Caleb Durbin notches two hits in loss to Marlins

It appears to be a routine day off for Durbin with Nick Sogard getting a look at third base. The Red Sox are going to have some hard decisions in the near future with both Trevor Story and Isiah Kiner-Falefa close to returning from the injured list. That’s presumably why Sogard is getting the additional playing time in this case.

It was a tight game throughout until Durbin’s slam gave Boston a 5-0 lead in the eighth. Durbin now has two grand slams in nine days after going his first 240 career games without one. He’s totaled 11 homers and 37 RBI in his last 55 games after opening his Red Sox career with one homer and 23 RBI through his first 59 games.

Like most hitters in the Red Sox’ lineup, Durbin has been sizzling of late, slashing .367/.448/.510 with a homer, 10 RBI and three stolen bases in 60 plate appearances over his last 13 contests. Anthony Seigler will start in his place at third base and will bat sixth for the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon in Boston.

The Red Sox tied the game in the fourth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th innings before finally holding the White Sox scoreless in the 13th and winning afterwards. Long before Durbin’s game-winning hit, he appeared to reinjure his left pinkie on a hard-first slide at second, but he was able to continue. He originally suffered a partial dislocation of the finger on a head-first slide into first on June 24. Durbin finished the three-game sweep of the White Sox 6-for-13 with a homer, six RBI and two walks. His OPS currently stands at .730. On this day a month ago, it was .670. Two months ago it was .553.

Durbin has 11 homers and 13 steals on the year, so a 20/20 season is in play in spite of his rough start. He’s up to .247/.318/.405 in 392 plate appearances, and he’s probably the favorite to claim the American League Gold Glove at third base.

It’s the worst-case scenario outcome for Mead after he was drilled by a pitch during the second at-bat of his Red Sox debut against the Athletics on Monday night. The 25-year-old infielder was acquired from the Nationals for lefty Connelly Early last week and is already facing an extended absence. There’s a strong possibility his season is over given the severity of the injury. Cassell adds that Nick Sogard is coming up from Triple-A Worcester to take Mead’s roster spot. It’ll be Caleb Durbin handling third base with Anthony Seigler moving back into a starting role at the keystone.

Durbin was 0-for-3 before putting a Tyler Wells offering over the Green Monster for his 10th homer of the year. He’s hit nine in his last 33 games after collecting just one in 59 games through June 9. The Red Sox are now one win away from matching their franchise-long winning streak of 15 games from 1946.

Sure, why not. Durbin has been on a roll over the last few weeks, hitting .290 (27-for-93) with eight round-trippers in 26 games since a two-homer outburst back on June 10. He’ll get a chance in place of Romy Gonzalez, who is on the bench in this one, with Willson Contreras continuing to serve a five-game suspension through the All-Star break.

The Red Sox still probably shouldn’t have given up Kyle Harrison for him, but Durbin has essentially the same WAR (2.1 entering the day) and OPS (.684) as Alex Bregman (2.2 and .681, respectively). Durbin has nine homers, six of which have come in his last 20 games. He’s also swiped five bags during those 20 games. It’s not assured that he’ll last as mixed-league option during the second half, but he’s certainly worth playing right now.

Durbin followed William Contreras’s three-run blast with a solo shot of his own off Nationals starter Miles Mikolas in the opening frame. It was his sixth long ball in just 24 games since the start of June after going deep just once in 59 games prior to June 10. The 26-year-old got off to a frigid start at the dish in his Red Sox debut, but he’s shown some extremely promising signs the last couple weeks, enough that he’s worthy of a roster spot in deeper mixed leagues.