BOSTON — Jarren Duran hit one back up the middle into center field to lead off the bottom of the first inning. It looked like a routine single but Duran turned on the jets and sprinted to second base.
Center fielder Garrett Hampson rushed (and bounced) his throw to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. covering second. The ball popped out of Witt’s glove and Duran slid safely headfirst into second for a hustle double.
Duran went 4-for-5, his third four-hit game this season. The Red Sox won 5-4 over the Royals at Fenway Park to enter the All-Star break with a 53-42 record.
“I committed like right out of the box,” Duran said. “Because I knew it was like a chopper. It was going to slow down by the time it got to the grass. And yeah, I was just committed the whole way. So I knew coming out of the box I was going to take two.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said it was important for the team for Duran to show that hustle right away.
“It tells you we were ready to play today,” Cora said. “Today’s one of those days that you’re thinking about your flight (home) and all that and you can shut it down and you don’t post. And when you’ve got a guy like that setting the tone, it’s always good.”
It was the leadoff hitter’s 27th double, which leads the American League and ranks third in MLB.
“We saw it right away from the bench,” Cora said. “As soon as you saw the both infielders going after it. We talk about it pre-series that there are certain things that they do great and there’s certain things we can take advantage of. And it finally happened.”
Duran — who is headed to the All-Star Game in Texas — scored with two outs on Rafael Devers’ two-run blast to right field that left his bat at 114.7 mph and broke a seat.
Duran started all 95 games the Red Sox played during the first half. He batted .284 with a .342 on-base percentage, .477 slugging percentage, .819 OPS, 10 homers, 10 triples, 27 doubles, 62 runs, 41 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, 34 walks and 98 strikeouts in 95 games (398 plate appearances).
“It’s not a challenge actually. We need him,” Cora said about Duran playing every game. “He’s one of our best players. And if he can do it, he can do it. He hasn’t showed any signs of kind of like slowing it down. It’s the other way around. He’s ready every day. People here with the training staff and the strength and conditioning coaches, they made some adjustments with his work and so far, so good.”
