Red Sox' magical run continues with third straight sweep

A few weeks ago, the Boston Red Sox probably couldn't wait for the All-Star break. Now, they're going to wish they could just keep playing.

The Red Sox' magical end to the unofficial first half of the season continued on Sunday with their ninth straight win and third straight series sweep, this one coming in the form of a 3-2, 10-inning victory over the New York Mets.

For eight innings, it looked like Sunday was going to be the end of Boston's winning streak. They had mustered absolutely nothing against Mets starter Zach Thornton, who allowed just two hits through seven shutout innings. Then they went down 1-2-3 against Luke Weaver in the eighth.

But facing a 2-0 deficit in the ninth, Boston's bats – and eyes – finally came to life, with a little help from the Mets along the way.

Ceddanne Rafaela led off with a single. After a Wilyer Abreu popout, Romy Gonzalez grounded into what should have been a game-ending double play. Instead, Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor fumbled the ball away and everyone was safe.

That was the opening the Red Sox needed. Caleb Durbin drew a walk to load the bases. Andruw Monasterio drew another walk to cut New York's lead to 2-1. And then Jarren Duran dropped a bloop single into right to tie the game and force extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, manager Chad Tracy opted for some small ball. Connor Wong dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move ghost runner Masataka Yoshida to third, and then Anthony Seigler drove Yoshida in with a sac fly to left to give the Red Sox their first lead of the day.

Garrett Whitlock slammed the door shut in the bottom of the 10th with a 1-2-3 inning, capping off yet another strong pitching performance across the board. Payton Tolle struck out seven and gave up one run in his 3 2/3 innings while working on a pre-planned pitch count. Brayan Bello, back in the majors for the first time since June 4, also gave up just one run during 4 1/3 innings of relief. Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth.

"They were awesome," said interim manager Chad Tracy, who is now 36-31 since taking over for Alex Cora. "Tolle was good. Bello was good. Chappy and Whit were outstanding."

On June 24, the Red Sox were dead last in the American League, six games out of a wild card spot. Since then, they've gone 14-2, the best record in the majors in that time. After Sunday's results, they are now just half a game out of the final wild card spot at the All-Star break.

Where the season goes from here is anyone's guess. When the Red Sox return from the break on Friday, they'll have 16 games until the Aug. 2 trade deadline – 16 games to try to convince chief baseball officer Craig Breslow they're a team worth adding to.

For now, though, the Red Sox have at least changed the conversation and given themselves a shot.

"It's as good as it can be," Tracy said of his team's momentum. "...That's a good one to let sink in for the four days."