Crawford surrenders five homers as Red Sox are swept in LA

LOS ANGELES -- It was an ambush by Jarren Duran, who belted James Paxton’s third pitch of the game over the fence in center for a two-run homer to give the Red Sox a boost they truly needed after losing the first two games of the three-game series at Dodger Stadium in agonizing fashion.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the Dodgers had a much more emphatic ambush in store, and Kutter Crawford endured the brunt of it.

The Dodgers wound up playing Home Run Derby on Sunday Night Baseball, belting six long balls -- five of them against Crawford in a 9-6 Red Sox loss. The signature moment was a jaw-dropping shot by Shohei Ohtani (116.7 mph exit velocity, projected distance of 473 feet) that nearly cleared Dodger Stadium.

“I haven't looked at the video, but that's a good hitting team,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “And I think Freddie [Freeman] kind of changed the momentum right away. We got two outs, and then the first pitch, he hits a homer. After that, they just kept going, tied the game, and they did a good job.”

It was hard to see this coming considering how brilliant Crawford was in his previous three starts, during which he went 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA.

“I just wasn't as sharp as I had been,” said Crawford. “Just left a few pitches over the middle of the plate, and they didn’t miss.”

Not only did Ohtani avoid missing, but he absolutely annihilated his 30th homer of the season, bashing Crawford’s 85.9 mph cutter.

Cora, who played seven years for the Dodgers, doesn’t remember many homers that majestic to right field at Chavez Ravine.

“Actually, I was on the lower level of the dugout, so I didn't see it. I saw the swing and then the sound -- I heard the sound,” said Cora. “And then they showed where it landed. Not too many [like that]. [The Adrian] Beltrés, the [Mike] Piazzas, from the left side, probably [Todd] Hundley if I’m not mistaken, but that’s about it.”

After surging into the All-Star break with momentum, the Red Sox lost some of it by getting swept by the Dodgers this weekend.

When the weekend started, Boston trailed in the American League East by 4 1/2 games and led Kansas City for the third Wild Card spot by two games.

Heading into the three-game series in Colorado, Cora’s club was back by 6 1/2 games in the division and trailing the Royals by a game in the Wild Card standings.

The Red Sox, who are 30-21 since May 19, vowed not to let one sweep against an elite team deflate what they’ve built.

Boston led, 1-0, with six outs to go on Friday before losing 4-1. The most painful was Saturday’s defeat, when the Sox had leads of 2-1, 4-3 and 6-4, only to lose 7-6 in 11 innings after being one strike away from winning.

“I feel like we played tough every single game,” said Duran. “A ball falls here, a ball falls there. It’s just baseball. Things just happened to fall their way. We battled all three games, even today. We were down and put up some runs late. It's just a testament to our team and how we always like to fight.”

And if anyone signifies the fight of the Red Sox, it is Duran, who followed up his All-Star Game MVP performance without a letdown in sight. Letdown? Duran wouldn’t let up.

The dynamic outfielder went 6-for-12 with three doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs in his return to Southern California. Duran grew up about 50 miles away in Corona. He has a five-game hitting streak, during which he is 12-for-21.

“Just keep going,” Cora said of Duran. “Like I always tell him, ‘I love you, kid, keep going. Keep leading us.’ He’s doing an amazing job. It feels like he's finding his groove against lefties. That's something that I saw a few years ago. He's able to drive the ball against them. He is. It’s just a matter of time. That was a good swing today. Just keep grinding, man. He’s been amazing.”

Duran will try to leave the amazement to others.

“I’m just trying to keep doing what I've been doing, and keep my head down and stay under the radar and just work hard,” said Duran. “That’s kind of my model that I carry on my shoulders, so I'm just going to just keep doing that.”