Jovani Moran is probably sick of seeing Alex Verdugo at this point.
When the Minnesota Twins reliever last faced Verdugo back on April 18, the Red Sox outfielder got ahold of an 84 mph changeup and barely kept it fair down the right field line for a walk-off single.
Facing off once more Monday with two outs and the bases loaded in a 3-3 game, Moran got ahead 0-2 before Verdugo took him down the right field line again for what wound up being the game-winning three-run triple. Verdugo tacked on a fourth RBI later to lead the Red Sox to a decisive 9-3 win.
The Red Sox (38-35) have won five straight and now stand only 1.5 games behind the idle New York Yankees for the final American League Wild Card spot.
With Twins righty Pablo Lopez on the mound the Red Sox loaded up on lefties at the top of the order and had Jarren Duran leading off ahead of Verdugo. Duran, who went through an extended slump following his hot start, has gotten back on track and came into Monday batting .400 over his prior nine games.
When he’s on Duran can be a game-breaking talent, and those skills were on full display Monday as he went 3 for 3 with three doubles, all of which came on broken bat hits and none of which even made it to the outfield wall.
The second of Duran’s doubles helped the Red Sox load the bases with one out in the third, which was followed shortly after by an Adam Duvall walk to score the game’s first run. The third was a two-run liner in the fourth to make it 3-0, capitalizing on a Twins defensive miscue to put runners at second and third.
Duran wound up not getting a fourth at bat, with Cora lifting him in favor of the right-handed Rob Refsnyder after Lopez came out of the game in the sixth, but the Red Sox offense kept rolling anyway. With the game tied 3-3 after former Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez hit a three-run home run in the fifth, Refsnyder walked to load the bases again, setting the stage for Verdugo’s big two-out triple to give Boston the lead for good.
James Paxton enjoyed another strong outing, allowing three runs over 6.1 innings while striking out seven. His lone hiccup came in the fifth, when he allowed a single to Willi Castro, hit Kyle Farmer with a pitch and then served up the home run to Vazquez, his first homer of the season.
He also benefitted from another standout defensive performance by the Red Sox, with Rafael Devers delivering the highlight with an outstanding barehanded play at third to nail Carlos Correa and end the sixth.
Paxton improves to 3-1 on the season and his ERA now stands at 3.29.
Triston Casas gave the Red Sox some breathing room late with a two-run home run in the seventh. The rookie finished 2 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBI, and he is now batting .302 over his last 12 games, during which he’s raised his season average from .191 to .215.
Verdugo wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single in the eighth, and Josh Winckowski and Justin Garza combined for 2.2 scoreless innings of relief to lock down Cora’s 400th career win as Red Sox manager.
The Red Sox and Twins will be back in action Tuesday. Kutter Crawford (1-3, 4.20 ERA) is slated to take the mound against Minnesota’s Bailey Ober (4-3, 2.65), first pitch is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET.
