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WEST SACRAMENTO — Jarren Duran was clearly mad after he hit a 245-foot fly-out to left field during the sixth inning Thursday.
It’s just unclear if he was mad at teammate Willson Contreras, third base coach Chad Epperson or himself.
The Red Sox won 5-4 over the Athletics at Sutter Health Park, earning their seventh consecutive series victory. But Duran’s on-field antics received as much attention as Boston’s comeback, if not more.
- BETTING: Red Sox moneyline is set at +116 on FanDuel for Friday night’s game against the Dodgers. Our complete FanDuel Sportsbook review provides an in-depth guide on how to use their app.
Epperson held Contreras at third base on Duran’s shallow fly ball. As Duran headed to the dugout, he gestured toward third base, raising his arm and yelling something.
Duran again raised his arms and shouted toward Epperson and Contreras when he went inside the dugout.
“That’s nothing,” Duran said. “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.”
Athletics left fielder Tyler Soderstrom has a well above-average arm, ranking in the 89th percentile in arm strength and the 75th percentile in arm value. He has five outfield assists this season and had 11 last year.
Epperson made a wise choice not to send Contreras, given the shallowness of Duran’s fly ball, Soderstrom’s arm strength and Contreras’ 47th percentile sprint speed.
“Just cursing himself for not getting the run in,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Just mad at himself. So that was all it was. Just upset.”
Tracy was asked if Duran yelled “run” at Contreras. The manager replied, “No.”
“He was just cursing himself,” Tracy repeated. “I didn’t really venture over there when he was upset to ask.”
Contreras said he “wasn’t sure” what happened.
“I mean, I love Jarren. He’s one of the guys that plays with emotion, plays 100%,” Contreras said. “We love him here. And he’s one of the guys that if I need to go to war, I’m gonna pick him because he’s gonna give his 100%. I saw him doing some stuff. I would never take that personal. 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.”
Contreras said he will talk with Duran about it.
“I think I will find a way,” Contreras said. “I’ll find the best moment to talk to him. I know that it could be a mental thing. It could be something that baseball is taking away from him. But like I said, it’s nothing personal. We are a team. We are here. And I’m pretty sure that manager talked to him already. But I love Jarren. He’s the best.”
Duran said he is frustrated with himself at the way he has played this season.
“Yeah, I (expletive) suck,” Duran said. “Of course I’m (expletive) pissed at myself. I can’t even do a (expletive) job for this team.”
Duran is having a historically poor season. He has the worst batting average (.195) among qualified major league hitters.
He has the second-worst OPS (.589) behind only Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar (.567). Tovar and Duran are the only two qualified major league hitters with an OPS under .600.
“I don’t even know what to do at this point, honestly,” Duran said. “Just kind of ashamed but it is what it is.”
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