The Red Sox have heard the noise.
When you start the season 9-20 at home, a low not seen in 93 years and one that coincides with the worst season in franchise history, the criticism is unavoidable.
The moans, groans, and boos come with it. So do the questions that follow.
Which is why Wednesday night’s win felt so necessary.
“Much-needed, especially at Family Park,” Willson Contreras said. “I’ve seen a lot of people talking s–t about us, and we have to take that personally, and we have to have some pride about our career and our game, and we showed up tonight to win.”
For one of the few times in recent weeks, the sellout crowd of 36,872 had reason to cheer, as the Red Sox, exactly two months after their home opener, became the final team in baseball to reach double-digit home wins.
“Winning at Fenway is fun. It’s really fun, Ceddanne Rafaela said. “That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”
For most of the season at Fenway, the Red Sox haven’t been able to piece it all together. Entering Wednesday night, they were 2-4 this season when scoring 6+ runs at home. On the flip side, they are 1-19 when the pitching staff allows 3+ runs at Fenway this season. Too often, one side has done its job while the other hasn’t.
However, in a spot where they desperately needed a win at home after dropping nine of their last 11 games and 12 of their previous 16 at Fenway since the start of May, they got one behind one of their most complete performances of the season.
The pitching and offense complemented each other in a way that has been rare at Fenway this year.
Payton Tolle delivered the first scoreless start of his career with a masterful 6.0 shutout innings (7 H, 2 BB, 5 SO), generating 17 swings and misses while throwing a career-high 99 pitches. In doing so, the rookie left-hander lowered his ERA to 2.28 and became the first Red Sox pitcher to make eight or more consecutive starts allowing three earned runs or fewer to begin a season since Chris Sale in 2018 (11 starts).
Behind him, every position player in the lineup recorded a hit, with Rafaela (3), Contreras (3), Wilyer Abreu (2), and Caleb Durbin (2) all recording multi-hit games. Boston finished with 15 hits, matching its season-high at Fenway this season.
Five different Red Sox — Rafaela, Abreu, Mickey Gasper, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Durbin — recorded an RBI as Boston’s eight runs also tied its season-high at home. The Red Sox scored five runs in the fifth inning alone, more than they had scored in 20 of their 29 home games.
“It was great. Real fast and real left is what they were doing today,” Tolle said of the offense. “It was really fun to watch and be a part of. It helps the pitching staff out whenever that happens. It’s always a good atmosphere, especially whenever we’re doing things like we did today.”
Now, the Red Sox have an opportunity to build on something they have struggled to maintain throughout the season: momentum. A win on Thursday afternoon would snap a dreadful streak of six consecutive home series losses, giving Boston its first series win at Fenway in nearly two months — the second home series of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 8.
“I think it shows what we’re capable of,” Tolle said. “It’s there. It’s just kind of taking it, [gaining] momentum, believe in it, and go into the next one and just continue to have fun playing the game.”
The Red Sox have spent much of the season searching for momentum at Fenway. Every time it has looked like they might be building some, it has quickly disappeared. Wednesday night’s win gives them another opportunity to build on it. The challenge now is making sure it doesn’t end up as just another exception.
