Jarren Duran, Alex Cora shout out Celtics after Red Sox win

Morning Sports Update

“The environment was incredible.”

Reactions to the Red Sox victory: On a night when the newly crowned champion Celtics stopped by to show off the Larry O’Brien Trophy at Fenway Park, the Red Sox found their own magic in a 7-6 comeback victory over the Blue Jays.

Boston trailed 6-2 before the end of the eighth, but scored four decisive runs to tie the game.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jarren Duran’s single plated Ceddanne Rafaela for the winning run.

“I mean, that was my first takedown, so I should put it at the top,” Duran said after the match. “I just think it was a really good team win. We went down and fought back. We never gave up and that’s why I’m so proud of this team. We did everything right today and kept it very simple.

The Boston outfielder gave a tip of the hat to the Celtics.

“Maybe (the Celtics) got us excited a little bit before the game and we could get this win for them,” Duran said, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “Seeing them stay the whole game, and (Celtics guard Derrick White) was wearing a ‘Baseball Isn’t Boring’ jersey, so it was like, ‘Alright, that means you have to stay the whole time because that it’s not boring.’

Broadcast periodically on the big screen, the Celtics (and the trophy) drew loud applause from thousands of fans.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora praised the operations team for fully harnessing the Celtics’ energy.

“The environment was amazing,” Cora said.

“Overall, (the stadium operations team) did an incredible job using (the Celtics) to get the fans moving. Today it was noisy,” he explained. “They were locked up. They stayed until the end. I think it was a great night at Fenway. I know the boys had a lot of fun today.

“I think it’s the most they’ve been in the game and the loudest they’ve been in ’21, to be honest with you,” Cora concluded, referring to the last time the Red Sox made the playoffs of the American League Championship Series.

Anecdote: Alex Cora actually wasn’t the only future MLB manager chosen in the third round of the 1996 MLB Draft. Can you name the other one selected in this period?

(Answer at bottom).

Hint: A catcher, he was originally drafted by the Athletics, but later led another AL West team to a World Series victory. He is currently manager of the AL Central.

Scores and schedules:

The Red Sox rallied from a 6-2 deficit by scoring four runs in the bottom of the eighth, then capped off the effort with a Jarren Duran single in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays.

The two teams play again tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Fenway Park.

More information at Boston.com:

Game 7 Highlights: The Panthers avoided the embarrassment suffered by the 2004 Yankees and only a few other teams in history by winning Game 7 and not losing a 3-0 series lead on Monday. Florida earned its first Stanley Cup Final victory with a 2-1 win over the Oilers.

Triple play! The Phillies completed a triple play on Monday and, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, it was the first 1-3-5 triple play since the Tigers managed one against the Red Sox (also in Detroit) 95 years plus early, July 11. , 1929.

That day: Exactly 25 years ago, in 1999, Nomar Garciaparra and the Red Sox pranked the team prankster, sticking Pedro Martinez into a dugout pole during a 6-1 victory over the White Sox at Fenway Park.

Of course, this was an era before dugout fences, meaning a particularly unlucky foul ball could have done real damage to Boston’s eventual Cy Young Award winner. Fortunately, it remained just a memorable moment of levity, as Martinez (on his day off) went to pitch the Red Sox to a victory the next day in a 17-1 rout of Chicago.

Highlight of the day: Enjoy the Red Sox game, in the presence of the champion Celtics.

Trivial answer: AJ Hinch