Red Sox Notes: Boston Shows Growth In Gutsy Win

The Red Sox probably don’t win that game in 2023… or 2022 for that matter.

Miami, despite all of its flaws, made it nearly impossible for Boston to complete a series sweep at loanDepot Park on Thursday — battling back to tie what looked like it would become an easy win in the late innings.

Alex Cora’s club didn’t blink, though, continuing to fight and pulling out an extra-innings nail-biter.

“We never stopped playing,” Cora said Thursday, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “That was the cool part of it.”

Jarren Duran made plays with his arm and legs. Tyler O’Neill collected hits. Connor Wong, Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder came off the bench and sparked a rally.

It was a great example of the growth the Red Sox have shown this season.

“We can do a lot of stuff,” Cora said. “We almost stole this game in nine innings, with (David Hamilton) stealing third base twice and us putting the ball in play… It was a grinder, but a good one. It’s not that we played sloppy; they just played hard, too. I’m just glad we ended up winning the game, and we have to be ready for tomorrow.”

Here are more notes from Thursday’s matchup between the Red Sox and Marlins:

— Pivetta was born in Victoria, British Columbia, but clearly has a thing for Independence Day, tossing 14 shutout innings on the holiday in his career.

— It was the eighth outing of Pivetta’s tenure with the Red Sox in which he went more than six innings and gave up one or fewer hits, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe — which is the most in franchise history.

“He was really good,” Cora said. “… He gave us what we needed.”

— The Red Sox got fantastic starts from Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello and Pivetta in the series, as the trio combined to allow just two earned runs in 19 2/3 total innings.

— Boston moves eight games above .500 for the first time this season with the victory, making up 8.5 games in the American League standings over the past three weeks.

— The Red Sox will open a three-game set against the New York Yankees on Friday. It’ll be the first meeting between the two clubs at Yankee Stadium this season, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.