Jarren Duran Powers Red Sox Score 7-1 Win Over Royals
The red sox score jumped to 7-1 Tuesday night after Jarren Duran drove a three-run blast over the Royals with two outs in the ninth inning. Boston moved into Wednesday with a chance to complete a sweep and chase a third straight win.
Jarren Duran breaks open 3-1
Boston led 3-1 entering the ninth before Duran changed the game with one swing. His homer turned a tight finish into a 7-1 cushion and gave the Red Sox their first game with more than three runs in 10 games.
Duran has been productive over the last four games, going 5-for-14 with four extra-base hits. That kind of extra damage was missing during the earlier stretch, when Boston had surpassed three runs only once in its previous 10 games before Tuesday.
Willson Contreras adds pressure
Willson Contreras supplied two hits and three RBIs in the win, giving Boston another bat that kept the lineup from stalling. Over his last four games, he was 6-for-16 with seven RBIs, and two of his four hits off Michael Wacha in his career have been home runs.
The Red Sox also kept the game in hand on the mound. Connelly Early was scheduled to start Wednesday and had allowed more than three runs only once in nine starts this season, while the staff had held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in 13 of 17 games in the month.
Connelly Early faces Michael Wacha
Wednesday’s matchup paired Early with Michael Wacha, who had gone 3-1 with a 2.33 ERA in five career starts against Boston. Wacha also went 11-2 with a 3.32 ERA in 23 starts for the Red Sox in 2022, adding another layer to a series that had already tilted Boston’s way.
The Red Sox entered at 21-27, while the Royals were 20-29. Boston was 19-0 when leading after seven innings, 17-4 since April 7 when scoring at least three runs, and 5-10-1 in series play after Tuesday night’s win, with a 4-5 road mark in those series. After Wednesday’s finale, the club was off Thursday before opening a six-game homestand at Fenway on Friday against the Twins.
Boston’s lineup put Duran in left field, Masataka Yoshida at designated hitter, Wilyer Abreu in right field, Contreras at first base, Ceddanne Rafaela in center field, Nick Sogard at third base, Marcelo Mayer at second base, Ali Narváez at catcher and Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop. The Royals countered with Maikel Garcia at third, Bobby Witt Jr. at shortstop, Salvador Perez at first, Jac Caglianone in right, Kyle Isbel in center and Wacha on the mound.
