1 hour ago 1

Jarren Duran doesn’t usually admire his home runs; on Friday, he couldn’t help himself

Red Sox

Updated: Sep. 20, 2025, 1:32 p.m.
Published: Sep. 21, 2025, 12:04 a.m.

TAMPA — The Red Sox were trailing the Tampa Bay Rays by a run in the seventh inning Friday night at George Steinbrenner Field.

This was not how they wanted to open the last road trip of the season, not with a playoff spot hanging in the balance and the hard-charging Cleveland Guardians gaining ground in the standings.

Then Jarren Duran hit what may have been his biggest homer of the season. With Ceddanne Rafaela aboard to lead off the inning, Duran drove a pitch from Tampa lefty Garrett Cleavinger deep to right, easily clearing the fence to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead.

Duran knew the minute he connected that the ball was gone, and in the immediate aftermath, he could feel the relief.

“I honestly felt like a 20-pound weight was off my shoulders,” confessed Duran after the Red Sox had posted a convincing 11-7 victory. “I feel like I’ve been trying to do so much.”

The swing seemed to leave Duran stunned momentarily. Not one to admire his handiwork usually, Duran paused at the plate and watched the flight of the ball before he broke into a home run trot.

“Honestly, I went up to Rob (Refsnyder) and said, ‘I feel bad because I don’t usually do that,’ ” said Duran. “It was a relaxation moment, that I was able to put a quality at-bat together and do that for the team.

“It felt good, but if I was to do it again, I’d probably run (right away). I watched it, and I still almost caught Rafa (Rafaela). Rounding third, he was touching home and I was coming home, so maybe it was a good thing that I watched it.

“I wanted to make sure I was showing respect to their pitchers. It was one of those moments that just kind of happened, honestly.”

It helped, too, that Duran had come through against a tough lefty. This season, before Friday, he was batting just .211 with only two homers against lefties.

“It did feel good to hit it against a lefty,” said Duran.

Columnist/Supervising Reporter

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Read Entire Article