Boston Red Sox: Dukes of Double Land

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A six-game winning streak came to a screeching halt on Saturday for the Boston Red Sox. A rare bad outing by James Paxton (3 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 3 BB) contributed mightily to Boston's first loss in over a week. 
The Boston Red Sox offense, however, continued to preside over the land of doubles in the loss.

A lineup built to deliver with the two-bagger, Boston's lineup is a main reason the team is 49-44 and hanging around in the playoff discussion. The offense is a main reason Boston is on track to be buyers come the trade deadline, where the main need is starting pitching.

In the meantime, the hitters continue to carry this club. Among them are a handful who could be in a race to lead the league in hits, batting average, and of course, doubles.

Double trouble for Boston Red Sox

In Saturday's 10-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Red Sox added four more doubles to their season total. Now at 207, Boston trails the top American League team Texas Rangers by two doubles and has a cushy lead over the third-best team Toronto Blue Jays (169).

Four players have hit 20+ doubles for Boston, led by Jarren Durran. Durran is having quite the season, bouncing back nicely from struggles in 2022. His 28 doubles are currently good enough to place him in a tie for second in the American League.

Durran had a pretty special game in a June 19 victory over the Minnesota Twins, going 3-3 with three doubles. Less than two weeks later, Durran decided to one-up that experience by going 5-5 with four doubles in a 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays.

In 72 games, Durran is hitting .319 and picked up 76 hits this season.

Hot on Durran's tail is Alex Verdugo, who has hit 26 doubles. Verdugo has been a star for the Red Sox this season, hitting .286 with also four triples. He has 96 hits and has endeared himself to fans this season with multiple walk-off hits (and spot-on throws from the outfield).

Justin Turner added two doubles to his total on Saturday, now standing at 21. Rafael Devers kept pace, too, with a double in the loss, tying him with Turner. 

In his first season with the Red Sox, Turner has 99 hits (5th in the American League) and is hitting .290. Turner's 56 RBI are second on the team to Devers, who has 72.

Not to be left out, Masataka Yoshida has 19 doubles and hitting .313 (97 hits). And Connor Wong may have only 49 hits this season but 17 of them are doubles.

It's certainly a kingdom of doubles for these players but in Friday's night victory over the Cubs, the team found their power stroke, too.

Boston Red Sox flex their muscles

Home run droughts for the Boston Red Sox are a common occurrence so far in 2023. They rank in the lower third for team totals, with Devers leading the way with 22.

Two of those came in a monster night for Boston at the plate in Friday's victory over the Cubs, with Red Sox launching six home runs as a team.

Turner, Adam Duvall, Yu Chang, and Triston Casas joined Devers in the Boston power display for the evening.

Casas is a player to keep an eye on. The rookie has had his troubles this season but has improved each month.  He homered on Saturday as well and is 6-16 in his last four games.

The offense for the Red Sox will ultimately be the deciding factor on how long the '23 season lasts. Keep raking like they have been and Boston will be in the playoff discussion until the very end. And if they get some help from the starting rotation outside of Brayan Bello and Paxton (today's game aside), this team can make an unexpected run this season. And there's nothing like the Red Sox rolling into October with momentum, where anything can happen for the Dukes of Double Land.

photo credit: rawpixel

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