9 straight wins, all on the road?! Red Sox pull off team feat not seen since '77

NEW YORK -- In this dramatic revival by the Red Sox over the past two weeks, the only thing that had been missing was a signature comeback.

Just in time for the All-Star break, interim manager Chad Tracy’s red-hot team took care of that Sunday, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to tie and one in the 10th to take the lead en route to a 3-2 victory over the Mets at Citi Field that gave Boston a clean sweep of a nine-game road trip.

This is just the second time in team history -- and first since 1977 -- the Sox have accomplished that feat.

“It’s impressive,” said Tracy. “I think when you leave on the plane to start the road trip, the mindset's like, ‘Let's try to go win three series and at least put ourselves within a couple of games or a few games [in the Wild Card standings] if we can. That's the mindset, and we won all nine. So I'm so proud of them.”

On the strength of this nine-game winning streak -- which is tied for the second-longest single-season road streak in franchise history and includes a 14-2 run since June 25 -- the Sox head into the break just a half-game back in the AL Wild Card picture.

“It’s huge,” said second baseman Anthony Seigler. “It speaks volumes to how we handle ourselves and how we handle the game. You can never count us out, whether that be in a playoff [chase] or in a game.”

It was the first time in 44 tries this season the Sox won a game they trailed after eight innings.

Here are three more takeaways from Boston's comeback victory:

1. Tolle finishes strong
In an effort to keep rookie lefty Payton Tolle strong heading down the stretch, the Sox opted to give him a short day at the office on Sunday (3 2/3 innings). Tolle made the most of it, holding the Mets to three hits and a run with one walk and seven strikeouts over 66 pitches.

Heading into the game, Tolle didn’t know that the team planned to keep him short.

“Those are decisions for people a lot smarter than me, but I'm going to go out there every time and want to compete and go as long as I can,” said Tolle. “But I get it, I understand it, so I was joking with [pitching coach Andrew Bailey], I was like, ‘I'm going to come yell at you later.’ But I get it. That's where we're at right now.”

Tolle, who has a 3.11 ERA through 15 starts and 84 innings, is in a good spot going into the break.

“Happy with it,” Tolle said. “Just trying to go out there every time and do what I can and compete in that game, and however they fall, they fall.”

2. Bello returns with a flourish
Five weeks after he was demoted to Triple-A, the Red Sox called Brayan Bello back to the big leagues, in large part due to the plan to give Tolle an abbreviated outing. As he did before his demotion, Bello pitched well in bulk relief, with a solo homer off the bat of Francisco Lindor representing his only blemish. It was Lindor who also drove in the first Mets run with a first-inning double off the base of the wall in left against Tolle.

“I felt very good,” said Bello. “It felt very good to give the team the opportunity to win -- me and Tolle -- and to keep rolling.”

3. Offense comes through just in time
It had been a sleepy afternoon for the Boston bats, generating just two hits over the first eight innings. Ceddanne Rafaela provided some life with a leadoff single off Mets closer Devin Williams in the ninth.

“Even when Raf got on, you knew something was going to happen,” said Seigler. “We were having too good of at-bats for something not to happen.”

Then, something fortuitous indeed happened. The game should have ended when Romy Gonzalez hit a hard grounder to shortstop that could have been a double play. Instead, Lindor couldn’t corral it and everybody was safe. Andruw Monasterio brought Boston within one on a bases-loaded walk and the slumping Jarren Duran tied it with a single to right that fell in front of diving Mets right fielder Carson Benge.

The Sox took the lead in the 10th without the benefit of a hit. Connor Wong moved automatic runner Masataka Yoshida to third with a sacrifice bunt. Seigler drove him in with a sacrifice fly to left.

“Just trying to get the ball in the air,” said Seigler. “Wonger did a great job executing, getting him over, and then I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit.”