MIAMI – (Wire Service Report) – Jarren Duran slugged a grand slam in the 11th inning as the Boston Red Sox defeated the host Miami Marlins 7-3 on Tuesday night.
Mickey Gasper homered twice for the Red Sox, who have won five straight games.
Gasper, waived by the Nationals in January and demoted by the Red Sox to the minors in late May, has five homers in his past eight games. Prior to that, he had no homers in 109 at-bats in the majors this season.
Boston, leading 3-2, nearly won the game in the 10th inning. Rookie reliever Wyatt Olds, pitching with two outs and runners on second and third, struck out Javier Sanoja. However, catcher Connor Wong couldn’t corral the wild pitch, and Brian Navaretto scored from third.
Boston scored in the top of the 10th inning on a cross-up passed ball.
The Marlins, who have lost two straight, were led by Heriberto Hernandez, who slugged a solo home run. It was his team-high 20th homer of the season.
Neither starter earned a decision. Boston’s Payton Tolle struck out seven and allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Miami’s Tyler Phillips lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run and tying his career high with seven strikeouts.
In fact, Phillips struck out the side in the first inning before allowing Gasper’s first homer in the second inning. Phillips didn’t throw a bad pitch — 96 mph at the bottom of the zone — but Gasper slugged it 394 feet to center.
Miami loaded the bases with one out in the fifth as Xavier Edwards doubled, Griffin Conine singled and Esteury Ruiz walked. Navarreto, Miami’s third-string catcher, then fouled off six pitches before lofting a sacrifice fly to cap a 10-pitch plate appearance, tying the score 1-1.
Both teams scored a run in the sixth as Gasper homered on a 418-foot bomb off reliever Tyler Zuber and Hernandez went deep on a 3-2 cutter from Tolle. That blast was measured at 403 feet.
Miami nearly went ahead in the seventh as pinch hitter Jakob Marsee singled and advanced on Navarreto’s sacrifice bunt, but was thrown out at home by first baseman Willson Contreras on Otto Lopez’s infield single.
–Field Level Media