“It’s the magical summer of 2026.”
That’s how Dan Secatore began the game recap here at Over The Monster after Saturday’s heart-pounding win at Fenway. But you know what? That’s becoming an increasingly appropriate way to start off every game recap around here.
Make no mistake, the Red Sox should have lost this game. They should have lost it when they gave the Marlins 14 at bats with runners in scoring position. They should have lost it when Payton Tolle ran out of gas at the end of his outing and
allowed five of the last eight men he faced to reach base (including a Heriberto Hernandez home run). And they especially should have lost it in the bottom of the tenth when Aroldis Chapman wasn’t available to close out a one run game and both Andruw Monasterio and Connor Wong made critical mistakes that forced the bottom of the bullpen to get five outs.
Wong’s mistake specifically should have ended the game. Wyatt Olds pitched his butt off and nearly got the equivalent of a four out save (I’m counting Monasterio’s throwing error to lead off the inning as one of them), but because Wong couldn’t move his butt, the ball went to the backstop and the Red Sox needed another inning to win the game.
Very, very rarely does a team recover from a play like this:
But this is the summer of the 2026, and like a law of the universe that doesn’t fully make sense, the Red Sox find inexplicable ways to win.
So of course, the Marlins go just 1-14 with the chances they had with men in scoring position. And of course, the leadoff double Payton Tolle gives up when he’s teetering gets thrown out at third on the next play. And of course the Red Sox still manage to escape the tenth inning with Alec Gamboa on the mound. And of course they immediately follow that up with Jarren Duran grand slam in the 11th after he was hitless all night.
Here’s the shot from Duran that proved to be the knockout blow:
But that wasn’t even all of the magic, because before the game ever reached extras, the Sox were getting more incredible production from an unlikely source.
Normally when you’re looking for Mickey Magic in Florida, you go to Orlando. Tonight, the Red Sox got it in Miami. Mickey Gasper went deep twice, and both to a deep part of the ballpark. Here’s the first bomb:
And here’s his second:
You know what’s crazy? Those Gasper home runs landed a little to each side of where Roman Anthony’s home run in the World Baseball Classic that proved to be the game winner against the Dominican Republic landed.
Speaking of Roman Anthony home runs, he was doing this in Worcester while all that was going on in Miami:
And while Andruw Monasterio was throwing the ball away in the tenth, Trevor Story was striking out on pitches like this:
I can’t ever remember a night where two games at the MLB and Triple-A level were working in tandem to make upcoming roster crunch decisions more and more complex. This is wild stuff. What a night, what a team, what a summer!
Three Studs
Jarren Duran: Went straight from the dud pile (being 0-4 through ten innings) to the top of the stud mountain with his game winning grand slam.
Mickey Gasper: This guy had zero career home runs in a Red Sox uniform eight days ago. He now has five.
Erik Miller: Looked outstanding again as he struck out the side in the ninth. He still hasn’t give up an earned run in the Red Sox uniform.
Bonus Stud:
Wyatt Olds: Very rarely do we hand out studs to the guy who gets tagged with a blown save, but Olds deserved better as he essentially got four outs and was kneecapped by Monasterio and Wong. Over The Monster’s own Jacob Roy will have more on Olds’s inning tomorrow, so be on the lookout for that.
Three Duds
Andruw Monasterio: 1-5 at the plate, and the nearly crippling error in the bottom of the tenth. He did recover and field the final out however. (Now we await roster decisions to see if this was his final game of the 2026 season at the major league level.)
Connor Wong: He has to get in front of that ball in the bottom of the tenth. That’s the type of play that makes me want Mickey Gasper as the backup catcher to Rutschman with Wong in Worcester.
Payton Tolle: As great as he looked early on, he was coming unglued at the end of the outing, and this is also kind of a big picture problem in the macro of the season. He’s been better on longer rest all year, so how much does he have in the tank for late September and October? Navigating his usage will be incredibly tricky over the next few weeks (and hopefully next two months).
Play of the game:
Duran’s grand slam. So nice, it’s worth seeing twice.
