Boston Red Sox
Boston’s 11-game winning streak is the franchise’s longest since 2016.
The Boston Red Sox are unstoppable in every sense of the word right now.
The Red Sox entered this past week’s All-Star break on a nine-game winning streak, but it seems the hiatus didn’t take away any of their momentum.
Boston extended its win streak to 11 games after sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in a day/night doubleheader on Friday.
The Red Sox extended their win streak to 11 games after sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in a day/night doubleheader on Friday. Here’s how they did it.
Game 1
Boston kicked Friday off with a 10-0 thumping of the Rays (Game 1 was a make-up of the May 9 postponement).
Boston jumped out to an early lead, continuing a welcome stretch of scoring in the first few innings that began even before their win streak. Jarren Duran started the run show off with a sacrifice fly, and Carlos Narvaez recorded a RBI knock to put the club up 2-0 in the second frame. Masataka Yoshida clubbed a solo home run to make it 3-0 in the fourth.
The sixth inning marked when Boston broke things open. It drove in six runs in the following fashion: Duran two-run single, Narvaez and Tsu-Che Cheng back-to-back RBI bunt knocks, Ceddanne Rafaela RBI double, and Caleb Durbin RBI single.
That influx of offense made the game 9-0 two-thirds through the contest.
The Red Sox weren’t content with just nine runs, though. Narvaez put a bow on his own impressive performance at the plate and the team’s collective offensive annihilation by hitting a solo homer in the seventh to make it 10 runs for Boston.
Boston finished the game with 10 runs in what was its 10th straight win at the time, a truly fitting homage to the team’s shocking turnaround.
The lineup posted double-digit runs, but it was a true collective effort, as has been the case in seemingly every recent Red Sox victory dating back to June. Starting pitcher Jake Bennett tossed another outstanding game to keep Tampa Bay scoreless.
Bennett threw six innings (65 pitches, 42 strikes) of one-hit ball in his latest assertion of dominance on the bump. The lone hit he allowed came in the fourth inning, a single by Junior Caminero.
The left-handed hurler walked one and struck out three, and earned his fifth win to his rookie record.
Game 2
After a brief break between games, the Red Sox picked up where they left off. The Rays actually got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, capitalizing on opening pitcher Eduardo Cabrera.
Not so fast, Boston’s lineup said. The home team immediately tied the game and captured the lead in the bottom of the first by way of back-to-back home runs. Wilyer Abreu hit a two-run shot to tie, then Willson Contreras gave his team a 3-2 advantage with a solo homer.
Game 2 marked Contreras’s return to the diamond after serving a five-game suspension. His home run came in his first at-bat for the Red Sox since July 8.
Tampa Bay knotted the score at three with a solo home run of its own in the third, but stop us if you’ve heard this before: Boston reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the same frame.
Abreu launched his second homer of the night with a solo shot to make it 4-3 in favor of the Red Sox.
Boston didn’t look back after Abreu’s big swing, scoring once more in the fourth inning on an Anthony Seigler RBI double.
After the 5-3 win, Abreu said he’s enjoying the team’s success and wants to keep the magic going.
“It’s very fun right now. Playing like this is amazing,” he told NESN’s Jahmai Webster on the field. “Everybody’s pushing together, pushing in the same way. We’re just trying to keep that momentum.
“It’s amazing right now, playing like this, in front of this crowd. Everybody starts to feel the vibe. I think it’s amazing, so just keep it rolling.”
Rivera had a shaky 2.1 innings after allowing three runs to begin the game, but the bullpen was utterly dominant the rest of the way. Greg Weissert, Jovani Moran, Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten, and Aroldis Chapman banded together to put up a wildly impressive scoresheet.
Those six arms combined to allow four hits, zero walks, zero runs, and struck out five batters to lead the Red Sox to victory for the 11th consecutive time.
Interim manager Chad Tracy said postgame he’s happy with how his team is playing from top to bottom.
“We’re playing a more complete offense over the last three weeks,” Tracy said. “If you do things the right way, play team ball, and give it up for the team, it’s gonna come back to you. We’re getting a lot of guys that have done that, and they’re starting to get hot. It’s been good to see.”
Boston is enjoying its first 11-game win streak since 2016. The franchise topped its midseason 10-game win streak from 2025 by successfully compleing the doubleheader sweep.
More importantly, with the Game 2 win, the Red Sox improved to .500 (48-48) on the season for the first time since the second game of the regular season on March 28.
Additionally, Boston finds itself in sole possession of the American League’s third and final wild-card spot. It’s a half-game ahead of the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins.
Nevertheless, right now, Tracy wants his players to focus on the task immediately in front of them, not scoreboard watch.
“It’s not time to look at the standings. It’s nice, but there’s a long way to go,” he said. “It’s not time to look at it.
“Just right now, our mindset should be who we face tomorrow. Let’s figure out how to win a game tomorrow. But, definitely you want to applaud the work that they’ve done over the last two and a half weeks to get in this position.”
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Kaley Brown
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