The Boston Red Sox came up short in a number of ways in their Game 2 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. But left fielder Jarren Duran is taking all the blame for the defeat, which will have the two teams playing a deciding Game 3 Thursday night in the Bronx.
Duran misread a line drive off the bat of Aaron Judge in the bottom of the fifth inning and let the ball fall out of his glove for an RBI single for the Yankees right fielder. The play happened with two outs, so Yankees leadoff man Trent Grisham (who was on second) was off as soon as Judge put lumber on the ball and easily scored to give New York a 3-2 lead.
The Red Sox tied it a few batters later when Trevor Story socked a solo homer, but the Yankees won, 4-3, on an Austin Wells RBI single off Garrett Whitlock in the bottom of the eighth. After the loss, Duran explained what happened on the play — and took all the blame for loss.
“I was just playing pretty deep on Judge. As I was coming in, I thought it was hit a little harder than it was,” Duran recalled in the Boston clubhouse. “I kind of gained more ground than I thought. I didn’t have to go into a full dive there. Kind of just pushed the ball on myself a little more and it got up on me. It’s on me.”
It’s a play Duran has to make, especially in a tie game with a chance for the Red Sox to eliminate the Yankees. He blamed himself for giving the Yankees momentum in such a tight contest.
“This one is going to sting for a little bit. I know that game is 100% on me,” he said. “If I make that play, Trevor hits the homer and we take the lead. But I messed it up, gave them momentum and things happened from there.
“That one is one me. I’m going to have to wear that one,” he added.
Duran went 1-for-3 at the plate and scored a run in the top of the third on a Story two-run single, which tied the game at 2-2. But he also struck out looking against New York closer David Bednar for Boston’s second out in the top of the ninth, as the Red Sox went 1-2-3 in their final chance to plate the tying run.
Boston’s Game 2 loss wasn’t all on Jarren Duran
His accountability is admirable, but Duran is hardly the only one to blame for the Game 2 loss. Boston starter Brayan Bello went just 2.1 innings. Rafaela failed to get down a bunt with two on and no one out in the top of the seventh (with Duran on first), and third base coach Kyle Hudson held Nate Eaton at third a few batters later when Masataka Yoshida hit a sharp infield single. Eaton would have had a chance to score to give Boston a 4-3 lead at the time, but Hudson held him up.
Now the Red Sox-Yankees Wild Card series will come down to a deciding Game 3 on Thursday night. Duran will likely feel the sting from his miscue for a while, but he’ll have to put it out of his mind come Thursday night.
“I have complete confidence in this team,” he said. “We’ve been through this stuff before and we’ve been resilient all year. I’m excited to see what we can do tomorrow.”