The Red Sox won twice at Fenway Park on Friday, 10-0 in the afternoon and 5-3 at night, and the doubleheader sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays pushed their winning streak to 11 games. Boston has not won 11 in a row since 2016, and at 48-48 the club is back at .500 for the first time since the second game of the season.
The opener was decided early and never contested. Jake Bennett gave up one hit and one walk over six scoreless innings on 65 pitches, and Alec Gamboa finished with three shutout innings. Carlos Narváez went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI, Masataka Yoshida homered among three hits and scored three times, Caleb Durbin added three hits, and Jarren Duran drove in three. Rays starter Griffin Jax allowed seven earned runs on eight hits in five innings.
The nightcap was the harder win. Wilyer Abreu hit both of his home runs in that game and drove in three, and Willson Contreras homered in his first game back from a five-game suspension, per the Associated Press. Junior Caminero homered for Tampa Bay and scored twice. Boston starter Eduardo Rivera lasted 2 1/3 innings and gave up three runs; six relievers covered the rest, with Jovani Morán, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten and Aroldis Chapman combining for four scoreless. Rays starter Mason Englert gave up five runs in five innings.
The context matters as much as the two results. Boston was 14 games under .500 as recently as June 24 and has won 16 of 18 under interim manager Chad Tracy, per MLB.com. That run has moved the Red Sox into an American League wild-card position and cut Tampa Bay’s division lead to 2.5 games over the Yankees, with Boston eight back in the East. It also reframes the front office’s August 3 calculation, which three weeks ago looked like a selling exercise.
For fantasy managers, Abreu and Narváez are the clearest actions. Abreu is producing again at the top of a lineup scoring in volume, and Narváez has hit his way into everyday catching reps worth a waiver claim in two-catcher formats. Yoshida is a short-term streamer while the DH at-bats hold. Bennett earned another turn and is worth a start against the weaker offenses on Boston’s upcoming schedule; Rivera’s outing makes him a sit until his role clarifies.
