Jarren Duran hit a home run and stole home plate as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Duran made it 4-2 during a double steal with Rafael Devers in the eighth inning against Jason Adam (2-1). Duran headed home after Rays catcher Ben Rortvedt tried to throw Devers out at second and slid into home plate head-first before the return throw.
“Stealing home to get us an extra run is always awesome,” Duran said.
Devers, who had homered in six consecutive games, saw his streak end. He singled in three at-bats for an 11-game hitting streak and was intentionally walked in the eighth inning, which saw Wilyer Abreu hit a tiebreaking single. It was Devers’ first stolen base this season.
“It makes me happy to help the team win,” Devers said.
By winning the first two games of the series, the Red Sox secured their first road series victory against the Rays since July 22-24, 2019. They moved back over .500 at 25-24.
Duran homered in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2. Reese McGuire added a solo home run in the ninth.
“With the new rules and everything, he’s the perfect player for this environment,” Cora said of Duran. “He can run, he can hit it out of the ballpark. He’s a good defender.” Tampa Bay has allowed a major league-leading 41 home runs at home.
