The wins. The crowd. The record.
Envisioning all of this becoming what it has on July 18 was almost inconceivable. But here the Red Sox are. Surprise, surprise. Summer has been officially saved for New England baseball fans everywhere.
The wins?
That would be 11 straight, thanks to a doubleheader sweep of the Red Sox over the Rays, with Chad Tracy's team claiming victories of 10-0 and 5-3 on Friday at Fenway Park. It is the Sox's longest win streak since Sept. 15-25, 2016 (also 11 straight). The stretch can also be viewed over the last 18 games, during which the Sox have won 16. They are also a big league-best 19-5 in their last 24 games, dating back to June 19.
The crowd?
It wasn't that long ago that any good times at Fenway were going to be solely propped up by giveaways or Scottish soccer fans. Remember when the Scots reminded everyone how to smile for a few days back on that Sunday night game on June 14? Nobody wanted to think about what to do after the Tartan Army left town. Well, judging by the vibes throughout Fenway all day Friday, good times in 2026 will not only be linked to kilts. Tarps off. Optimism back on.
And then there's the record.
For the first time since the second game of the season, the Red Sox find themselves at .500. They have now also officially chased down the field vying for a spot in the postseason, currently finding themselves deadlocked for the third wild card spot with the Twins while living life one game up on Seattle and two ahead of Baltimore. When the Sox left Colorado on June 24, they were 14 games under .500 and 15 1/2 games behind the Yankees. Now? They are 7 1/2 games in back of New York.
Seemingly out of nowhere, in a season where the Red Sox could do no right for the better part of three months, now (as evidenced against the Rays) they can do no wrong.
"Everybody has started to feel the vibe. The fans today, that was amazing. Since the start of the game, everybody has been cheering and supporting us. So we tried to give them a really good game. I think we did," said Wilyer Abreu, who keyed the Game 2 win with a pair of home runs.
A team that couldn't win or score runs at home to save its life is doing both, averaging a respectable five runs per game at Fenway since beginning that series against the Yankees on June 25.
A team that couldn't hit enough home runs to take advantage of its lockdown pitching has now hit multiple homers in seven of its last 10 games.
A team that couldn't convince virtually anyone it was worth investing in at the trade deadline has seemingly defined its position heading into the Aug. 3 jumping-off point.
Players many believed would never be part of the solution absolutely have been exactly that, with Masa Yoshida now carrying a 1.155 OPS over the 18-game period, and Caleb Durbin (.937 OPS since June 25) also redefining his existence.
In a midsummer blink of an eye, everything has changed ... including the conversation around the 2026 Boston Red Sox.
"It was a great day, obviously," interim manager Chad Tracy summarized after Game 2. “It was two very well-played games. Two very well-pitched games and big swings in big moments. Very good day for us."
