Jarren Duran says fans threw bottle caps at him in Kansas City

BOSTON -- Sunday afternoon was not a pleasant one for Jarren Duran.

Playing center field for the Red Sox as they took their third loss in a four-game set against the lowly Royals, Duran struggled mightily with the sun on a routine fly ball in the seventh inning, allowing Nate Eaton to triple on what should have been an out. Duran then failed to make a catch near the wall in right-center field in the next at-bat, leading to yet another triple. (He did make a diving catch to help offset the miscues.)

Making matters worse, Duran twice got into a heated exchange with some fans in the outfield at Kauffman Stadium, needing to be restrained by left fielder Alex Verdugo for the second encounter.

It was obviously a bit of a nightmare inning for the 25-year-old, but he said the issues with the fans stemmed from them throwing objects at him.

"They just happened to be throwing little bottle caps at me and stuff," Duran said, per NESN. "So I just told them to stop throwing it, and one of the ushers came over and told them to stop. It was just little bottle caps, nothing major."

The defensive miscues aren't necessarily new for Duran, who infamously lost sight of a routine fly ball at Fenway Park last month before refusing to retrieve the ball in deep center field, resulting in an inside-the-park grand slam against the Blue Jays. Toronto won that game 28-5.

Duran's postgame interview had a much different tone than the one he gave to ESPN on Monday night, when he expressed his confidence in the team's ability to make a playoff push.

"The outside noise, we don't care -- doubt us. That's all we need to know is that you guys are doubting us," Duran said. "Everybody's doubting us. And then when it happens, don't be cheering for us when you've been doubting us the whole time."

The Red Sox have gone 2-4 since those comments were made, and Duran has gone 2-for-20 at the plate in those six games.