Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran could have let himself off the hook for his costly error, which extended the fourth inning for the Baltimore Orioles rather than ending it.
But Duran did the exact opposite.
Duran waged war on himself following Boston’s 7-1 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday at Fenway Park. The 27-year-old made it very clear that he put the defeat squarely on his shoulders.
“I just (expletive) suck, man,” Duran told reporters, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “It’s my (expletive) fault, dude. If I make that play, we get out of the inning and then none of those other (expletive) things happen. I just (expletive) suck, honestly.”
Duran looked to be in good position to catch a liner off the bat of Cedric Mullins as it tailed into the corner. But the ball ricocheted off Duran’s glove, allowing the Orioles to put runners at second and third with two outs.
Colton Cowser was next up for Baltimore and made Duran and the Red Sox pay. He doubled to plate two runs to give the Orioles a 3-1 lead.
“I was just running and I kind of thought I was already there,” Duran said. “It just kept tailing away. I should have taken a couple more steps and I would’ve been on it. Just good slice on the ball. I just kept going. I kind of like sprinted toward it, thought I was with it and it just kept going. So I tried to extend and I just missed it.”
Duran, who is in his fourth season with the Red Sox and has developed into a key piece at the top of the order, has been open about his mental health struggles. Duran writes in a journal to cope, and he feels he has plenty to write about after his error.
“I might have to buy another journal for how much I’m going to have to write about myself tonight,” Duran said. “(Expletive) happens, man. I (expletive) it up. That’s on me. I’ve just gotta be better.”
Duran was being overly critical of himself. It was a bad-timed miscue but far from the only reason the Red Sox lost. He showed his maturation by taking accountability and plans to ultimately “flush it and get over it.”
He’ll certainly have plenty of opportunities to put the error out of his mind with the season still in its infancy.