postgame coverage. “Mechanically everything was syncing up and I was able to pound the zone.”
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— Connor Wong extended his hitting streak to 16 games with an infield single in the seventh inning. Wong, who is batting .324 on the season, is tied for the fourth-longest hitting streak for a catcher in franchise history with Jason Varitek and Carlton Fisk, per to Long.
— Masataka Yoshida paced the offensive showing from the Red Sox with a team-high three hits. He’s batting just .236 since returning from the injured list due to a thumb injury, but seems to be finding his swing with three multi-hit games in the last six contests.
“I think people get caught up in the (slugging percentage) and hitting the ball in the air,” Cora said. “This guy, he’s a quote-unquote professional hitter. We know that he can hit. I think he’s getting his rhythm back and that’s very important.”
— The Red Sox had everyone contribute to win offensively as each member of Boston’s lineup collected at least one hit. The Red Sox finished with 13 hits in the game.
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— An off day in Miami didn’t stop the Red Sox from winning on the road. The Red Sox are now 7-1 in their last eight games away from Fenway Park and have one of the better road records in baseball at 25-16.
— The Red Sox and Marlins continue their three-game, interleague series Wednesday from loanDepot Park. Boston will send a rested Brayan Bello to the mound with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. You can catch complete coverage of the game on NESN.
