Boston’s Jarren Duran angered by Royals fans who he says were throwing items at him

Pete Grathoff
·2 min read
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If a cornerback in football leaves with an injury, the opposing team will often throw a pass at his replacement, taking advantage of the situation.

That’s not possible in baseball, because a team can’t hit a ball at one particular player. But in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Royals’ 13-5 win Sunday over the Boston Red Sox, four straight Kansas City batters hit a ball to center fielder Jarren Duran.

Duran, a converted second baseman, had a terrible time dealing with the sun, especially during the seventh inning.

“All of them were really right out in the open, and then last second, they got in the sun,” Duran said, per NESN.com. “It was kind of too late to call for help, but I tried my best to put my hand up. I had my glasses on, tried to get the angle, but I was just right out in the middle of the sun.”

It was, putting it mildly, an adventure for Duran, who completely lost a can of corn off the bat of the Royals’ Nate Eaton in the seventh. Eaton, running hard from the start, got a triple out of it.

Kyle Isbel followed and crushed a ball into the right-center gap. It was a difficult play for Duran, and he had the ball go off his glove. Isbel also ran hard and got a triple.

MJ Melendez then flied out to center, which Duran caught, but only after diving for it. TV cameras then caught him jawing at Royals fans in the stands.

The Red Sox then made a pitching change, and during the break, right fielder Alex Verdugo came over to Duran and appeared to be holding him back from trying to get to the stands.

The next batter, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., then batted and flied out to — you guessed it — Duran.

That was four straight chances for Duran, who caught two of them, and lost his cool with a Royals fan. Duran said Royals fans were throwing “little bottle caps” at him. That’s why he was upset.

“They just happened to be throwing little bottle caps at me and stuff, so I was just telling them to stop throwing it,” Duran told reporters. “Then one of the ushers came over and just told them to stop.”