Extra-inning HRs keep road Sox surging after pesky Tigers claw back

DETROIT -- A late night of travel got the Red Sox into Detroit around 2 a.m. on Friday.

Road weary? More like road happy.

Back in their comfort zone -- wearing their travel greys -- the Sox rolled early, then hung on for dear life, but ultimately came through with a 7-5 victory in 10 innings over the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Even a blown save by Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the ninth -- completing the disappearance of a 4-0 lead -- couldn’t deflate Boston.

Jansen picked himself up by striking out the dangerous Riley Greene with the potential walk-off run on third with two outs in the ninth, creating the chance for his team to steal back the momentum in extras.

The recently-slumping Ceddanne Rafaela took Jansen off the hook when he belted a two-run homer to left with one out in the 10th against righty reliever Shelby Miller. Jarren Duran followed by tearing into one with a solo homer to right to give the Red Sox a three-run cushion.

“I feel we've had a lot of situations like that this year where we get punched in the mouth and then we punch right back,” Duran said. “It's just something we have in our back pocket that we're able to pull out. And we have such a young group and a competitive group.

“I feel like we never make any situation too big, and we're just out there having fun.”

Rafaela’s night hadn’t been much fun by the time he stepped to the plate in extras sitting on an 0-for-3. Even after he got ahead in the count, 2-0, Miller powered two fastballs by him.

While it seemed like Rafaela’s 125th strikeout of the season might be coming, he instead barreled up a 2-2 fastball that was high and out of the strike zone, and smashed it a Statcast-projected 398 feet over the wall for the 14th homer of his rookie season.

“The kid, he wasn't having a good night offensively, and he swung at two fastballs that had a lot of hop,” manager Alex Cora said. “He sold out [on the next] one and got it.”

For Rafaela, the go-ahead, two-run homer was reminiscent of a Friday night earlier in the season. That was July 5 at Yankee Stadium when he powered his team to a 5-3 win.

“As a player, you like those moments,” Rafaela said. “You like those moments to come to you, to try to keep it simple and do my best to help the team. Don’t overthink. Don’t think the moment is too big that you can’t fail in that moment.

“Just do what you do every day and it’s the same baseball.”

However, there’s just something different about baseball on the road for the Red Sox, where they are 39-27, a mark topped only by the Yankees so far this season.

At Fenway, the Sox are 31-38, something the club hopes won’t cost it a playoff spot.

For Boston’s 2024 edition, there’s no better way to shake off another tough homestand (2-6) than to get back on the road.

This, even after the aforementioned late night of travel.

“I'm glad you mentioned it,” Cora said. “We got here at 2 in the morning, it was humid, it was hot and we gave up the lead in the ninth. They had the big rally in the eighth, but we were able to get the 'W.'"

Perhaps Cora deserves some credit for keeping his players fresh enough to withstand the bumpy ride that was Friday night. For the fourth straight day, he instructed his players to show up to the ballpark late and skip outdoor batting practice.

“That was a tough travel night. Got in pretty late,” said Chris Martin, who also picked up Jansen by picking up the save in the 10th. “AC had a little show and go, let the guys get some rest, and we were able to come in here and mentally get ready for a ballgame.”

Duran has played a big role in lifting the Red Sox in situations like Friday. His leadoff double to start the game led to a run in the first and he added his American League-leading 44th two-bagger to spark another run-scoring opportunity in the third.

Duran has started 133 of Boston’s 135 games this season. What is his secret to staying fresh?

“A lot of sleeping, a lot of naps and eating as much as I can has been my go-to,” Duran said.