Alex Cora Tips Cap To Jarren Duran For ‘Setting Tone’ In Series-Clinching Win

Red Sox manager Alex Cora knows it would have been easy for his ballclub to overlook Sunday's series finale against the Kansas City Royals given where it fell in the schedule.

The Red Sox are now headed into Major League Baseball's All-Star break, after all.

But Jarren Duran immediately showed the right mindset with his lead-off knock in the first inning. Cora believes Duran's instincts, which allowed the speedster to turn a routine single into a lead-off double, set the tone in Boston's series-clinching 5-4 win at Fenway Park.

"It tells you we were ready to play today," Cora told reporters after the game, as seen on NESN. "Today is one of those days where you're thinking about your flight and all that stuff. You can shut it down and you don't post.

"And when you got a guy like that setting the tone, it’s always good."

Royals center fielder Garrett Hampson bounced his throw into second base with Duran's sliding in safe. Duran committed right out of the batter's box as he saw the infielders converge on the chopper up the middle.

"We saw it right away from the bench," Cora said. "As soon as you saw both infielders going after it, we talk about it pre-series. There are certain things we can take advantage of it, and it finally happened."

Duran, who's headed to his first MLB All-Star Game, made his 94th consecutive start Sunday. It represented the second-most by any Red Sox player since 1994, as shown on the NESN broadcast. He went 4-for-5 with three singles and the aforementioned first-inning double, later scoring on a Rafael Devers home run.

"We need him. He's one of our best players," Cora said of Duran. "If he can do it, he can do it. He hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. It's the other way around, right? He's ready every day."

The Red Sox will need much of the same for Duran after the MLB All-Star break. Boston starts the unofficial second half of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.