Friday's Fenway Park festivities started with a sign.
"Fire Craig. Sell the Team!"
Four hours later, the airplane was long gone, and another airborne message had taken center stage.
That was courtesy of Jarren Duran's 407-foot fly ball over the Red Sox bullpen.
The third-inning proclamation was something nobody needed an aircraft-induced missive to relay. It was, and has been, obvious. Home runs are really, really important.
The scratch-and-claw offense that had defined these 2026 Red Sox was allowed the kind of deep breath that had been lacking for much of the season. Instead of finding a way to painfully push across a run or two in the third inning, Jarren Duran unloaded on a Mike Burrows pitch to give the hosts a 3-1 lead they wouldn't surrender.
"You could feel it in the dugout, like, ‘Whew, there’s a 3-1 lead,'" said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy after his team claimed a series-opening 3-1 victory over the Astros. "I think that was the difference the first two games in Baltimore and Toronto. We played with some leads. To get that swing there, especially after we had fallen behind, everyone kind of breathed."
It was the kind of exhale that hadn't been prevalent for most of April.
The Red Sox finished off the season's first month, hitting just 17 home runs, third-fewest in Major League Baseball.
While the offense still hasn't hit multiple home runs in a game since April 3 (other than the game in Baltimore vs. position-player pitching), Duran proved that a well-timed fly ball can change a lot.
It can take pressure off the pitcher, who in this case was rookie Jake Bennett. It's impossible to quantify how taking the lead lowered the lefty's heart rate in his big league debut, but it certainly didn't hurt. Bennett would ultimately allow just one run over his five innings, dropping the ERA of pitchers making their major league debut for the Red Sox this season to 1.56.
And there was the realization that hope is not lost just because the other team scores first, as happened in this case, thanks to Carlos Correa's third-inning solo homer. Other than April 10, the Red Sox hadn't won a single game when the other club got on the board before they did.
There was also the reminder that big chunks of runs are a lot better than singular scores. This was just the 10th time this season the Red Sox have hit a home run with a runner on base (8th if you take away the two against Baltimore's Weston Wilson). The Yankees, conversely, have hit multi-run homers 22 times.
There was something else, as well.
Having the dynamic of a good Duran at the top of the batting order offered a dynamic that had been missing. The outfielder still finished the night with a .173 batting average and .511 OPS, but the one moment meant a lot. As did the new No. 3 hitter, Roman Anthony, who came away with three hits for the first time since Opening Day.
Considering the Red Sox are third-to-last in OPS from the leadoff spot, last out of the two-hole, and 20th overall in the batting order's third spot, this was a welcome change.
"I’ve always loved leading off and it kinda helps me knowing they trust me up there," Duran said. "That’s always a bonus to know they trust me up there to get the team going. I’m very appreciative."
You know who else is appreciative? An organization that is trying to desperately change a narrative that had little to do with home runs before about 8 p.m. Friday.
