The Boston Red Sox found themselves in a bit of a pickle after carrying a 4-3 lead into the ninth inning of Friday night's matchup against the Detroit Tigers, but one swing of the bat from All-Star outfielder Jarren Duran provided the team's dugout with a collective sigh of relief en route to a needed 7-5 win at Comerica Park.
"Jarren hitting the homer gave us real breathing room," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "... Sometimes we're like, 'Man, we should've been this and that,' but a W's a W. We got here at 2:00 in the morning, it was humid, it was out. It was a tough one. We gave up the lead in the ninth, they had the big rally in the eighth but we were able to get the W."
Duran stepped up to the plate following a clutch two-run round-tripper from rookie Ceddanne Rafaela to give Boston a go-ahead 6-4 lead in the top half of the 10th inning. Not feeling content with the two-run lead by itself, Duran followed up Rafaela's heroics with a (solo) home run of his own, against Detroit relief pitcher Tyler Holton. Duran walked off the field with the MLB lead in leadoff extra-base hits (20) and tied -- with Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm -- for the lead in doubles (44). The performance only reinvigorated everything Cora has felt about Duran throughout 2024.
"Like I've been saying all along, you better get here early because something good is gonna happen," Cora emphasized, per NESN's postgame coverage. "He hits the ball right away (in the first inning), hits the double. ... Right now Jarren gets us going. It's fun to watch."
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The snap-of-a-finger energy Duran's delivered since the start of the season continues to pay its dividends, now at the most critical stretch of the season for the Red Sox. Since the Minnesota Twins, who Boston trails for the third and final wild card spot in the American League, also won on Friday night, the Red Sox remain three games behind. Either way, Duran and the team don't intend on letting the pressure overtake their style of play for however long the Red Sox take the field in 2024.
"We're just having fun," Duran told reporters, per NESN's postgame coverage. "It may look like we do good on the road for some reason but I think it's just us playing baseball, you know. It just happens."
