Fastball

Red Sox Suspend All-Star Over Homophobic Slur, Will Donate Salary to Advocacy Group

The Boston Red Sox have issued a two-game suspension to superstar outfielder Jarren Duran.

Brady Farkas

Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) fields a ball in the outfield in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Aug 5.
Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) fields a ball in the outfield in the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Aug 5. / Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
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The Boston Red Sox have issued a two-game suspension to superstar outfielder Jarren Duran. The suspension comes as the result of Duran using a homophobic slur toward a fan in Sunday's loss to the Houston Astros.

We wrote more about that incident here.

The Red Sox issued a release on the decision, which was put out by Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald.

"In consultation with Major League Baseball, the Red Sox today issued an unpaid two-game suspension to outfielder Jarren Duran beginning with tonight's game against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.

Additionally, Duran's salary from the two-game suspension will be donated to PFLAG (Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), the United States' largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people and those who love them."

This story is about much more than baseball, but from a pure baseball perspective, this is a disaster for the Red Sox. Boston enters play on Monday at 3.0 games back in the American League wild card chase after getting swept by Houston.

This team needs wins and not having Duran on the field is a huge deal. An electric player, Duran is hitting .291 this year with a .350 on-base percentage. He's got 14 homers, 58 RBI and 29 stolen bases. He's posted a 131 OPS+ and is likely to get MVP votes later this year. Furthermore, he made his first All-Star Game this summer, winning the MVP Award for hitting a home run.

The Red Sox play the Rangers on Monday at 7:10 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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