Jarren Duran scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning and robbed a potential game-tying home run in the ninth as the visiting Boston Red Sox rallied past the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 on Saturday.
The Red Sox trailed 3-2 after seven innings but tied the score on Rob Refsnyder’s RBI single in the eighth. Boston took a 4-3 lead later in the inning when Rafael Devers plated Duran with a sacrifice fly. Both runs were scored against Cincinnati reliever Justin Wilson (1-1).
In the bottom of the ninth, Duran leapt at the wall in center field to snag a deep drive off the bat of Stuart Fairchild for the second out. Duran also tallied two singles to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz each homered for the Reds off of Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta.
Steer opened the scoring by hitting a two-run home run in the first inning. It was his ninth home run of the season and came one batter after Jeimer Candelario reached base on an infield single.
De La Cruz extended Cincinnati’s lead to 3-0 in the third when he hit his 13th home run. The Reds have hit five home runs in the first two games of the three-game series.
De La Cruz had three of Cincinnati’s 11 hits. TJ Friedl, Jonathan India and Jake Fraley each had two hits in the loss.
Zack Kelly (2-1) earned the win after recording the final out in the seventh. Kenley Jansen gave up a single in a scoreless ninth to record his 14th save.
Dominic Smith hit his third homer run for Boston. It came in the fifth inning and sliced Cincinnati’s lead to 3-1.
The Red Sox pulled within a run in the sixth when Connor Wong’s RBI double drove in Wilyer Abreu to make it 3-2. Abreu (ankle) was activated from the 10-day injured list before the game on Saturday and went 1-for-3. Wong’s double extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
–Field Level Media
