Boston Red Sox
“I [expletive] suck. Of course I’m [expletive] pissed at myself.”
Jarren Duran had an outburst on Thursday in Sacramento. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
July 31, 2026 | 11:14 AM
3 minutes to read
The Boston Red Sox took care of business on Thursday night, winning their seventh consecutive series after taking three of four from the Athletics — including a 5-4 win in the series finale at Sutter Health Park.
But Boston’s latest win was overshadowed by another outburst involving outfielder Jarren Duran — who lost his cool during a bizarre sequence that included teammate Willson Contreras.
In the sixth inning of a 3-3 game, Duran stepped up to the plate with one out and runners on second and third. Duran lofted a pitch out to shallow left field, with Contreras — standing at third base — unable to tag up and score on the play.
Had Contreras — who is far from a speedster — attempted to tag up and give Boston a 4-3 lead, he would have been easily cut down by A’s left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. Duran’s fly out was measured at just 245 feet.
But after Red Sox third base coach Chad Epperson held Contreras at third, cameras captured an irate Duran appearing to yell at either Epperson or Contreras — shouting “Run!” before returning to the dugout.
Duran reportedly let those frustrations carry over after making his way back to the dugout, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne.
“Per multiple sources, Duran slammed his helmet down and it hit a pipe, forcing a spray of water toward the far end of the dugout,” Browne wrote.
Contreras appeared confused while watching Duran’s reaction from third base, with NESN cameras also capturing Duran continuing to vent his frustrations after the inning wrapped.
Speaking after the win, both Duran and Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy downplayed the incident.
“That’s nothing,” Duran said postgame. “It’s something within the team that we have that we work on, and it’s nothing. You guys don’t need to know. Nobody needs to know. That’s something between us and the team that we know [what] it’s about. So that doesn’t really matter.”
“Just mad at himself. So that was all it was. Just upset,” Tracy said. “He was just cursing himself. I didn’t really venture over there when he was upset to ask. But he was at the bat rack, just upset with himself for not getting the run in.”
Jarren Duran says what happened on his flyout was “nothing.”
Says we don’t have to know. Nobody needs to know. Just said it’s something the team works on. pic.twitter.com/tDJlMEqg8b
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) July 31, 2026
Despite the poor optics of Duran seemingly showing up either his teammate and/or coach, Contreras also took the high road after the win.
“I saw him doing some stuff, but I would not take that personal,” Contreras said of Duran, per Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. “I love the guy, and we need the guy here. We need his energy, and I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him yet, but it’s nothing personal.”
“[Epperson] told me no,” Contreras added of trying to tag up from third on the sequence. “I was like, OK, cool. It wasn’t too deep. I wanted to give it a shot, but the lefty had a pretty good arm, and I saw his throw, so I was shot down. But yeah, I didn’t think it was anything bad at all.”
It’s been a frustrating season for Duran, whose tenure with the Red Sox has been rife with several incidents and outbursts — most involving fans.
Those frustrations have also carried over onto his play in 2026, with Duran holding the worst batting average (.195) among qualified major-league hitters so far this year.
“Yeah,” Duran told Healey. “I [expletive] suck. Of course I’m [expletive] pissed at myself. I can’t even do a [expletive] job for this team.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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