The Red Sox didn't make a dent in their position for the final American League wild card spot Friday night, still sitting 6 1/2 games back despite a 6-2 win over the Mariners in Seattle. But that didn't mean there weren't baby steps to be had.
Caleb Durbin, for instance, hit another home run, giving him four in the last seven games.
Marcelo Mayer managed three RBI for the first time in his career.
And then there was Ranger Suarez.
The lefty starter carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, ultimately seeing his chase at history roadblocked by Josh Naylor's one-out double. The dream to become the first Red Sox pitcher to accomplish a no-no since Jon Lester's 2008 masterpiece was ended, but another conversation had now been taken up a notch.
Suarez has officially entered the discussion when it comes to making the American League All-Star team.
When it was all said and done on a night that already had Seattle buzzing thanks to Team USA's World Cup win across the street from Safeco Field, Suarez had allowed just the one hit over 6 2/3 innings. It marked the third time in his career he had thrown six or more innings while allowing one or fewer runs.
Suarez has now thrown six or more frames without an earned run allowed in 11 games going back to the start of 2025, tied for the fourth-most such games in MLB (just behind Max Fried, Tarik Skubal, and Paul Skenes). He has held teams scoreless in five starts this season, while giving up two or fewer runs in eight of his 14 starts.
Sure, it came against a Mariners team that he had traditionally dominated (now 3-0 with an 0.93 ERA in 3 starts), and is the worst in the big leagues when it comes to hitting lefty pitching. But, no matter. What the outing did was offer a reminder that after a bumpy first couple of starts, Suarez has been elite.
And because of it, we should be talking about a trip back to Philadelphia for the All-Star Game.
Suarez sits with an ERA of 2.93, just ahead of the likes of much-talked-about All-Star candidates Joe Ryan, Jose Soriano and Davis Martin. And after those first two starts as a Red Sox, his ERA is 2.24, second-best among all American League starters (and better than both Skenes and Yoshinobu Yamamoto).
When it comes to finding an All-Star from the Red Sox, most immediately default to Aroldis Chapman's candidacy. There is also the case for Willson Contreras, who might be blocked at first base by Vlad Guerrero Jr. (thanks to the voting), Nick Kurtz and Ben Rice. But, as we creep closer to All-Star roster decision day, it's Suarez who might be making the best case of anyone on this roster.
It was a good day for the Red Sox. It was another good day for Ranger Suarez.
As interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy told reporters, "I’ve said this about him a lot, but to watch him manipulate the strike zone with his stuff is really fun to watch."
