Gasper Goes Deep Twice, Duran Slams Door in 7-3 Win

Mickey Gasper hit two home runs — 394 and 418 feet — going 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored as Boston beat Miami 7-3 on August 25. Then, just when Miami clawed back to tie it in the 10th, Jarren Duran ended the conversation with a 412-foot grand slam to right center.

The story of the night was Gasper doing damage in the most efficient way possible. He needed exactly two at-bats to go deep twice, staking Boston to a 1-0 lead in the second inning and then reclaiming the advantage at 2-1 in the sixth after Miami had tied it on a Navarreto sacrifice fly in the fifth. Heriberto Hernandez answered Gasper's second shot almost immediately, going 403 feet to left to knot it at 2-2 in the same inning. Through six, this looked like a tight, well-matched ballgame — Payton Tolle and Tyler Phillips each punched out 7 batters, with Tolle going 5.1 innings allowing 2 earned runs and Phillips lasting 4.2 innings with 1 earned run.

Then the 10th inning happened, and it got messy in the best possible way for Boston. Navarreto was charged with a passed ball that allowed Wong to score, pushing Boston ahead 3-2. The sequence in the scoring data lists that play twice, which appears to be a data artifact — the score held at BOS 3, MIA 2 before Miami responded. Navarreto then scored himself when Sanoja struck out but reached first on a wild pitch by Olds, with Lopez advancing to third, tying the game at 3-3. That sequence — a strikeout that still produced a run — is exactly the kind of inning that swings a game. Miami's win probability jumped from 19% to 62% on that play. The Marlins had life. They had momentum. They had the wrong team coming up.

Duran made sure Miami's 10th-inning rally meant nothing. His 412-foot shot to right center cleared the bases, scoring Contreras, Jones, and Monasterio, turning a 3-3 tie into a 7-3 lead in one swing. Four RBI on one at-bat, one swing erasing everything Miami had built. Erik Miller followed with a perfect inning — 1.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 3 strikeouts — and Greg Weissert closed it out with another scoreless frame. Boston's bullpen looks airtight after Tolle's exit, and Gasper's two-homer, two-at-bat night appears to be the kind of performance that earns a lineup spot for a while. Final: Boston 7, Miami 3.