Jarren Duran's homer, Payton Tolle's gem power Red Sox to comeback win over Tigers

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on May 4, 2026

Published in Baseball

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As dark clouds moved in across Detroit in the sixth inning, fans were urged to take cover ahead of the incoming storms. The result was an almost apocalyptic vibe as the Boston Red Sox and Detroit Tigers raced to finish their game in what looked at a glance like an abandoned Comerica Park.

Perhaps it’s fitting that a game pulled straight out of the Twilight Zone wound up being one of the strangest wins of the season.

After falling behind in the bottom of the sixth the Red Sox rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh, flipping the game on its head in the eventual 5-4 win. Jarren Duran delivered the big blow, hitting a go-ahead three-run home run, and Payton Tolle turned in the best outing of his MLB career so far, striking out eight over seven dominant innings.

It was the first time the Red Sox overcame a deficit of more than one run to win a game this season, but the victory may have come at a cost.

Roman Anthony left Monday’s game in the second inning after suffering an apparent right hand injury during his first at bat. The 21-year-old outfielder tweaked his hand after checking his swing late, and after being checked by the trainer he completed his at bat and came out to field his position at left field in the bottom of the first.

But a few minutes later when the Red Sox came back out on defense in the bottom of the second, Anthony did not take the field and was replaced by Masataka Yoshida in left.

The club subsequently announced that Anthony was removed with “right wrist discomfort.”

Initially the Red Sox offense continued to sputter both with and without Anthony in the lineup, squandering several opportunities early despite the Tigers going with an opener for the second straight game after ace Tarik Skubal was scratched from his start and placed on the injured list earlier Monday. Boston had two men on when Wilyer Abreu struck out to end the first, and in the third the club failed to score despite getting men at second and third with nobody out.

Willson Contreras struck out for out one, Andruw Monasterio was thrown out at home on a Yoshida grounder for the second out and then Trevor Story struck out to end the threat.

While the Red Sox couldn’t get any runs across against the Tigers pitching staff, Tolle did his part to keep Detroit off the board. The rookie left-hander retired the first 12 batters he faced, and after allowing a leadoff double to Riley Greene in the fifth retired the next three men to strand the Tigers outfielder at third.

But when the rain started falling in the sixth, Tolle began having a hard time gripping the ball and things began to unravel. Tolle hit the first batter of the inning and allowed a four-pitch walk to put two on with one out, and Carlos Narvaez threw away a pickoff attempt to allow the runners to move into scoring position.

That proved costly when Matt Vierling hit a broken bat grounder to Monasterio, and the third baseman lost his balance as he rushed the throw to the plate. The ball got by Narvaez and both runners came in to score, and with severe thunderstorms seeming imminent, it felt in the moment like that could have been it.

But the game continued in the top of the seventh, and the Red Sox took advantage of their new lease on life.

With rain still falling, Narvaez drew a leadoff walk and Monasterio singled to put two men on with nobody out for Duran. The Red Sox outfielder capitalized by driving a middle-middle fastball the opposite way for a three-run home run, giving the Red Sox the lead and Duran his fourth homer of the season, as well as his third in the past four games.

Boston wasn’t finished after that. The rally continued when Yoshida hit what should have been a routine flyout to right field that Wenceel Perez lost in the lights and allowed to fall in for a double. Abreu drove him in with an RBI single and Marcelo Mayer capped things off with an RBI knock of his own to make it 5-2.

Tolle returned to finish the seventh and sent the Tigers down 1-2-3. He finished with two runs (both unearned) allowed over seven innings with one hit, one walk, one hit batsman and eight strikeouts over 83 pitches. Monday also marked the first time in his MLB career that he’s completed seven innings.

Finally in the eighth the conditions became unplayable and the game was halted, but the skies soon cleared and play resumed after a 28-minute delay. The Tigers scored twice off Garrett Whitlock in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run double by Dillon Dingler, but Whitlock stranded the tying run at second and escaped the jam, and Aroldis Chapman came on in the ninth and locked down his seventh save of the season.

The Red Sox are now 14-21 on the season and will look to take the series Tuesday.

Prior to the game the Red Sox placed left-hander Danny Coulombe on the 15-day injured list with cervical spasms. He was replaced on the active roster by rookie left-hander Alec Gamboa, and the Red Sox also transferred left-hander Patrick Sandoval to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man roster spot for Gamboa.

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