Willy Adames did just about everything he could to hand the Giants this one. He went deep twice off Boston pitching, solo shots in the first and third innings, and for eight full innings that 2-0 lead held up. The Red Sox managed six hits and four walks against it and had nothing to show for it. Then the ninth inning happened.
Caleb Durbin drew a walk and Jahmai Jones got plunked to start the frame, and from there it snowballed fast. Eli White singled home Durbin to cut it to 2-1, and then Nick Sogard ripped a double into left to tie it up, sending the runner in to score and turning Fenway into a mess of noise.
SOGARD AINT HEAR NO BELL! TIED IN THE 9TH! https://t.co/4rWF0wRyve
That's the play Barstool Baseball flagged in real time, Sogard hustling into third and beating the tag as the tying run crossed. It fit the vibe of Boston's whole summer: nothing easy, everything earned late. Sogard finished the night 2-for-3 with a walk, and he'd already bailed the Sox out earlier in the game with a diving catch on a bases-loaded liner that kept the deficit at two instead of three.
With the game tied and the bases loaded after an intentional walk to Ceddanne Rafaela, it came down to Wilyer Abreu, who'd struck out four times already on the night. He grounded one to first, a play at the plate, and Eli White beat it home for the winning run. Just like that, a game the Red Sox had no business winning was over.
SOX WALK IT OFF! The summer of Sox continues! Down 2-0 in the 9th they win it on a play at the plate! https://t.co/qGchldq5Bc
The reaction from Red Sox fans watching this team all summer wasn't shock, it was recognition. "This Red Sox bunch just finds a way. Got some magic in em this summer," one fan wrote, and another called it a win "safe by a mile" for a team that keeps making these games weird.
This wasn't a one-off. Boston came into the night having won 33 of its last 44 games, and this marked the fourth walk-off win of the season for a team that has made a habit out of erasing deficits late. Adames' two homers were a great individual night wasted on the other side, and that's becoming the story of the Red Sox's summer, plenty of good pitching and power from the other dugout, and Boston finding a way to bury it anyway.