Boston Red Sox
Boston’s 11-game winning streak is its longest since 2016.
The Red Sox have turned into a freight train at just the right time. Brian Fluharty/Getty Images
The Boston Red Sox are literally unstoppable right now.
The Red Sox entered the All-Star break last week after a nine-game winning streak, but the hiatus didn’t seem to take any of their momentum away.
Boston extended its winning streak to 11 games after sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in a day-night doubleheader on Friday.
The Red Sox extended their winning 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 started off Friday with a 10-0 win over the Rays (the first game was the result of a May 9 postponement).
Boston jumped out to an early lead, extending a welcome stretch of scoring in the first few innings that had begun even before its winning streak. Jarren Duran got the run started with a sacrifice fly, and Carlos Narvaez scored on an RBI hit to give the club a 2-0 lead in the second frame. Masataka Yoshida hit a solo home run to make it 3-0 in the fourth inning.
The sixth inning was notable when Boston opened things up. She drove in six runs in the following manner: Duran’s two-run single, Narvaez and Tsu-Che Cheng’s back-to-back RBI single, Ceddanne Rafaela’s RBI double, and Caleb Durbin’s RBI single.
This offensive flurry made the game 9-0 two-thirds of the way through.
However, the Red Sox were not satisfied with just nine innings. Narvaez put a bow on his stellar performance at the plate and the team’s offensive annihilation by hitting a solo homer in the seventh inning to make it 10 runs for Boston.
Boston finished the game with 10 runs for its 10th straight win at the time, a truly fitting tribute to the team’s shocking turnaround.
The lineup scored double-digit runs, but it was a true team effort, as has been the case in every recent Red Sox victory dating back to June. Starting pitcher Jake Bennett threw another impressive outing to keep Tampa Bay scoreless.
Bennett threw six innings (65 pitches, 42 strikeouts) of one-hit ball in his latest assertion of dominance in the bump. The only hit he allowed came in the fourth inning, a single by Junior Caminero.
The left-handed pitcher walked one and struck out three, earning his fifth win in his rookie record.
Game 2
After a short break between games, the Red Sox picked up where they left off. The Rays actually took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, taking advantage of opening pitcher Eduardo Cabrera.
Not so fast, Boston’s lineup said. The home team immediately tied the game and took the lead in the bottom of the first inning by hitting back-to-back home runs. Wilier Abreu hit a two-run shot to tie the game, then Wilson Contreras gave his team a 3-2 advantage with a solo homer.
The second match marked Contreras’ return to the diamond after a five-game suspension. His home run came in his first game for the Red Sox since July 8.
Tampa Bay held the score at three with a solo home run in the third inning, but stop us if you’ve heard this before: Boston regained the lead in the bottom half of the same frame.
Abreu hit 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 again in the fourth inning on Anthony Siegler’s RBI double.
After the 5-3 win, Abreu said he was enjoying the team’s success and wanted to continue the magic.
“It’s so much fun right now. Playing like this is amazing,” he told NESN’s Jahmai Webster on the field. “Everybody’s pushing together, pushing the same way. We’re just trying to keep that momentum going.”
“It’s amazing now, playing like this, in front of this crowd. Everyone starts to feel energetic. I think it’s amazing, so keep it up.”
Rivera had 2.1 shaky innings after allowing three runs to start the game, but the bullpen was completely dominant the rest of the way. Greg Weissert, Jovanni Moran, Tyrone Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slatten and Aroldis Chapman combined to provide an impressive scoring record.
These 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 straight time.
Interim manager Chad Tracy said after the game that he was happy with the way his team was playing from top to bottom.
“We’ve been playing a more complete offense the last three weeks,” Tracy said. “If you do things the right way, play team ball, and give it up to the team, it will come back to you. We have a lot of players who have done that, and they are starting to shine. It was good to see that.”
Boston is enjoying its first 11-game winning streak since 2016. The franchise topped its mid-season 10-game winning streak from 2025 by successfully completing a 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 possession of the third and final wild-card spot in the American League. It’s a half game against the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins.
However, for now, Tracy wants his players to focus on the task right in front of them, not monitoring the scoreboard.
“It’s not time to look at the rankings. It’s nice, but there’s still a long way to go,” he said. “It’s not time to consider it.
“Right now, our mentality has to be who are we playing tomorrow. Let’s figure out how to win a game tomorrow. But, you definitely want to credit the work they’ve done over the last two and a half weeks to get to this position.”
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