– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — The opportunity to apply an early knockout punch came to the Boston Red Sox in the third inning, and all Jarren Duran needed to do, with the bases loaded, was continue the station-to-station baseball that would lead to a big inning.
Instead, Duran brought home everybody from each station with one mighty swing, continuing his hot start to 2023.
Duran launched a grand slam to center field, part of a 3-for-4 evening, in helping the Boston Red Sox to an 8-6 victory over the Baltimore Orioles inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday evening. Corey Kluber allowed just one run and five hits over six innings to earn his first victory in a Boston uniform.
Boston was already up 3-0 on the power of a three-run second inning when the Red Sox saw their first three batters reach base in the third inning on three consecutive singles. Duran was next to try to keep the line moving, and he worked the count full on Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish before launching a line drive over the wall in center field for his first career grand slam and a 7-0 Red Sox lead.
Duran also doubled and scored a run in the second inning, and his performance tonight raised his average to a robust .387.
Baltimore found itself down 8-0 after 4 1/2 innings before going on another patented comeback, scoring a run in the fifth before plating five runs in the ninth, highlighted by a grand slam from Cedric Mullins just over the high right field wall.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s contest, with all photos taken by DC-area photographer Phillip Peters. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 24 pictures in total.
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