Twelve in a row. The Boston Red Sox had not put together a winning streak this long since June of 2006, and they extended this one the way they have extended most of them, by refusing to lose a game they had no business winning. Trailing 6-3 entering the bottom of the seventh at Fenway Park, Boston scored four times to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-6 on Saturday.
Wilyer Abreu supplied the swing that mattered, a two-run homer in the seventh that put Boston ahead for good. It was his second home run of the night and his second straight two-homer game, giving him four in two days. Jahmai Jones had homered earlier, and the bullpen closed it out, with Ryan Watson earning the win and Aroldis Chapman working a scoreless ninth for the save in the Fenway finale.
The streak has rewritten Boston’s season. After a loss on July 1 the Red Sox sat last in the AL East, 14 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay. Twelve wins later they are third in the division, back over .500 at 49-48, and holding the American League’s final wild-card spot. It is the seventh time in franchise history Boston has won at least a dozen straight, and the first since the 2006 club. Streaks like this are rare enough that they end up remembered by the years attached to them.
None of it guarantees October. Boston is a single game over even and still a long way from Tampa Bay in the standings. But a team that looked finished at the break has bought itself three weeks of real relevance heading into the trade deadline, and handed a front office that ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported was undecided on buying a genuine reason to reconsider. The Red Sox go for a series win Sunday with a chance to make it 13.
Abreu has played his way into must-start status across all formats; four homers in two games from a left-handed bat aiming at Fenway’s short porch is not production to leave on a bench. Jones is a thinner play whose role fluctuates, but he is worth a look in deep AL-only leagues while the entire lineup is clicking. Chapman locking down the ninth reaffirms he is the closer to roster in Boston, with save chances arriving steadily during the streak.
