Jarren Duran made his first MLB All-Star Game appearance Tuesday, but the bright lights of the marquee exhibition contest didn’t overwhelm the Boston Red Sox outfielder.
Instead, it immediately brought the best out of Duran.
While Duran does a ton of damage with his speed, he got to enjoy a nice trip around the bases after a blasting a fifth-inning, two-run home run to right field off Cincinnati Reds flamethrower Hunter Greene.
It was Duran’s first at-bat of the game as he replaced New York Yankees star Aaron Judge. Duran jumped all over an 86 mph splitter from Greene that stayed up in the zone and deposited it 413 feet into the right-field seats at Globe Life Field to break a 3-3 deadlock.
You can watch Duran’s All-Star Game home run, and what surely will be a memorable moment in his career, here:
The blast from Duran put an exclamation point on five consecutive runs for the American League after it fell into a 3-0 hole in the top of the third inning.
Duran, who had 10 home runs on the season coming into the Midsummer Classic, became the first Red Sox player to hit a homer at the All-Star Game since Adrian Gonzalez did so in 2011.
The round-tripper certainly will put Duran into the middle of the game’s MVP conversation.
