Red Sox reactions: Willson Contreras (4 hits), Jarren Duran (3-run double) power comfortable rubber game win

ST. LOUIS — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (6-9) score early and often to beat the Cardinals, 9-3, in the rubber game of a three-game series to open the second road trip of 2026:

1) It took 15 games, but the Red Sox finally got a comfortable win in which they jumped out to an early lead (7-1 before two late Cardinals runs) and held on. The other five wins were either close results or tight games in which the Sox expanded their lead late.

With Brayan Bello on the mound, the Sox scored twice in the first, once in the second and four times in the fourth to open up a six-run advantage. It felt like the club could breathe for once.

2) The scoring started in a familiar way as Willson Contreras continued his heater with a two-run homer to dead center. After Caleb Durbin was hit by a pitch, Contreras got a 3-2 sinker from Andre Pallante and crushed it 411 feet. It was his third homer of the year.

Contreras, who made quite the impact in his return to St. Louis this weekend, finished 4-for-5 with three singles, a homer and three RBIs. He has been as advertised — and more.

3) The biggest swing of the day for Boston came from Jarren Duran, who needed it. After continuing a disturbing pattern of chasing breaking balls in a first-inning strikeout, Duran came up with the bases loaded in the fourth and broke the game open with a three-run double he smoked into the left field gap. In a 1-2 count, Duran waited on a Pallante slider and hit it 112.3 mph to make it 6-1.

It was just the third extra-base hit (all doubles) of the year for Duran, who entered with a .530 OPS.

4) Bello wasn’t as dominant as Ranger Suárez was Saturday, but he still was very effective in a bounce-back outing after a bumpy start to the season. In the longest start by a Red Sox pitcher this season, the righty went 6 ⅔ innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits. He struck out two and walked a pair.

Pitching with a lead throughout, Bello used a contact-oriented approach to shut down St. Louis’ offense. He had 10 swings-and-misses.

5) Another good sign for Boston’s offense? Trevor Story had a four-hit game, something he did just once in 2025 (July 4). It’s the first multi-hit game of the year for Story, who watched his average rise from .131 to .182 in one afternoon.

• BETTING: The over/under is currently set at 7.5 total runs over on BetMGM for Monday’s matchup between the Red Sox and the Twins. Our complete BetMGM Sportsbook review provides a full guide on how to navigate through their platform.

Story singled in his first three at-bats before padding a big lead with a two-run double down the first base line off lefty Jared Shuster in the ninth.

Despite the absence of slug, the Red Sox strung together 12 hits — including nine singles. Contreras’ homer, Duran’s double and Story’s double were the only extra-base hits. Small ball got the job done to set the table for Duran in the fourth when Connor Wong and Ceddanne Rafaela singled and Durbin walked to load the bases.

6) The Red Sox have now won four of five games and two series in a row. Just as they did at home against the Brewers, they rebounded nicely from a series-opening loss to claim two in a row to win a series. Most encouragingly, the line has been moving offensively. Strong outings from Suárez and Bello will ease some early-season concerns, too.

7) The hits still aren’t coming for Durbin, but his on-base ability in the No. 2 hole showed Sunday. He scored twice after being hit by a pitch (again) in the first and walking in the fourth.

8) Contreras donned the famous Wally head after homering, marking the second time he has done so. That version of Wally was getting lonely with the Red Sox having gone five consecutive games without a long ball.

Contreras now has three blasts, tying Wilyer Abreu for the team lead. He has been providing all the power on his own for more than a week, though, hitting three of Boston’s four homers over the last nine games (Marcelo Mayer had the other). At some point, the Red Sox will need to have someone else step up in that regard.

9) Rafaela flashed some leather in the first when he robbed JJ Wetherholt of a hit with a nice diving catch to begin Bello’s outing. It was an eventful few minutes for Rafaela, who didn’t seem too pleased to be hit with a Pallante pitch (after being hit Saturday) in the second inning.

10) Fans around baseball should get to know Jordan Walker’s name soon. The 23-year-old outfielder has been a breakout star early for St. Louis and for the second straight day, homered against the Red Sox. He’s up to seven in 15 games.

11) The Red Sox will fly to Minneapolis on Sunday night and begin their quest to win a third straight series Monday when they open a series against the rebuilding Twins at Target Field. Here’s the schedule (with pitching probables):

Monday, 7:40 p.m. ET — LHP Garrett Crochet (2-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. RHP Bailey Ober (1-0, 5.27 ERA)

Tuesday, 7:40 p.m. ET — RHP Sonny Gray (2-0, 2.76 ERA) vs. RHP Mick Abel (0-2, 6.08 ERA)

Wednesday, 1:40 p.m. ET — LHP Connelly Early (0-0, 2.63 ERA) vs. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-2, 4.60 ERA)

More Red Sox coverage

• Ex-Red Sox players: How Rafael Devers, Alex Bregman, Rob Refsnyder, others are doing
• Red Sox newcomer brings homers, mind games, nickname and (most importantly) energy to lead offense
• Three struggling Red Sox broke out Sunday, including hitter whose average rose 51 points in one day
• Jazz Chisholm admits to not knowing force out rule after Yankees’ loss in extra innings
• Red Sox lineup: Backup catcher (hitting .417) gets start in series finale vs. Cardinals

Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.