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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 01: Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox walks off of the field after striking out against the Houston Astros during the third inning at Fenway Park on August 01, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

Things are falling apart quickly for the Boston Red Sox early in the 2026 season. They are sitting in the basement of the American League East, almost four weeks into the regular season.

Sure, you can’t win a division or clinch a playoff berth in late April, but what you can do is bury yourself in the standings and make it very difficult. That sets up for a long summer for a team that is struggling in all areas.

In Wednesday’s middle game of their three-game series with the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, the Red Sox were one out away from being shut out for a second straight game. However, a Jarren Duran RBI single in the bottom of the ninth broke the shutout in a 4-1 New York win.

That leaves Boston looking to avoid a sweep on Thursday night at the hands of Cam Schlittler, who shut them down in Game 3 of last season’s American League Wild Card Series. Durran was the lone Boston hitter to record multiple hits on Wednesday. He had three of their five hits. After the game, he is staying positive ahead of the series final.

Boston Red Sox Outfielder Jarren Duran Staying Positive After Another Loss To the New York Yankees

After the game, Durna spoke with the media. He didn’t beat around the bush about the Red Sox’s struggles early in the season.

“Tough loss. You always want to try to win one of those games so you can hopefully win the series. But it’s OK. We can always get one tomorrow,” said Duran. “I’d say we’re putting pressure on ourselves. We’re just trying to do too much. We’re trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. But at the end of the day, we’re not really in a hole. It’s still early. We still have so much time to just play baseball.”

There is a lot of baseball left, but there isn’t much going right that gives fans hope. Never mind potentially getting swept by the Yankees. The pitching has struggled, most notably with Garrett Crochet. Sonny Gray is on the injured list. Factor in an offense that struggles to string multiple hits together, and it’s not a recipe for success. It adds mounting pressure, according to Duran.

It’s a big market. And we want to produce for the fans and produce for ourselves and for the team,” Duran said. “The Red Sox have a big legacy that obviously, even if you try not to put that pressure on you, it’s there. It’s just part of it.”

Red Sox Need To Turn Things Around Before Changes Are Made

How much longer can this go on before changes are made in Boston? Maybe a while, maybe not. Who would be in trouble, Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow or manager Alex Cora? Maybe neither, but Duran wants fans to know what’s going on behind the scenes

“We have a hard-working team. It (stinks the public doesn’t) get to see what we do behind these walls every single day. But I know everybody’s working, and I know people are going to say, oh, well, you should work harder,” added Duran. “Well, we are. We’re working hard as much as we can to make everybody proud. So sometimes we’ve just got to stop trying to please everybody and make ourselves proud of ourselves. And I think that we’re going to do that.”

The results do not reflect that. Regardless, despite Duran being positive, things need to change before changes are made.