Verdugo hits clutch HR: 'I got a perfect pitch'

For the one last night that Fenway Park was operating at less than full capacity, Alex Verdugo once again created emotion -- both for the fans who were there and within himself -- with a game-breaking hit.

With the rain pouring down on an unseasonably dreary Friday night and the game locked in a tie, Verdugo mashed a two-out, three-run homer to right in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Red Sox a 5-2 win over the Marlins.

Despite the mucky conditions, Verdugo roared with excitement as the ball hit the roof of the bullpen, and he pounded his chest as he rounded first base.

Given the weather and the forecast for the rest of the night, the fifth inning felt more like the eighth or ninth inning, and the Red Sox knew it.

"There was no secret on how that field was kind of looking towards the end of that game," said Verdugo. "Pretty much, infielders were playing in some puddles. So we kind of knew it was just, 'Hey, keep playing, keep grinding and try to get to five innings and have that lead in the fifth inning,' which was kind of like the eighth inning in reality."

For that reason, Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought in primary setup man Adam Ottavino, who typically doesn't pitch until the seventh or eighth, for the sixth.

Having a hard time gripping the baseball, Ottavino gritted his way through the frame and got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam by striking out Isan Díaz for his second save of the season.

"It was tough. Obviously, the ball became an issue," said Red Sox bench coach Will Venable, who will manage the team Saturday while Cora attends his daughter's graduation from high school. "His grip became an issue. The rain just never stopped and I just thought he did a great job battling it. He was able to overcome some harsh conditions and did a great job for us there."

After that punchout, the tarp was rolled onto the field, play never resumed after a delay of an hour and 25 minutes and the Red Sox improved to 31-20 to stay a half-game behind the Rays in the American League East.

Martín Pérez (3-2, 3.55 ERA) pitched well for the sixth straight start, allowing two runs over five innings.

If not for Verdugo, the game could have wound up as a suspended tie.

The left-handed hitter got the curveball he was looking for from Marlins lefty Cody Poteet and hammered it at an exit velocity of 108.7 mph and a projected distance of 408 feet for his seventh homer this season.

"Honestly, I never sit pitches," said Verdugo. "I don't really ever do that. But for some reason today, I just kind of felt like he was gonna throw me a curveball or a changeup.

"That last at-bat, I had curveball in my mind, but I wasn't necessarily sitting dead red curveball. I had it in my mind, I knew he likes to throw it.

"It just was one of those things that, right out of the hand, I just had a good look at it, just saw it well out of the hand, stayed on it, didn't try to get too big, and obviously was able to hit one out and put us up."

As the rain poured down as Verdugo stepped up for that critical at-bat, he admitted that he could smell the finish line.

"We knew there was no way we were going to keep going with this game. It was getting dangerous," said Verdugo. "I think for sure, once [Hunter] Renfroe got the hit, Marwin [Gonzalez walked], my biggest goal was just, let's hit something not on the ground -- let's hit it in the air, hit it to the outfield. I got a perfect pitch to do it."