The Red Sox didn't just win a baseball game Monday night, they kept building something historic. Boston jumped on Baltimore early, and by the 3rd inning the scoreboard already told the story of a team that can't miss right now.
The Red Sox jumped out to an early lead against the Orioles' starter at Fenway.
It wasn't a laugher, though. Baltimore clawed all the way back and actually took a 5-4 lead before the Red Sox tied it right back up, setting the stage for the kind of late-inning theater this team has been feasting on for two straight weeks. That's the thing about a streak like this: nobody's blowing teams out every night, they're just finding a way, over and over.
Enter Caleb Durbin. With two outs in the bottom of the 8th and the game knotted, Durbin got a hold of a cutter and put it high over the Green Monster to break the tie and give Boston a 6-5 lead. It was his 10th home run of the season, and it turned Fenway Park into a mosh pit.
Caleb Durbin's go-ahead 8th-inning homer over the Green Monster put the Red Sox up 6-5.
Dave Portnoy, never one to undersell a moment, was fully locked in as the ball left the yard, crediting Durbin and the team for a streak that's now officially lasted a fortnight without a loss.
Dave Portnoy's real-time reaction as the Red Sox pushed the streak to 14 straight.
How was that not a base hit!!!! Nothing can stop these guys!!! Its been a fortnight since the Sox have lost! 14 in a row! 1 more win to tie the longest win streak in the history of the franchise!! I never doubted Caleb Durbin and this team!!! #162er #dirtywater
From there it was Aroldis Chapman's job to close the door, and he did exactly that, working a shutdown 9th to lock up the 6-5 win. The final-out celebration on the mound made it official: 14 in a row, the 2nd longest winning streak in Red Sox franchise history.
Aroldis Chapman closes out the 9th to lock in Boston's 14th consecutive win.
For context on just how rare this is: the only Red Sox team to ever run off more consecutive wins was the 1946 club, led by a young Ted Williams, which won 15 straight. Boston gets a shot to tie that mark the very next night. It's also the longest active winning streak anywhere in MLB this year, and the streak came at the expense of an Orioles team that had actually won 7 straight of its own before running into this buzzsaw.
Not everything about the night was pure celebration, either. Between innings, fans were quietly monitoring news out of another Sox clubhouse entirely, a reminder that even during a historic run, baseball keeps throwing curveballs at fanbases up and down the standings. But at Fenway, the only thing that mattered was the scoreboard, the streak, and a shot at a franchise record with the very next first pitch.