BOSTON – For the Red Sox, the streak has now become the STREAK.
After delivering the American League East-leading Rays the final blow of a four-game sweep with a 6-1 victory on Sunday, interim manager Chad Tracy’s surging squad has won 13 in a row, tied with the 1948 team for the second-longest win streak in team history.
It is the longest winning streak for a skipper who didn’t manage the team on Opening Day since Jim Fregosi’s 13-gamer with the 1991 Phillies.
On the verge of falling out of contention in late June, the Red Sox have not only gathered themselves, but they have gone on an 18-2 tear nobody will soon forget. They will try to extend it on Monday when the Orioles come to town for the start of a three-game series.
Here is what mattered most on Sunday.
1. Gray shakes off rust for latest quality start
All-Star snub Sonny Gray was well-rested for his first start coming out of the break, taking the ball for the first time since July 10. For the first three innings, the rust showed as Gray weaved in and out of traffic like it was rush hour in Boston. He minimized the damage early, as the only run he gave up was an inside-the-park homer by Victor Mesa Jr. Over his final three innings, Gray faced 10 batters and gave up one hit.
“Rusty, rusty,” said Gray. "You know how I am. I’m very [routine-oriented]. So yeah, a little rusty, but that's OK. I just figured out a way.”
In all, he went six innings, allowing five hits and just the one run while walking a season-high four and striking out five. For Gray, it was his ninth consecutive quality start, tied for the second-longest stretch of his career (2015) and the first such streak by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale during the team’s most recent championship season of ‘18.
2. Three-run rally … without a hit?
When you’re hot, you’re hot – and breaks tend to go your way. Never was that more evident than in the bottom of the third inning, when the Red Sox snapped a 1-1 tie with a three-run “rally” that didn’t involve so much as a hit. The go-ahead run scored on a passed ball. Then there was a fielder’s-choice grounder by Caleb Durbin, and Junior Caminero’s throw home skipped past catcher Hunter Feduccia. The third run came in on a fielder’s-choice grounder with the contact play on, allowing Willson Contreras to score easily.
“I think that's a big difference between early on and now,” said Durbin. “In those situations before, it would be a strikeout or popup, and that's kind of what the Rays were doing to us earlier in the year. That's the type of baseball they play over there, and it felt really good to be able to do it to them and take advantage of their mistakes. We were able to kind of flip the script on the season, but obviously against them as well.”
3. Contreras mauls one into the bleachers
While Contreras has often taken advantage of the Green Monster in his first season with the Red Sox, he impressively smashed an opposite-field blow over the home bullpen and into the bleachers in right-center. Per Statcast, No. 22 on the season by Contreras went a projected distance of 414 feet.
“That's a reminder to [teammate] Ranger [Suarez],” said Contreras. “He was joking with me the other day that I haven't hit an oppo homer. I said, ‘OK, it's going to come; I don’t know when.’ But I'm glad that I was able to hit it that way, but I'm also glad that we showed up to play baseball and played the way we played today.”