DETROIT -- As Tigers fans cleared the lower seating bowl to escape rain and frequent bursts of lightning, the Red Sox responded with thunder rarely seen from their offense this season.
In the top of the seventh, almost without warning, the Sox erupted for a five-run inning that lifted them to a much-needed 5-4 victory on Monday night at soggy Comerica Park.
The big blow was a three-run homer off the suddenly-hot bat of Jarren Duran, giving the visitors a 3-2 lead. Wilyer Abreu and Marcelo Mayer tacked on insurance RBI hits in an inning that saw Boston send 10 batters to the plate.
For the Red Sox (14-21), it took the sting away from giving up two unearned runs on throwing errors by Carlos Narváez and Andruw Monasterio in the bottom of the sixth without the Tigers getting a hit.
Meanwhile, with Boston’s rotation currently depleted with injuries, Payton Tolle dazzled with arguably the best start of his career.
The 23-year-old and No. 1 prospect for the Red Sox per MLB Pipeline, went a career-high seven innings, allowing one hit while walking one and striking out eight.
As Tolle got out of the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning, he all but danced in the rain on his way back to the dugout.
While Tolle’s performance was clutch, the bounce-back from the offense came as a relief.
In Sunday’s 3-1, 10-inning loss to the Astros at Fenway Park, the Sox went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, while leaving 13 on base.
Things were trending in a similar way for the first six innings on Monday before the narrative changed dramatically in the seventh.
The one concern to come out of the game for the Red Sox was Roman Anthony exiting in the bottom of the second inning with discomfort in his right wrist.