Jarren Duran talks after his suspension
Kenley Jansen looked around the Red Sox clubhouse just more than three hours before Monday night's game against the Rangers, spread his arms out and yelled to whoever wanted to listen.
"Why is it like a morgue in hear?! Where is the music?"
The veteran closer knew the reason for the walking-on-eggshells environment. Everyone in and around that dressing room was keeping one one eye on the usual pregame routines, and another on the potential fallout of Jarren Duran's homophobic slur-induced two-game suspension.
Duran had already talked to a much larger-than-normal media contingent, with team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow addressing the incident a few moments later. And to top things off, the reality was that if the Sox went out and lost a fourth straight game they could very well be walking out of this clubhouse four games in back of Kansas City for the final wild card.
All of it felt like this has become the moment this team finally hit the iceberg.
Little did the Red Sox realize but one of the chief participants in getting this club on course was a 28-year-old from Merrimac, N.H. who had never stepped foot on the Fenway Park field - a place he had visited more times to count - before about 4:30 p.m.
Six hours later, the latest feel-good story for the 2024 Red Sox, Mickey Gasper, drew a clutch, two-out, 10th-inning walk to load the bases, paving the way for Rob Refnsyder's walk-off hit. The Red Sox had a 5-4 win, and were right back in the thick of things thanks to the Royals' loss to Minnesota.
Between the beer shower for Gasper and the blaring music, no further proclamations from Jansen were needed.
"We're playing with kids in the middle of ... trying to make the playoffs," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "You look around and you're like, 'Wow, this is really happening here.' They're enjoying the moment. (Refnsyder) talked to them today. Kind of like, 'Hey, if this is going to happen you guys have to push the envelope. Start playing fast again and enjoy up there. Obviously, it's not that they're feeling the pressure but it's not easy. That was a good one today."
Ultimately, all of it was the perfect combination at the perfect time.
You had the veterans of the group - Jansen and Refnsyder - offering their doses of calming reality, with just enough of wide-eyed naivety from MLB newbies such as Gasper and newly-promoted pitcher Chase Shugart to help this all-too-familiar feel-good narrative trucking along.
There were others who helped the Red Sox forget their problems.
Pitching with his new dad strength, Brayan Bello turned in one of the more clutch starts of the season, allowing just one run over six innings.
Pinch-hitting in the 10th, Enmanuel Valdez delivered the game-tying double to lead off the final frame.
And another newbie, Eric Sogard, continued to show he belongs by collecting a pair of hits, including a single that kept the 10th-inning line moving after Valdez's gap shot.
All of it was wrapped up in a perfect inspirational package - with the pregame image of Gasper sitting in the dugout staring out on to the Fenway field while fighting back the understandable emotions helping paint the picture.
By the time 11 p.m. rolled around, Kenley and Co. didn't have to worry about finding the emotion or the music. It was a morgue no longer.
The Red Sox had found a way to move on, this time doing so with a somewhat unexpected skip in their step.
"I wouldn't change a step in the journey because it has brought me here," Gasper told WEEI.com during his pregame reflection.
From the rookie's mouth to his new team's ears.