It’s not like the Red Sox exited their 5-4 win over the Tigers completely carefree.
The fact that their lineup’s centerpiece, Roman Anthony, is heading back to Boston for tests on the outfielder’s right wrist after an awkward first-inning swing made sure the club’s early-season anxieties weren’t cut into too much.
"There’s nothing swollen, really, like visible on the outside," Anthony told reporters in Detroit. "But again, I don't know much about the hand. I've never dealt with a hand anything. So again, I’ll leave that up to the hand specialist to see what he's got."
"I think the whole point is to get him back with our specialist to see him and see how he is, and if everything's good, we'll get him back here, but we’ve got to get him back there first," interim manager Chad Tracy relayed to reporters. "I'm hopeful, but it’s really hard to say until he sees the specialist."
But as the Comerica Park fans scurried for shelter to avoid an incoming storm in the seventh inning, the clouds parted for the Red Sox and some semblance of optimism showed itself.
By game's end, the sting of Anthony boarding a plane back to Boston was tempered by the feel-good outing of Payton Tolle, who was greeted with a celebratory shower of beer and other items for claiming his first major-league win.
"Not sure what was in that concoction," Tolle told MLB.com and others after dominating the Tigers to the tune of one hit over seven innings. He added, "It took long enough [to get the win]. I’m excited about it. I was really looking forward to this. I’m kind of proud of it right now. It was a good day."
And then there was Jarren Duran.
The outfielder who weathered one of the worst months of his career in April has seemingly rediscovered his swing and his swagger. This time it came in the form of a three-hit night, which included his second three-run home run in the last four games.
It was that 381-foot blast to left field that truly changed everything for the Red Sox, flipping the narrative of what was trending toward another punchless loss. The fly ball was the first opposite-field home run for the Red Sox since April 1, and continued a positive trend for Duran since he was moved back to the top of the batting order.
Since May 1, Duran has gone 7-for-18 with three homers for a 1.310 OPS, hitting the ball in the air 72 percent of the time.
Since 2024, when Duran has two or more hits, the Red Sox are 57-37. When he homers at least once, his club is 28-13.
Then there was just the feel of what Duran has been delivering. With two runners on in the seventh inning Monday and the Red Sox staring at a 2-0 deficit, there weren't a lot of other players in that lineup Chad Tracy would rather have at the plate. Sure enough, the outfielder paved the way to the rarest of rare five-run frames.
As good as the pitching was on Friday and Monday nights, the fact remains the same: The Red Sox most likely don't win either game without this version of Duran.
"The big hit came, the big hit that we needed. And then a whole bunch more came after it. So, just a really good win," Tracy told MLB.com. "We had more missed opportunities early and kind of said, ‘Hey, keep getting them on there. Somebody's gonna pop one.’ And we did. So it was a big swing by Jarren."
