The Boston Red Sox have lost three games since July 3. Three.
The club posted its 27th win its last 30 games on Friday, blowing out the Athletics 13-1 to improve their record to 64-51. They were once 37-48, and now they’re tied with the New York Yankees for second place in the AL East and the AL’s top wild-card spot.
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It’s an unfathomable run of success given how the team was previously performing, having fired manager Alex Cora in April and faced similar calls to dump chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. They are the fifth team since integration to win 27 of 30, joining the 1947 Yankees, 1953 Yankees, 1977 Kansas City Royals and 2017 Cleveland Indians.
This span also includes a club record 15-game winning streak from last month. They are now on a different streak of nine straight wins.
Friday’s win saw rookie starting pitcher Payton Tolle make history with 14 strikeouts across six innings of work with 2 hits and 1 run allowed.
Per ESPN’s Mike Monaco, the 24-year-old Tolle is the youngest MLB pitcher to post 14 strikeouts in a game since the late José Fernández in 2014. In Red Sox history, he’s the youngest pitcher to do it since Roger Clemens, in the seven-time Cy Young Award winner’s 20-strikeout game in 1986.
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As for the day’s offense, it come from pretty much everyone. Six different Red Sox batters posted multiple hits. Every starter had at least one run scored or two RBI. Jarren Duran posted the team’s only homer, to open the scoring, but 15 hits and a 7-for-12 line with runners in scoring position means a night where runs come easy.
With two more home games against the A’s, who are so moribund they just fired longtime general manager David Forst, then a four-game road series against the last-place Toronto Blue Jays, the Red Sox have an open road to continuing their run of success.
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