It was the play that Jarren Duran would love to have back, and one that helped shape the night in The Bronx as the Yankees evened the American League Wild Card Series with the Red Sox on Wednesday with a 4-3 win.
Duran, playing left field for Boston, said he was playing too far back when positioning himself to defend against a possible hit by Aaron Judge in the bottom of the fifth inning with the Red Sox and Yankees tied at 2-2.
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Try it freeThe Yankees slugger hit a short liner to left, forcing Duran to charge in to make the diving play, nearly making the catch, only to have the ball hit off his mitt and allow Trent Grisham to score to put the Bombers up 3-2.
“I was just playing pretty deep on Judge, and as I was coming in, I thought it was hit a little harder than it was, and then I kind of gained more ground than I thought,” Duran told reporters. “I didn’t really have to go into a full dive there and kind of just pushed the ball on myself a little more. Kind of got really up on me. It’s on me.”
The Red Sox, however, did tie the game a half inning later when Trevor Story hit a solo home run during the first at-bat in the top half of the sixth inning.
The Yankees went on to win thanks to an eighth-inning single by Austin Wells, and Duran was left imagining what could have been if he had made the fifth-inning grab.
“This one is going to sting a little bit,” he said. “I know that game is 100 percent on me. If I make that play, Trevor hits the homer, we take the lead. But I messed it up. I gave them momentum, and then things just happened from there. But that one’s on me. I’m going to have to wear that one.”
The Yankees’ win on Wednesday night set up a winner-take-all Thursday night showdown to determine who will advance to face the Blue Jays in the ALDS.