It was the night of June 14 and the Red Sox were left licking their wounds thanks to an Alex Verdugo-induced 8-1 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park. The memory of winning two straight against the Phillies all of a sudden seemed distant, with the New Yorkers seemingly offering a reality check for the 35-35 Sox.
The Red Sox were having some good times with some maturing young players, but thinking they could keep pace with the club with the best record in baseball, the Yankees, seemed far-fetched.
But then Jarren Duran entered the room.
And it was at that moment something hit for both young and older, alike, in that Red Sox clubhouse.
"C'mon boys. Don't worry about it. We've got two more (expletive) games," the Red Sox outfielder explained, not breaking stride while cruising past his teammates lockers.
One player who had seen plenty of forks in the roads before, Kenley Jansen, immediately had a feeling this might be one of those moments.
"I remember he walked past by me and he said that. I was like, ‘Oooh, OK. I like this.’ Everybody heard him," Jansen recalled on the 'Baseball Isn't Boring' podcast. "I kind of wanted to see how we reacted. And we reacted the right way.
"When a guy like that says that, he’s a leadoff hitter and he’s going to come and set the tone, get out of the box full speed. That’s a motivation for everybody to say, ‘Let’s go!’ We’re not Cadillac'ing it today. We’re playing our ass off. I’m telling you, I’m having a blast with these guys. It’s fun playing baseball."
According to Jansen, that's when the fun truly began.
Since Duran's proclamation, the Red Sox have gone 15-5, most recently claiming a series-opening, 12-9 win over the A's Tuesday night. (For more the Red Sox' latest win, click here.) It's a surge that has remarkably pulled Alex Cora's club to within two games in the loss column of the Yankees, whose record since winning that Friday night game in Boston is a miserable 5-16.
"We are a very young team. They have evolved their game and are learning at a quick, quick, quick place," Jansen said. "When we started winning games against the big boys … I feel like that was the momentum. When we played against the Phillies and then the Yankees beat us so comfortably in the first game. I remember Jarren was like, ‘C’mon boys, don’t worry about it. We have two more f***ing games.’ Jarren said that. I like the fire from our young guys. You have to let them be open and do it and be their own leader, and that’s how you are going to become a leader to a team. Whenever we did that I was like, ‘Alright, let’s see how we react tomorrow.’ And we came with fire and that brought the fire with me getting the phone call, wanting to be in that game for multiple innings. We went to Toronto, didn’t take it for granted and we played and played and played.
"I feel like the minute the young guys really start believing in themselves and we can compete against anybody, it becomes scary."
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