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BOSTON — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (49-48) extend their winning streak to 12 games on the back of Wilyer Abreu, who hits two go-ahead homers — including the game-winner — in a 7-6 win over the Rays:
1) When Abreu gets hot, he gets hot. Less than 24 hours after a two-homer game in the nightcap of Friday’s doubleheader, Abreu put the Sox up twice — by a 3-2 score in the third, and then for good with a game-winning two-run shot over the bullpen in the seventh.
Abreu, who never got consistent chances against lefties before this season, continues to crush them in 2026. His first homer was off southpaw starter Ian Seymour and traveled 435 feet after leaving the bat at 108.5 mph. Four innings later, to cap off a four-run rally that flipped a big deficit into a lead, Abreu smoked a 103.7 mph, 412-foot shot off lefty Garrett Cleavinger.
Abreu became the first Red Sox player with two multi-homer games in a row in more than a decade. Mookie Betts was the last, back in 2016.
2) Boston’s 12-game winning streak is its longest in more than 20 years, with the last such heater coming in June 2006. Boston is back over .500 for just the second time all season; the other was on Opening Day when the club beat the Reds and got to 1-0.
The Red Sox were previously 0-34 when trailing by three runs in a game. Their first win under those conditions was an exciting one.
3) Trailing 6-3 entering the seventh, the Red Sox – who had just three hits to that point — came alive against relievers Cole Sulser and Cleavinger. Andruw Monasterio led off with a double, then Jarren Duran reached first when he dove to beat out a flip on a grounder to first. Masataka Yoshida grounded out to plate Monasterio from third and make it 6-4, and with two outs, Ceddanne Rafaela lifted an RBI double off the Monster to make it a one-run game. Abreu took over from there.
With the lead, Chad Tracy pivoted from some long relief options to his duo of top relievers. Setup man man Garrett Whitlock tossed a 1-2-3 eighth on eight pitches, but closer Aroldis Chapman lost the zone with two outs and walked back-to-back hitters with two outs. With two men in scoring position after a double steal, Chapman got Jonny DeLuca to ground out to end it.
4) Long man Ryan Watson got a rare chance to pitch, something he hadn’t done much in July. Watson had logged just three innings this month (and one outing since July 1) before coming in to relieve Sandoval in the sixth. With the Sox trailing by two, the rookie got five quick outs before DeLuca rocketed a solo homer into the Monster seats to stretch the score to 6-3. He kept the Red Sox in the game, though, and picked up his first big league win in the process.
5) Most of the wins during the streak have come on the backs of great performances by Boston’s starting pitchers. That wasn’t the case Saturday behind an uneven Patrick Sandoval.
Making his first start as a member of the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Sandoval looked good early before Tampa Bay’s offense started teeing off. Sandoval lasted five innings as the Rays scored five runs (four earned) on nine hits. In a three-run fourth, the Rays had a single, three doubles and a homer — and it could have been worse if the Red Sox didn’t get the final out at the plate in the inning on a nice relay from Rafaela to Anthony Seigler to Carlos Narváez.
6) Left fielder Jahmai Jones made an instant impact with the bat in his first start since coming over in a midweek trade with Detroit. The journeyman tied the game in the second (at 2-2) with a two-run, no-doubt homer over the Green Monster that left the bat at 105 mph.
It was an adventure for Jones on the other side of the ball, though. Playing the Green Monster is a learning curve for any left fielder, but he looked lost on doubles by Chandler Simpson and Richie Palacios in the fourth and got tripped up in the corner on another play earlier in the game. Both Simpson and Palacios scored as part of a three-run fourth for Tampa Bay.
Jones’ eventful day ended very early — in the fourth — when Tracy pinch-hit Duran for him against righty reliever Kevin Kelly.
7) The Red Sox had played crisp, clean baseball on a consistent basis for a few weeks but didn’t execute at the same level Saturday. Boston had two errors that led to Rays runs and lost another opportunity to score on the basepaths before coming back late.
Overaggressiveness by Willson Contreras led to two runs in the second. With a man on second the speedy Simpson looking to bunt, Contreras charged so hard he was about 15 feet from the plate when the pitch was delivered, and that backfired when Simpson swung, chopped a hard grounder toward second base and Seigler threw the ball into the dugout because Contreras wasn’t back in time. Ryan Vilade scored on the play and Simpson later raced around to make it 2-0 on a Nick Fortes bloop RBI single.
After Abreu’s first homer, Simpson doubled and Narváez airmailed Caleb Durbin on a throw trying to nab him on a stolen base attempt at third. Simpson jogged home to the the game.
In the fourth, Romy Gonzalez stole second after getting hit by a pitch, then took off for third and was thrown out rather easily. Monasterio then lifted a ground-rule double that would have scored Gonzalez if he had been on second.
8) It’s easy to take Rafaela’s defense for granted, but he made a stellar play — even by his high standards — in the third. With one out, DeLuca lifted a soft liner into shallow center and Rafaela, after getting a perfect jump, made a fantastic diving play coming in on the ball.
The Gold Glover’s awareness was again on display in the fourth when DeLuca hit a rocket double into right center and Rafaela corralled it before throwing a strike to Seigler, who gunned down a chugging Díaz at the plate on a close play.
9) Rain looked like it was going to be a factor all afternoon with a poor forecast around Fenway, but once play started — at 5:11 p.m., after a 61-minute delay — there wasn’t a drop to be found until the seventh inning.
10) Watching Junior Caminero hit is a sight to behold as he crushes just about everything thrown to him. He hit balls at 101 mph (double play), 105.1 mph (groundout) and 114.4 mph (groundout) in a 1-for-4 day.
11) Sunday’s series finale will bring a very good pitching matchup with righty Sonny Gray (11-1, 2.54 ERA) set to pitch for the Red Sox and lefty Shane McClanahan (8-5, 2.83 ERA) pitching for the Rays. First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. ET from Fenway.
More Red Sox coverage
- How Wilyer Abreu’s ‘main focus’ from winter helped Red Sox to one of best wins of the year
- Red Sox-Rays game delayed due to rain Saturday
- Red Sox trade addition gets first start Saturday over Jarren Duran (lineups and more)
- Red Sox slugger watched first game at home, then helped give ‘pretty quick answer’ in Game 2 win
- Red Sox reactions: Everything to know as Boston reaches .500 for first time since March 28
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