It certainly wasn’t difficult to uncover how important a good Jarren Duran is to Red Sox in their 4-3 win over the Royals.
Along with more hit-denying defense, it was Duran’s two-run homer in the seventh inning that gave the Sox the lead for good. And, just for a bit of punctuation for the narrative, in his last at-bat on what would be a series sweep in Kansas City Duran rifled a 114.1 mph triple in the ninth.
All of it elicited a common refrain from all who follow the Red Sox: What a difference a good Jarren Duran can make.
The Red Sox realize this. It's why they clung to the outfielder in trade talks even after his down year in 2025. It's also why Duran kept getting run at the top of the batting order despite struggles for the majority of this season.
The potential payoff was too great to turn their backs on. Over the course of this 4-2 road trip, the Red Sox were rewarded.
In the six games, Duran hit .318 with a 1.266 OPS, clearly taking a dramatic turn for the better during the three games in KC. Not only did he go 4-for-10 with a pair of home runs, while playing next-level defense, but he also seemingly found the sweet spot of his strike zone. For the first time all season, Duran came away with back-to-back games of two walks.
With Duran serving as the catalyst at the top of the batting order, the Red Sox offense worked better than it has in weeks. In the last three games, the Red Sox totaled the third-most hits in baseball, even going a respectable 9-for-30 with runners in scoring position.
But it is what Duran has been doing when it counts the most that has made the biggest difference.
Both of the outfielder's two homers against the Royals came with runners in scoring position. He has now hit five of his six homers with such situations, accounting for all but four of the team's total.
Seventeen of Duran's 24 RBI have come in wins.
Fifteen of his 22 runs have also taken place in victories.
And, for May, the lefty hitter has an OPS of .823.
Much like the rest of the Red Sox's offense, the entire package hasn't been perfect, but the swing through Missouri at least offered some optimism for a team that is still just two games out of a Wild Card spot.
"His at-bats have been good for about five games now, dating back to Atlanta," Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters after the series sweep. “And yeah, when you're sitting atop the offense in front of Wilyer [Abreu] and Willson [Contreras] and that group of guys, if he starts going, it's no secret that's going to help us go. He's taking some really, really big at-bats right now."
