This Red Sox ride just took its most unforgettable turn yet

Chad Tracy warned reporters that he might not remember too many specifics from this one. Caleb Durbin couldn't remember how many outs there were when he delivered his walkoff single up the middle in the bottom of the 13th inning.

Everything was a blur. Everyone was emotionally and physically drained. For nearly four and a half hours, the Red Sox and White Sox had gone back and forth on one of those hot, sticky August nights in New England where you sweat just sitting outside.

"I'm drenched in sweat and I wasn't even playing," Tracy noted.

For the Red Sox, it was all worth it. Durbin's 13th-inning single (which came with one out, by the way) delivered Nick Sogard across the plate to finish off a crazy 12-11 victory and delivered Boston its eighth straight win, and its 31st win in the last 36 games.

Everything about this turnaround – which now has the Red Sox 12 games over .500 just six weeks after being 14 games under .500 – has been magical, but Thursday night at Fenway Park was the most unforgettable win yet, even if certain details were soon forgotten.

The Red Sox had to dig out of an early 4-0 deficit just to give themselves a chance. They were down to their last strike in the ninth, trailing 7-6, before Wilyer Abreu singled up the middle to drive in pinch-runner (and newcomer) Eli White.

They fell behind 9-7 in the top of the 10th when Aroldis Chapman surrendered just his second home run all season, a two-run shot from Chase Meidroth. If ever there was a sign that maybe this just wasn't going to be Boston's night, that should have been it.

But this Red Sox team just doesn't care about omens or logic or what's supposed to happen. They responded again in the bottom of the 10th, tying the game on an RBI double from Andruw Monasterio and an RBI sac fly from Anthony Seigler.

When the White Sox went up 10-9 in the top of the 11th, the Red Sox held serve again thanks to an Abreu RBI sac fly. It was more of the same in the 12th: the White Sox went up 11-10, but the Red Sox answered on yet another RBI sac fly, this one off the bat of another newcomer in Jake Rogers.

Brayan Bello, solid again in relief, kept Chicago off the board in the top of the 13th. That finally opened the door for the Red Sox to win the game and not just tie it, which is exactly what Durbin did.

Five different times the Red Sox had to come back. Four of them came from the ninth inning on. In fact, Boston became the first team in MLB history to score in the bottom of the ninth, bottom of the 10th, bottom of the 11th, bottom of the 12th, and bottom of the 13th.

Everyone who was available played a role. Every pitcher in the bullpen got used, as did every reserve on the bench. Only the other four starting pitchers and an under-the-weather Willson Contreras got the night off.

"They just did not want to lose," Tracy said of his team. "It was incredible."

"We just want to win every game," Durbin said. "To sweep these guys was huge."

No team can actually win every game, but these Red Sox of the last month and a half are coming pretty damn close. They've now won nine straight series, the second-longest streak in franchise history and the longest since 1912 – the year Fenway Park opened.

After Thursday night, they've now swept six series against teams that were in first place going into the series, becoming the first team in the expansion era (since 1961) to do that. Five of those sweeps have come in the last six weeks. Their 31-5 record during that time marks the best 36-game stretch in the 126-year history of the team.

Where does this team go from here? Where does this season ultimately end up? No one knows, obviously, but in the here and now, it's hard not to feel like something special is happening with these Red Sox.

Those who were at Fenway Park Thursday night might, like Tracy and Durbin, forget some of the specifics of this game. But that feeling that they got to witness something special? Well, that's unforgettable.