MIAMI — Jarren Duran has spent the last few weeks grinding through the roughest offensive stretch of his breakout career, dropped from the top of the lineup to the seventh spot and listening to the noise that follows a batting average stuck in the .200s. Tuesday night at loanDepot park, with the bases loaded and the game tied in the 11th inning, he made all of it disappear with one swing. Duran launched a grand slam to right-center field off Cade Gibson, turning a 3-3 tie into a 7-3 Boston Red Sox victory over the Miami Marlins and extending Boston's winning streak to five games.
The blast was Duran's 18th home run of the season and gave him four RBIs on the night — 66 for the year. More importantly, it gave the Red Sox (73-59) their fifth straight win and seventh in eight games, and it sets up a four-game series at Yankee Stadium this weekend with real American League wild-card stakes attached.
Gasper Goes Deep Twice
While Duran delivered the knockout punch, Mickey Gasper provided the early fireworks. The 30-year-old, in the lineup as the designated hitter, homered to center field in the second inning and again in the sixth — the first multi-homer game of his big-league career. Gasper finished 2-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBIs, reaching base in all four plate appearances.
Gasper's second blast briefly gave Boston a 2-1 lead, but Miami answered immediately in the bottom of the sixth when Heriberto Hernández hit his 20th home run of the season to knot the game at 2-2. From there, the two bullpens took over and the game settled into a tense, scoreless stalemate through the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
Tolle Deals, Bullpen Grinds
Rookie left-hander Payton Tolle continued his dominant August, allowing two runs on four hits over 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. Tolle, who entered the night 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA over his previous seven starts, left with the game tied — a no-decision despite another quality outing. His strikeout total now sits at 141 on the season.
Boston's bullpen did the heavy lifting to keep the game alive. Tyron Guerrero and Greg Weissert combined for 2.2 scoreless innings, and Erik Miller struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth. The Red Sox finally scratched across a run in the 10th — automatic runner Connor Wong came home on a Ceddanne Rafaela groundout — but Wyatt Olds couldn't nail it down. A wild pitch on a swinging strike three in the dirt allowed Miami's automatic runner, Brian Navarreto, to scamper home and tie the game at 3-3, saddling Olds with a blown save.
The 11th: Duran's Moment
With the automatic runner on second in the 11th, Willson Contreras singled, Jahmai Jones walked and Andruw Monasterio reached on a fielder's choice that cut down Wilyer Abreu at the plate. Bases loaded, one out, and Duran — 1-for-5 to that point — got a pitch to his liking and unloaded. The grand slam to right-center cleared the bases, and Alec Gamboa, who recorded the final out of the 10th, retired the side in the 11th to lock up his first win of the season.
It was a fitting end for a team that keeps finding late-night answers. Boston's 33 comeback victories are tied for the most in the American League, and while Tuesday wasn't technically a comeback — the Red Sox never trailed — it had the same script: grind, hang around, and let the bats finish the job. The crowd at loanDepot park was filled with Boston fans who made the trip, turning a road game into something close to a home atmosphere for the visitors.
Betting Takeaways and What's Next
For bettors, the game rewarded the chalk and the over. Boston closed around -146 on the moneyline and cashed, while the 10 combined runs sailed comfortably over the 7-run total. The bigger picture: this Red Sox team has been one of the most reliable live-betting squads in baseball all summer, consistently offering value late in games against shaky bullpens — Miami's eight-pitcher night being the latest example. Marlins starter Tyler Phillips was sharp (4.2 IP, one earned run, seven strikeouts), but the Miami relief corps couldn't hold the line in extras.
Up next is the series finale in Miami on Wednesday, followed by the real test: four games at Yankee Stadium against the team directly ahead of them in the wild-card race. New York fell 9-7 in Houston on Tuesday night, meaning Boston's deficit for the top American League Wild Card spot is down to 1.5 games. A series win in the Bronx next week would reshape the entire AL playoff picture — and with Duran finding his power stroke again, the Red Sox suddenly look like a team nobody wants to face in October.
Nathan Caldwell
Nathan Caldwell edits and writes multi-sport coverage for True Grit Sports, turning game notes, market movement, and key trends into readable context.