• Updated Apr 27, 2025 at 5:22pm

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Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran just keeps hitting — and keeps showing resilience well beyond the batter’s box.

On Sunday afternoon in Cleveland, Duran went 4-for-6 with an RBI in Boston’s 13–3 rout of the Guardians at Progressive Field, a blowout win that gave the Sox the series. Duran’s heater at the plate stayed white-hot: he extended his hitting streak to 12 games, a stretch during which he’s batting .458 (22-for-48) with seven extra-base hits, nine RBIs, and 11 runs scored.

It should have been a day defined purely by baseball. It wasn’t.

Duran Confronts Heckler

Before the bottom of the seventh inning, the mood shifted. As Duran was gearing up to take the field, a Guardians fan in the stands crossed the line from chirping to outright cruelty. According to the Guardians’ broadcast, the fan taunted Duran about the suicide attempt he revealed during Netflix’s The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox, where Duran openly spoke about the mental health battles that nearly ended his life. Fans on social media immediately took notice.

Duran, who has divulged previously that opening up about his mental health was “the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” didn’t stay silent this time either. He confronted the heckler in the stands, standing his ground as security and umpires quickly intervened. The fan was removed from the stadium after nearby spectators — visibly disgusted — pointed him out to officials.

Despite the incident, Duran stayed locked in. In the top of the ninth, he ripped an RBI double to punctuate a dominant day at the plate.

The win pushed Boston’s record to 16–14, and maybe even more importantly, it showed again that Duran’s growth is bigger than baseball. “I realized I needed to speak my truth,” Duran said previously. On Sunday, he played it — and lived it — in full view of everyone.

Jay Pritchard covers Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and sports media for Heavy.com. More about Jay Pritchard