Duran goes 4 for 4 with tiebreaking homer in 8th to lift Red Sox over Astros 6-5

HOUSTON (AP) — Jarren Duran went 4 for 4, capped by a tiebreaking homer with two outs in the eighth inning that sent the Boston Red Sox to a 6-5 win over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

The game was tied at 5 when Duran drove a fastball from Caleb Ort (1-1) over the wall in left-center, matching his season high for hits. He also walked once and scored three times.

“He’s so dynamic. He’s so good,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “He’s becoming one of those guys that I bet people would pay to watch. You want to see it and you better get here early because from the very first pitch on he’s going to do something special. And I’m glad he’s our leadoff guy.”

Duran has hit safely in 26 of his last 30 games and is batting .343 with a 1.035 OPS and 23 extra-base hits to go with 23 RBIs during that stretch.

He said it felt good to beat the Astros after they swept a three-game series in Boston this month.

“They’ve been beating us up pretty often and it’s nice for us to be able to fight back and show them that we can compete with them, even though they’ve got a really good team over there,” Duran said.

Triston Casas, who had two hits and three RBIs, put Boston up 3-0 in the first inning with a two-run homer. Casas is 7 for 20 since coming off the injured list Friday after missing 98 games with a left rib strain.

Jon Singleton hit a two-run homer to tie it in the bottom half and Yainer Diaz homered for a third straight game with his shot to left-center that tied it at 5 in the fifth.

But the AL West-leading Astros went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position as they lost for just the second time in 13 games.

Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta permitted six hits and five runs in five innings. Zack Kelly (5-2) pitched a perfect seventh for the win and Kenley Jansen threw a scoreless ninth for his 24th save.

Houston’s Ronel Blanco also allowed six hits and five runs but lasted just 3 2/3 innings.

“It’s a tough lineup, but I thought he battled. He kept us in the game,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “And our bullpen did a tremendous job, really good job just keeping us in the game. We just couldn’t get a big hit there at the end.”

Duran led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Wilyer Abreu doubled to make it 1-0, and Casas followed with his homer to right field.

Jose Altuve singled in the bottom of the inning and stole second and third. Yordan Alvarez walked before Altuve scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Peña with one out.

Singleton then smacked his home run to right field to tie it at 3.

Jake Meyers walked to start the Houston second and moved to third on a double by Shay Whitcomb. Chas McCormick’s sacrifice fly put the Astros on top 4-3.

David Hamilton walked to open the fourth and stole second before moving to third on a flyout. Duran’s RBI single tied it before a two-out single by Casas gave Boston a 5-4 lead.

Meyers robbed Tyler O’Neill of a home run with a leaping catch at the center-field wall in the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: RHP Justin Slaten (elbow inflammation) will begin a rehabilitation assignment Friday at Triple-A Worcester or Double-A Portland. … Boston released 1B Dominic Smith after he was designated for assignment Friday when Casas came off the injured list.

Houston RHP Justin Verlander (3-2, 3.95 ERA) comes off the injured list for his first start since June 9 in the series finale Wednesday. RHP Cooper Criswell (5-4, 4.56) will start for Boston.

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