The Boston Red Sox cruised to a 13-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Sunday. After losing the opener of the three-game series, Boston defeated the Guardians in the last two games to clinch the series and improve to a 16-14 record. They now sit just 1.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.
Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran led Boston’s starting lineup with four of the team’s 15 hits, and finished the contest 4-for-6 with an RBI. Yet, his standout performance was overshadowed by a fan who went too far with his heckling at the top of the seventh inning.
After Duran was retired on a fly ball to center field, a fan near the visitors dugout yelled, “Go f---ing kill yourself,” per MassLive. The comment struck home for Duran, who recently opened up about a prior suicide attempt in the fourth episode of “The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox,” a Netflix documentary about the 2024 Red Sox.
Guardians issue apology to Jarren Duran after heckling incident
Duran tried to confront the fan in the stands and had to be restrained by umpires, coaches José Flores and Ben Rosenthal and teammate Cedanne Rafaela. The fan fled to the concourse after drawing a reaction from Duran, but the Guardians announced that they were able to identify the fan who violated the club’s fan conduct policy.
“We recognize the gravity of the behavior at issue here and take very seriously conduct of this nature,” the team said in a statement, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale. “We apologize to the Red Sox organization, the player involved, fans in the area and are addressing the situation.”
The fan’s comments were certainly not reflective of Cleveland’s fan base. The comments were unwelcomed by anyone within hearing distance, and Guardians fans helped identify the fan after he left the ballpark.
“You knew it was bad when they were showing other Cleveland fans getting in that guy’s face,” analyst Lou Merloni said on the Boston NESN broadcast, per Cleveland reporter Joe Noga.
Umpires as well as Red Sox players and coaches held Jarren Duran back as he was confronting a fan who shouted something at him pic.twitter.com/t4hw2mGci5
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 27, 2025
Duran has been open about his battle with depression and mental health struggles. In the days following the release of the documentary, there was a significant increase in the number of calls received by Samaritans, a non-profit organization in the Boston area that answers calls to the suicide prevention hotline.
“The whole purpose of me sharing it is just to kind of get it out there and let people know that they’re not alone,” Duran told reporters earlier this month, per The Athletic. “Even if I can just help one person, it’s meaningful. I’m just trying to let people know that there’s always help and to make sure that they’re reaching out.”
After the game, Duran praised his coaches and teammates for stepping in during the incident.
“When you open yourself up like that, you’re also opening yourself up to the enemies,” Duran said. “But I have a good support staff around me, teammates, coaches and fans that were supporting me, so that was awesome.”