BOSTON — Not only are the Red Sox at last back even at 48-48, but they are roaring with so much momentum that not even the All-Star break could stop it.
After sweeping Friday’s doubleheader against the American League East-leading Rays, first with a rout in the afternoon and capped by a 5-3 victory in the nightcap, the Red Sox have their first 11-game winning streak since Sept. 15-25, 2016, when the centerpieces of the lineup were Mookie Betts, David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia.
That squad never had to climb out of a hole like this one.
As recently as June 24, these Sox were 14 games under .500 and seemingly on the verge of selling parts in advance of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.
The next day, the energy shifted and the Sox started rolling and haven’t stopped. Interim manager Chad Tracy’s squad has ripped off 16 wins over their last 18 games, and that is what it took for the club to pull back to .500 for the first time since the second game of the season on March 28.
“It means a lot,” said right fielder Wilyer Abreu. “Everybody has started to feel the vibe. The fans today, that was amazing. Since the start of the game, everybody was cheering, everybody was supporting us. So we tried to give them a really good game. I think we did.”
While chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s blueprint for this team was to lean into pitching and defense — and that has been a near constant strength of the squad — the difference during this surge is that the offense is impacting games on a regular basis.
Abreu (two homers) and Willson Contreras (solo shot) helped power the 11th successive win, clinching at least a split of this four-game set against the 56-40 Rays.
Here were the moments that mattered most from Friday’s nightcap.
With the doubleheader, Tracy said he wasn’t going to burn two of his regular starters on the same day. After Jake Bennett turned in a brilliant performance in Game 1, the Sox turned to recent call-up Eduardo Rivera as an extended opener. Though the lefty struggled, giving up three runs in 2 1/3 innings, the rest of the bullpen had his back.
Relievers Greg Weissert, Jovani Morán, Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten and Aroldis Chapman recorded the final 20 outs without giving up a run.
All-Star closer Chapman closed it out in grand fashion, striking out Nick Fortes on a 99.9 mph fastball. To say the Fenway Park crowd roared with approval on that final out would be an understatement.
“The fanbase is great and they just want to see the game get closed out and for us to walk away with a win,” Chapman said. “I was excited to do that.”
2. Abreu looks right against righty
In the first few months of the season, Abreu proved that he was more than up to the challenge of playing against lefties, producing a .345/.421/.527 slash line against them. Strangely, he lost his touch against righties, with a .673 OPS against them in the first half.
That’s why it was a good sign to see Abreu maul two homers off Rays righty starter Mason Englert on Friday night. In the first, Abreu hammered one over the Boston bullpen in right-center and into the bleachers to tie the game at 2-2. Two innings later, Abreu again launched one to right-center, hitting a solo shot off the railing just in front of the bleachers. Abreu typically hits his homers in bunches, so it was a good sign for him to go deep twice after clearing the wall just once in his previous 18 games and 81 plate appearances.
3. Contreras returns with a bang
Contreras announced his presence with authority as he returned from a five-game suspension. In his first at-bat of the night, he followed Abreu’s homer with one of his own, belting No. 21 over the Green Monster. Contreras showed his usual fire in the moment, flipping his bat and shouting at his teammates.
“I think it’s the way the team is playing,” Contreras said. “[The emotion] had nothing to do with me coming back. It’s about the team. And that’s what we need; I’m not trying to be the hero. I’m just trying to be another one of the guys that is playing hard and trying to do whatever it takes to win.”
All season, Contreras has been Boston’s most productive hitter.
The fact the Red Sox went 5-0 while Contreras was out was a signal of just how well they are playing. But to be at their best down the stretch, the presence of Contreras is a must.
