The Boston Red Sox closed the first half on a nine-game win streak and it was a major question during the All-Star break if they could continue their success. They got off to a good start on that front Friday.
Boston made it 11 straight by sweeping a doubleheader against the AL East-leading Rays, their longest winning streak since the 2016 season. At 48-48, they are now .500 for the first time since their second game of the season.
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They are also now tied for the final AL wild-card spot, a position that would have been unthinkable when they held the worst record in the AL as recently as June 24. They have won 16-of-18 games since then.
The Red Sox got it done Friday with a 10-0 rout of the Rays in the afternoon and a 5-3 win in the evening. The first game was smooth sailing via six shutout innings from Jake Bennett and a six-run sixth inning. The second took some more work, with seven different pitchers appearing after getting only 2 1/3 innings from starter Eduardo Rivera.
All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras also made his return from his five-game suspension in the second game and quickly continued his success, homering in his first at-bat to go back-to-back with Wilyer Abreu.
The Red Sox went 5-0 in Contreras’ absence.
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Viewed more broadly, Boston has done what it was hoping to do by firing manager Alex Cora, with Chad Tracy taking over as interim manager for the remainder of the season. It hasn’t been entirely smooth since then, with the team winning only 18 of their next 44 games, but they’re coming together now.
The Rays series was always going to be big out of the gate in the second half of the season. So will the next two series against two more division rivals, the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.
Boston is still a long way off from buying, or just not selling, being a comfortable decision at the trade deadline, but it can’t be denied the vibes are different now.
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