Mark Leiter Jr. gave up a leadoff walk to Jarren Duran, which went on to be his downfall. With Duran and Rafael Devers on third and first, respectively, Tyler O'Neill capitalized.
With a 2-2 count, O'Neill lifted a high single that began to fall over shallow left field. Chicago Cubs left fielder Ian Happ was playing deep, as O'Neill has a proclivity for power, but the slugger faked them out.
As the baseball plummeted toward the ground, Dansby Swanson attempted to line up with it and Duran took a lead off third base. Swanson fell to his knees to meet the ball hurtling toward the grass, and it dropped into his glove, but rolled out and onto the outfield grass.
Duran jogged into home as O'Neill raised his arms at first base. His new club ran to embrace him and he got a cold shower as thanks for walking off the Cubs while "Dirty Water" rang through Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox staved off Chicago and extra innings to come away with a 5-4 win and a series victory.
THE RED SOX WALK IT OFF IN THE NINTH 😳 pic.twitter.com/PQSiUIcKUh
— ESPN (@espn) April 29, 2024
Yet another dominant performance by Tanner Houck put Boston in the position to win. The right-hander blanked the Cubs' bats until the seventh inning, striking out nine batters in the process. Houck pitched 6.2 innings and allowed four hits and no walks — he continues to be the Sox's most consistent starter.
Connor Wong contributed two RBI on the night. He scored Devers both times to add Boston's first and second runs. But Duran brought the electricity with an easy stand-up triple that scored Rob Refsnyder and Ceddanne Rafaela in the sixth frame. The outfielder has been on a bit of a cold streak, but an extra-base hit a few RBI may put him back on track at the plate.
Red Sox, Tyler O'Neill walk off Cubs after another impressive outing by Tanner Houck
The Cubs answered Duran's energy quickly, though. A seventh-inning RBI single from Matt Mervis and a three-run bomb from Mike Tauchman in the following frame tied the game at four.
But Kenley Jansen did his job, and he collected three quick outs to allow the Sox to beat the Cubs in their half of the ninth inning.
Boston showed grit in its defeat of Chicago. Duran fought back from an 0-2 count to walk in the ninth inning and Devers managed a scrappy single to advance the speed merchant. If the Red Sox can keep up their recent pedigree at the plate, they'll only get better from here.