The Red Sox didn’t need long Tuesday night to remind Miami how dangerous a game can get when Boston keeps hanging around. What started as a tight, messy fight turned into an 11-inning win, capped by Jarren Duran’s grand slam in the top of the 11th that broke a 3-3 tie and sent Boston home with a 7-3 victory at loanDepot Park.
Duran’s shot traveled 412 feet and gave him his 18th home run of the season. It also pushed the Red Sox to their fifth straight win and sealed another series victory.
The club’s social post after the game said it all in two words: “ 4 letter word,” with the celebratory graphic pointing to “Dawg.”
Boston had no business getting to that moment without Mickey Gasper, who turned in the kind of night that can change the shape of an entire game. Entering Tuesday with three homers in his first 63 games, Gasper matched nearly all of that power in one evening. He got Boston going with a 394-foot solo homer in the second inning, then answered Miami’s fifth-inning tie with another one in the sixth - this one a 418-foot drive to center.
That made it the first multi-homer game of Gasper’s major league career. He finished 2-for-2 with two homers, two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored. It was a huge lift for Boston on a night when the first three hitters in the lineup combined to go 1-for-14 with five strikeouts.
The Red Sox managed only seven hits, but Gasper made his two count. Miami erased his second homer right away when Heriberto Hernández took Payton Tolle deep in the bottom of the sixth to tie it at 2-2, and from there the game settled into a long bullpen duel.
Neither side scored again until the 10th.
Boston nudged in front when Connor Wong scored on a passed ball in the top of the inning, but the Marlins pushed right back in a chaotic bottom half. A throwing error by Andruw Monasterio let Miami’s automatic runner reach. Wilkel Olds struck out Javier Sanoja, but a wild pitch put Sanoja on first and brought Brian Navarreto home with the tying run.
A.J. Gamboa came in and stopped the bleeding, keeping the game alive for Boston.
The Red Sox opened the 11th with Wilyer Abreu as the automatic runner. Willson Contreras followed with an infield single, Jahmai Jones walked, and after Monasterio grounded into a fielder’s choice that forced Abreu at home, the bases stayed loaded with one out for Duran.
That was enough.
Connor Gibson’s pitch ended up over the wall in right-center, and Boston suddenly had the breathing room it had been chasing all night. The grand slam was Duran’s first of the season and lifted his RBI total to 66.
Gamboa then handled the bottom of the 11th without allowing a run.
Tolle didn’t get the decision, but the rookie left-hander gave Boston exactly the kind of start it needed to stay in the game. He allowed two runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings, walked two and struck out seven.
He threw 62 of his 97 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 3.09. He opened with a clean first inning that included two strikeouts, and Miami didn’t record its first hit until Xavier Edwards doubled in the fifth.
Boston’s bullpen did the rest, allowing just one unearned run over 5 2/3 innings. Erik Miller was especially sharp, striking out all three batters he faced in the ninth.
Miami finished 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.
With the win, Boston improved to 73-59, extended its streak to five straight after sweeping the San Francisco Giants, and won eight of its last nine. The Red Sox now have a chance to finish another sweep Wednesday, and Tuesday was another reminder of the formula that’s been working: unexpected pop, steady pitching and one big swing when the moment finally arrives.
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