A month ago the Red Sox were just another flawed team scuffling toward .500. Now they're the hottest club in baseball. Boston beat the Rays again on July 17 to make it 10 straight wins, and the run has been so dominant that the pitching staff has allowed just 14 runs total over the stretch, reportedly the fewest Boston has surrendered across any 10-game span since the live-ball era began in 1920.
A Red Sox baserunner slides in safely as Boston builds a lopsided lead over the Rays.
The streak started on the road and carried Boston through the All-Star break without a hiccup, and the win over Tampa Bay pushed the Red Sox to within a game of .500 for the first time since the season's opening week. That's a real turnaround for a team that looked cooked for stretches of the first half, and it's the kind of run that changes the temperature of an entire fanbase overnight.
No one's temperature changed faster than Dave Portnoy's. The Red Sox superfan and Barstool founder fired off the proclamation every Boston diehard was thinking after win No. 10.
stoolpresidente reacts to the 10th straight win with a bold declaration.
What do ya know….10 in a row!!!! World Series or Bust! #dirtywater
"World Series or Bust" is a big swing for a team that was sitting a game under .500 before this run, but that's the Portnoy way — go from cautiously optimistic to all-in the second the vibes shift. And the vibes have a name right now: Willson Contreras.
Contreras has quietly turned into Boston's primary power source this season, and he punctuated the streak with his 21st homer of the year against the Rays. He's hitting close to .290 with an OPS pushing .930, both career-best marks, and he already made a loud statement at the Home Run Derby before the break, crushing 13 bombs in the opening round including a 490-foot missile. The power surge hasn't been a fluke — it's been the engine of this run.
Fenway erupts as the scoreboard confirms Contreras' 21st home run of the season.
Whether "World Series or Bust" turns out to be prophecy or just a guy riding a heater is a question for October. But for a fanbase that's watched this roster get picked apart in trade rumors all year, 10 wins in a row and a first baseman hitting bombs like it's 2019 again is more than enough to believe in for now.