CINCINNATI — Manager Alex Cora said the Red Sox’ 4-3 comeback win over the Reds on Saturday is an example of why he doesn’t think his team will ever struggle for long stretches this season.
“Because we can do that on a daily basis — we can steal a game and I think athleticism-wise, we did tonight,” Cora said.
The Red Sox’ stole this one — thanks to Jarren Duran’s speed and athleticism — after being down 3-0 early.
Duran scored the go-ahead run on a daring base running play in the eighth inning. He scored from third base on Rafael Devers’ 229-foot fly ball in foul territory in left field. It was shallow but third base coach Kyle Hudson told Duran, one of the game’s fastest players, to tag up.
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Duran said he knew he was going “right away” when it was hit.
“Huddy was in my ear,” Duran said. “He was like, ‘Hey, we’re going, we’re going, we’re going, we’re going.’ So I was fully committed to going home.”
Cora said Duran likely would have tried to score even if Hudson held him.
“I bet he was going to go regardless,” Cora said. “Huddy, he has a pretty good idea of the arms and obviously the angles. And that was a perfect one to go.”
Would he have gone if Hudson had given him the red light?
“I don’t know if I should say that because Huddy might get on my (expletive) about it but yeah, I feel like we’re a good team and we can push the envelope in situations like that. So I don’t know what I would have done. But I think I might have — good thing I’ve got Huddy to listen to. But yeah, it just worked out in our favor. We were able to push the envelope and get a run there.”
Cora said it was a tough play for left fielder Stuart Fairchild because he had to run full speed to get to Devers’ fly ball, then slow down.
“And he was a little bit flat-footed. As soon as they saw him flat-footed, you’ve gotta go,” Cora said. “We’re going to take chances.”
Duran also robbed Fairchild of what would have been a game-tying homer in the ninth inning.
Fairchild crushed a 91 mph cutter from Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen. It left his bat at 100.2 mph and traveled 408 feet to center field. But Duran sprinted back to the wall and made a leaping catch.
“Running. All aspects of the game he’s fantastic,” Cora said. “He understands who he is. I think that’s the most important thing. Now he knows what he needs to do on a daily basis to perform at this level.”
