Red Sox recap: Jarren Duran paces offense with 6th triple as the bullpen shuts down the Mets in 3-1 victory

No Alex Cora, no problem. The Red Sox were able to defeat the Mets with bench coach Ramon Vázquez filling in for Cora, who was away from the team to watch his daughter graduate from Boston College.

Vázquez held down the fort, earning a 3-1 win in his managerial debut thanks to the Sox’ bullpen and strong defense.

The Sox jumped out to a lead early, scoring two runs in the first inning off Mets ace Kodai Senga, who had allowed just five earned runs in 44 1/3 innings over his first eight starts this season.

In the bottom of the first inning, Jarren Duran ignited the offense with a double, followed by an RBI groundout to second base by Alex Bregman (1-for-3).

Trevor Story would add an RBI single to put Boston up 2-0 before adding another run in the second on Duran’s sixth triple of the season, laced down the right field line, scoring Carlos Narváez.

“Hell of a job by the guys; it was a whole team effort,” said Vázquez. “Scoring early, I think, was huge, very important for the team, for Hunter going out there, well-played game all around.”

Duran (2-for-4) recorded his team-leading 17th multi-hit game, as well as the fifth in his last nine games played. He is now batting .342 with a .954 OPS in his last nine games and has 20 triples since the start of the 2024 season.

WINDY CONDITIONS

The unfavorable weather conditions aided the Sox in keeping Mets' Pete Alonso at the ballpark. With the wind howling 15 mph from left field, Alonso crushed a ball that would have landed on Lansdowne Street on any other day, but instead the wind kept it low enough to bang off the top of the Green Monster. Duran threw Alonso out at second to end the inning after initially ruling him safe.

“The wind and the Monster kind of helped me out on that one,” Dobbins said.

“When I saw that ball didn’t get out, I was like it’s going to be a crazy day in the infield and outfield with the fly balls,” Vazquez said. “It’s a tough environment when it’s like that.”

Juan Soto faced a similar situation, poised to circle the bases for a leadoff homer, but the ball struck the wall, forcing him to settle for a single in the sixth inning.

The wind did help the Mets in the third inning when Francisco Alvarez hit a liner to right field that should have been an effortless catch for Wilyer Abreu. Instead, the ball sailed over the Gold Glover’s head for a double, and then Alvarez came around to score two batters later on an RBI single from Tyrone Taylor.

DOBBINS WAS JUST OK, BULLPEN WAS GREAT

Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins sailed through the first two innings, making a handful of big pitches, including getting Soto to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the third inning. Dobbins also struck out Taylor looking with runners at the corners and one out in the fifth.

Dobbins struggled to miss bats during his outing, striking out just one batter and getting only two swings and misses. Vázquez removed Dobbins in the fifth inning to avoid facing Francisco Lindor and opted to bring left-hander Justin Wilson out of the bullpen.

Wilson inherited runners on the corners with two outs and would strike out Francisco Lindor swinging on a slider to finish off a 10-pitch at-bat. The southpaw pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up one hit with one walk and one strikeout and earning his second win of the season.

“It’s a tough situation, and he came through,” Vazquez said of Wilson. “He battled with one of the best in the game, and he came through for us.”

Wilson got a key double play to end a threat in the sixth inning, and Weissert allowed a walk and single to open the seventh but helped his cause with two quick strikeouts. Slaten forced Lindor to ground out to end the threat before pitching a scoreless eighth inning. 

He has now provided the Sox with six scoreless innings over his last five appearances, following five earned runs allowed in his first two outings of May. Aroldis Chapman closed the door in the ninth, inducing a double play to end the game, and he picked up his seventh save of the year.

Wilson, Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten, and Chapman combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings, combining to allow three hits and two walks while striking out five.

“We picked each other up; that’s our goal every time out there,” Wilson said. “I think anytime you go out there and the bullpen doesn’t surrender a run, especially with traffic on the bases, it’s great.”

BACK TO BEING BENCH COACH

After the game, the Red Sox celebrated Vázquez’s managerial victory by toasting the coach with a cold beer shower.

“There were some big cheers when he came into the clubhouse for the high-five line postgame,” Wilson said.

Vazquez called Monday a special night and said he’s excited to return to his normal role on Tuesday as bench coach.

“I’m officially retired as a manager,” Vazquez joked afterwards. “It’s exciting and thank God it happened for me.”

The Red Sox and Mets will play the second game of their three-game series on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. Mets righty Clay Holmes (5-2, 3.14 ERA) will be opposed by returning Red Sox right-hander Walker Buehler, who is expected to return from the injured list (right shoulder bursitis).