Duran's grand slam beats Marlins in the 11th
Jarren Duran's 11th-inning grand slam salvaged a 7-3 win over the Marlins on August 25, Boston's fifth straight win and enough to keep the Red Sox clear of the AL Wild Card cutoff.
Duran erases Olds' blown lead in the 11th
Marlins4-2Marlins7-3Boston beat Miami 4-2 on August 24 and then needed extra innings to close out the set, winning 7-3 on August 25 after Wyatt Olds let a lead slip late, per Barstool Bush's own coverage of the game, headlined "Jarren Duran's 11th-Inning Slam Saves Red Sox After Olds Meltdown." Connor Wong scored the go-ahead run in the 10th after the home-plate umpire took a cutter off the mask, per Foul Territory TV, and Mickey Gasper — who finished 2-for-2 with two home runs and two RBI — put Boston back in front with his second homer of the game, per TalkinBaseball_. Miami answered again before Jarren Duran (1-for-5, HR, 4 RBI) put it away for good with a grand slam in the 11th.
The two wins in Miami extended Boston's winning streak to five games — 5-0 in the last five — and kept the Red Sox 6.5 games clear of missing the final AL Wild Card spot, with an elimination number of 26. They did it without Adley Rutschman behind the plate; interim manager Chad Tracy sat him Tuesday against Miami with right elbow irritation, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reported.
Barstool can't stop replaying Duran's slam
Barstool's accounts spent the night on it. @StoolBaseball flagged the danger first with "Oh no Red Sox" as Miami threatened to answer, then posted the blast itself minutes later; @barstoolsports called it "the swing of the season" and wrote separately, "Grand Slam Jarren Duran. Just what the Red Sox needed," and @stoolgambling posted the moment as "Jarren Duran grand slam in the 11th."
@StoolBaseball also framed the run in bigger terms, writing "From Laughingstock to Legit Contenders: Red Sox Magic Rolls On Thanks To Jarren Duran's Extra Innings Grand Slam," crediting Mike Mutnansky's line on the club's turnaround.
Upcoming
The Red Sox are in Miami tonight, with Sonny Gray (16-3, 2.79 ERA) on the mound after allowing four earned runs over six innings against the Giants on August 21. Miami counters with Ryan Gusto (0-3, 4.37 ERA), who threw four scoreless innings against Washington in his last start on August 21 but got no decision.
The market favors Boston, and the total points to a low-scoring game — a reasonable read given Gray's ledger and a Marlins lineup that has now dropped two straight at home to the Red Sox. If Gusto pitches the way he did against Washington, Miami's price is the more interesting side; if Boston's bats carry over from last night, the total is the number that gets tested.