Jarren Duran made American League history in the Red Sox’s 8-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
With his 10th home run of the season – blasted a mere 433 feet at 107.5 mph with two outs in the top of the eighth – the Red Sox leadoff man became the first AL player ever to record 100 hits, 10 triples, 10 home runs, and 20 stolen bases before the All-Star break. (José Reyes became the only National Leaguer to achieve the feat, in 2008.)
It’s Duran’s 5th HR in 10 games.
“He’s a very dangerous hitter right now,” Alex Cora told reporters.
After a day off in Miami, the Red Sox got their July off on the right foot. Duran’s historic homer was one of 13 hits, eight runs, and two round-trippers Boston collected in the series opener in Miami. Every member of the lineup collected at least one hit. Connor Wong extended his hitting streak to 16 games, tying Wally Schang (1919), Carlton Fisk (1977), and Jason Varitek (2002) for the fourth-longest streak by a catcher in franchise history. Masataka Yoshida had his first three-hit game since before going on the injured list in late April, and Rafael Devers and Tyler O’Neill collected two apiece.
“For how much we like South Beach and hanging out down here, sometimes you’re worried about coming from the off-day, after hanging out yesterday, and (being) sluggish, and that wasn’t the case,” Cora said. “They put some good at-bats, they ran the bases well, and we played some good defense.”
In his five-inning Major League debut the week prior, Marlins starter Valente Bellozo shut out the Kansas City Royals, holding a potent lineup to two hits, zero walks, and two strikeouts. The right-hander, 24, wouldn’t fare so well against the Red Sox. Again, he went five innings, but this time, he got knocked around to the tune of five earned runs on seven hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts. Boston took an immediate 2-0 lead on four hits in the first. With one out, O’Neill singled, Wilyer Abreu doubled, and Devers singled to score them both.
“I think it’s good, it’s good to get us going. It’s good always to jump in front,” Ceddanne Rafaela told NESN’s Jahmai Webster of the early advantage.
But then Bellozo settled in. Beginning with a strikeout-looking to Enmanuel Valdez to strand two in the first, he struck out six of the next eight batters, including getting Abreu, Devers, and Wong swinging 1-2-3 in the third. Suddenly befuddled by a largely-unremarkable pitching arsenal, the Red Sox entered the fourth having already struck out seven times and left three men on, including Duran, who’d drawn a two-out walk and stolen his 21st base in the second.
In the fourth, the pendulum swung back in Boston’s favor. Yoshida led off with a single, and Valdez followed suit. With one out – Dom Smith popped out – Rafaela worked a seven-pitch at-bat for a towering three-run homer.
Rafaela’s first full season in the Majors got off to a cold start offensively, but he entered the contest hitting .360 with an .838 OPS over his last 20 games. The rookie maintains he hasn’t made any significant adjustments, modestly giving credit to the coaching staff for the improved outcome of his at-bats.
“They’re my guys and they’re helping me out. They’re telling me what they’re seeing and I trust them,” he told Webster.
Wong and Yoshida tacked on a pair of runs with back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the seventh, and Duran’s homer brought the game’s scoring to an end.
It was more than enough run support for a rejuvenated Kutter Crawford. Excluding 1.1 innings in last week’s stormy suspended game against the Toronto Blue Jays – which will resume when they return to Fenway at the end of August – the Red Sox right-hander hadn’t started since June 21 in Cincinnati. Extremely well-rested, Crawford was the picture of efficiency in his six innings on Tuesday, holding the Marlins to one earned run on three hits. His fastball velocity was up, his command improved; for the first time since April 26, he didn’t issue a walk. He struck out seven, his fourth consecutive start with at least that many.
“Really good. The stuff was good, he threw a lot of strikes,” Cora said. “I think the extra rest helped him out, and he looked sharp.”
Crawford was in-control and stingy with his pitch count in his first career game against the Marlins. He began with 2.2 perfect innings – including first-pitch outs to the leadoff batter in the first and second – before Nick Fortes interrupted his bid with a two-out single. In the first, he threw nine pitches, eight for strikes.
“I thought it went pretty smooth,” the righty told reporters. “Mechanically, everything was synching up and I was able to pound the zone.”
Having only thrown 52 pitches, Crawford returned to the mound for the fifth, where Jake Burger greeted him with a solo homer. The Marlins first baseman blasted a sweeper 402 feet to left-center. Crawford has been working on the pitch, trying to get it to break horizontally more consistently, but this particular sweeper didn’t really break, spinning over the plate.
It would prove to be a blip in the radar. Crawford immediately struck out the next two batters swinging, worked around a two-out single to end the inning, then got the Marlins 1-2-3 in the sixth. Though he was only at 72 pitches, his manager decided his night was over.
“We needed six today,” Cora said, adding that Crawford will start Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees in New York. “We gotta be careful. This is the first time they’ve been in this situation as far like, posting every five days and pitching deep into the games. So, we’ll be mindful. I felt like that was good enough.”
In spring training, Cora called upon Crawford, Tanner Houck, and other members of the starting rotation to take a step forward this season. Just past the halfway point in the schedule, he’s pleased with how his young rotation has answered the call.
“All of them,” the Sox skipper said. “They understand what we were trying to accomplish. I was kind of like, asking for five, and they’re going six. And I’m glad they’re going six, because the five every outing, the math doesn’t work, either.”
Zack Kelly encountered some trouble when he took over for Crawford in the seventh. Jesús Sánchez greeted him with a solo homer, and the Marlins added their third and final run on a pair of singles. But the righty reliever brought the inning to an end, and newcomer Bailey Horn, who made his big-league debut over the weekend, pitched two scoreless innings to end it.