The first off-season move came on December 10th, when free agent reliever, Aroldis Chapman was signed to bolster the Sox bullpen as tjhe closer. Then Craig Breslow got to work to bring in two solid starting pitchers.

AROLDIS CHAPMAN

On December 11th, the team acquired pitcher Garrett Crochet from the White Sox in exchange for minor-league prospects Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman González. They also acquired catcher Carlos Narváez from the New York Yankees in exchange for minor-league pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international signing bonus pool money.

On December 23rd, free-agent pitcher Patrick Sandoval was signed to a two-year contract and on December 28th, free agent pitcher Walker Buehler was signed to a one-year contract.

On January 15th, the Sox acquired catcher Blake Sabol from the Giants in exchange for international bonus pool space. And a major signing came when free agent gold glove All Star, Alex Bregman agreed to a three year deal on February 12th. Bregman, a Gold Glove thirdbaseman with the Astros was more or less given the third base job over Rafael Devers, who was not happy about it. Ultimately, Devers would be the Sox DH.

The other big strory was who would be the Red Sox seconbaseman? Initially it was thought to be Bregman or Vaughn Grissom, but rookie Kristian Campbell ran away with the job when camp ended.

The Sox opened up in Texas on March 27th and rode the back of Wilyer Abreu. He was 3-for-3 with two homers, and the second one was a three-run shot that broke open a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning, 5 to 3. But the Sox lost the next three games to the Rangers, going 6-for-41 with runners in scoring position. In the four games the Sox struck out a total of 41 times and the worst was Rafael Devers who struck out 12 times.

On April 2nd in Baltimore, Garrett Crochet, who had just signed a 6-year extension with the Sox, cruised to a 3-0 victory. Rafael Devers, after going 0-for-21, got two hits. The Sox concluded the trip with another win over the Orioles, 8-4, with Alex Bregman leading the way with a first inning homer that put the Sox ahead and they didn't look back.

The Fenway home opener on April 4th, turned out to be a slugfest. After the Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, the two teams traded shots until the very end, as the Sox beat the Cardinals, 13 to 9. Trevor Story and Wilyer Abreu went back-to-back with homers in that opening inning.

The Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Cardinals on April 6th. In the first game, trailing 4-2 in the ninth inning, the Sox walked the bases loaded, Romy Gonzalez lined a base hit to bring in a run and the Rafael Devers walked to bring in the tying run. Finally, in the 10th inning, the red hot Wilyer Abreu (14-for-29, .483 BA) laced a line dive off the left field wall that scored Alex Bregman, the ghost runner, with the winning walk-off run, 5 to 4. The second game was a runaway 18-7 explosion, with Devers going 4-for-4 and Bregman going 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles and a home run. This, in support of rookie Hunter Dobbins, called up from the Woo Sox just to pitch in this, his first major league game.

After losing three straight to the Jays, the Sox finally beat them on April 10th. With the bases loaded and the game tied with one out in the bottom of the 10th, Trevor Story worked a 2-2 count and sent a soft dribbler towards the second baseman. It wasn’t the prettiest ball, but Blue Jays infielder Andres Gimenez couldn’t make a play at home or turn a double play, leaving him with nothing to do but throw to first, giving Story a walk-off groundout to send the Red Sox off on their next road trip with a 4-3 extra-innings win.

The constant issue with the Sox thus far was their ability to knock in runners with a .093 BA. They also had made an MLB-high 19 errors, having allowed 14 unearned runs. This with Gold-Glover Alex Bregman at third over Devers and a healthy Trevor Story.

After losing two to the White Sox, Garrett Crochet took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, on April 13th, where  it was broken up by the man he was traded for ... Chase Meidroth on his 96th pitch. Trevor Story had a two-run double and a homer in the 3-1 viuctory.

In Tampa, the Sox got embarrased by the Rays, 16-1. But in the next game on April 15th, Alex Bregman led them back. With a monsterous performance, going 5-for-5 with two homers, the Sox rode him to a 7-4 victory. More mportantly, the Sox had an error-free game after making 12 in their previous eight. The final game of the series was a 1-0 pitchers duel and a shutout by the Sox bullpen, especially some clutch pitching by Garrett Whitlock. The only run was on a homer by David Hamilton.

Trevor Story slugged two three-run homers while Hunter Dobbins impressed on the mound, beating the Chicago White Sox, 10-3 on April 18th. The next day the Red Sox blew a 3-0 lead, but thanks to Triston Casas' wall-ball single in the 10th inning, they walked-off with a 4-3 win. After losing the next game, Walker Buehler (3-1) was the stopper for the Patriots Day game on April 21st. He held the White Sox to four hits and a run over seven innings, in a 4-2 win.

Brayan Bello made his season debut against the Mariners on April 22nd and after some first inning jitters, settled down to pitch an excellent game, winning 8 to 3. He was supported by Wilyer Abreu  who was 3 for 4, with a double and two stolen bases, Alex Bregman, who hit two doubles and Triston Casas who belted a three-run homer into the centerfield bleachers. But the Sox were overmatched by the Mariners pitchers and lost 2-of-3.

DURAN STEALS HOME

In Cleveland, the Sox split a doubleheader on April 26th, losing the opening game, but coming back to take the second game, 7 to 3, with a solid pitching performance by Walker Buehler and an electrify at bat by Jarren Duran. Jarren was 3-for-5, with three runs scored and two RBIs. He was on third base after ripping a triple into the right field corner to make the score 5-0. Rookie Guardians pitcher, Doug Nikhazy was pitching from the windup instead of the stretch and Jarren took off. He slid head first into home, just ahead of the throw to the plate … safe … 6-0 Sox.

The Sox put it all together in the series finale, clobbering the Guardians, 13 to 3 on Aporil 27th. Rob Refsnyder, Rafael Devers anbd Cedanne Rafaela all belted homers and Duran was 4-for-6. And the Sox stole home again, for the second time in two straight games, although this one came on a double steal, a feat the Sox had not done since 1961. Brayan Bello got the win, pitching a solid game in his second start of the season.

In Toronto on April 29th, the Red Sox banged out five homers in the first two innings and cruised to a 10-2 win. Lucas Giolito made his long awaited Sox debut the next night and was spotted a 6-0 lead, but gave up back-to-back Blue Jays homers after 5 2/3 shutout innings. The Jays tied it up and eventually walked it off in the 10th inning, 7 to 6.

After being four outs from victory the second game, the Red Sox had the lead with five outs to go in the third game on May 1st. Again, it slipped away, this time with a 4-2 defeat to the Blue Jays in which a rocket, three-run homer by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a 3-2 misfire by Justin Slaten was the crushing blow.

Tanner Houck had easily his best start of the season. In a season-high seven innings, he tamed Toronto’s offense, allowing four hits and a run while walking none and striking out six. He left with a 2-1 lead, a solo homer in the seventh serving his only blemish. For the 17-16 Red Sox, what could well have been a three-game sweep was instead a series loss to cap a 3-3 road trip.

Over the last three weeks, a troubling trend has emerged by the Red Sox. They don’t protect leads. The source of the failure is coming from their bats, which curdle like a glass of milk left out in the sun too long as the game progresses. In just the last five games encompassing this road trip, the Red Sox have jumped out to leads of 3-0, 6-0, 9-0, 7-0, and 6-0, and they’ve only won three of them. Expanding out further over the last three weeks, it wasn’t so much their overall mediocre record, but rather how many games they’ve left on the table.

KRISTIAN CAMPBELL

Kristian Campbell was named American League "Player of thye Month" for April. He has been better than expected in the major leagues. He was hitting .313 with a .935 OPS through his first 28 games. He's knocked eight doubles, tied for second most on the team, four homers, the third most among Red Sox, and posted 12 RBI. He owned a .412 on-base percentage through the first 30 games of the season, which is the third highest in Red Sox history for a player under the age of 23. The two highest metrics are both owned by Ted Williams. But Campbell supplanted him in another category. His 17-game on-base streak to start his big league career is the second-longest in Red Sox history, unseating Ted's 15-game streak from before he turned 23.

Back at Fenway against the Twins on May 2nd, Brayan Bello,  3. He was supported by Wilyer Abreu  who was 3 for 4, with a double and two stolen bases, Alex Bregman, and Rafael Devers were all spectacular, but David Hamilton’s base running drew praise. He stole bases and sprinted around third and scored on a ball that looked like an out off the bat. Greg Weissert took the mound for the top of the eighth and promptly struck out three of the four hitters he faced. In the bottom half of the inning, Romy Gonzalez doubled in Trevor Story, stole third base, and was then doubled in by Hamilton. The role players game through to secure a 6-1 win.

The Sox lost 2-of-3 to the Twins. For the ninhth consecutive game, the Red Sox scored first, but for the fifth time in this nine game stretch, they did not deliver a win. The offense kicks things off strong and starting pitching carries the team so far, then past the 6th, anything goes and you don’t know if this squad can close things out. Another series loss and another comeback defeat, their third in six games.

With the Sox lugging a three-game losing streak into May 7th's game with the Rangers, and with five losses in their last six tries, Alex Bregman took matters into his own hands. In the fourth inning, he supplied the Red Sox’ first hit, a towering shot into the Monster Seats for his ninth homer of the season and 200th of his career. In the in the sixth, he ripped a double off the Wall and came around to score, and in the seventh, with the game tied, he drilled a two-run single to left, putting the Red Sox ahead for good in a game they would win 6-4.

Though Brayan Bello didn’t qualify for the victory after getting pulled by Alex Cora because of his high pitch count (83 overall, with 44 strikes), he held Texas scoreless over 4 2/3 innings in the Sox 5-0 getaway victory over the Rangers on May 8th. Rafael Devers hit a solo homer and drove in two runs for the Red Sox.

Hunter Dobbins' fourth big league start included six shutout innings on May 9th, in which he gave up just five hits and struck out six batters. He was the first Red Sox pitcher this season to go at least six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and no walks, but the Sox lost the game in the 12th inning to the Royals.

The next game was a different story as the Sox trounced the Royals, 10 to 1. Rafael Devers was 4-for-4 with a walk and in the meantime, Garrett Crochet (1.92 ERA) allowed just the one run in his seven innings of work. In the finale on May 11th, Lucas Giolito improves reach time he takes the ball. In this, his third start of the year, after missing all of last season, he gave up one unearned run and Devers again provided the firepower with a mammoth homer. The Sox won 3-1, and took 2-of-3 from Kansas City.

Devers told his boss to this (first base) job and shove it. He then proceeded to go 10-21 with two homers, a double, and a steal as he put up a 1.386 OPS  over the ensuing six games. Devers was named the American League Player of the Week.

The Sox bullpen blew three leads on May 13th against the Tigers. In the sixth, 10th and 11th they gave away a back-and-forth, dramatic game that ended in lightning-fast fashion when Javier Baéz walked off Greg Weissert three pitches into the frame and turned a 9-7 Red Sox lead into a 10-9 Tigers victory. The Red Sox led baseball with 11 blown saves.

Also, with runners in scoring position the Sox were batting just .242, ranking them 19th in MLB, with by far the most number of at-bats in that position. 

In the bottom of the ninth on May 17th, Rafael Devers stepped to the plate with a tie score and smashed a 2-1 breaking ball to deep right-center over the bullpen wall, propelling the Red Sox to a 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Devers won the game, but Jarren Duran’s 2-for-5 night, in addition to throwing a runner out at home, gave the Red Sox a chance. Duran’s two-run homer in the third put the Red Sox on the board at 5-2, and his two-run single in the eighth tied the score at six.

The Red Sox struck first with two runs in the first inning against Mets’ Kodai Senga on May 19th, who had allowed just five earned runs in 44 1/3 innings over his first eight starts. Jarren Duran led off the bottom of the first inning with a double and scored on Alex Bregman’s RBI groundout to second base. Trevor Story’s RBI single made it 2-0 and the Sox took a 3-0 lead in the second inning on Duran’s RBI triple, eventually winning 3-1.

On May 23rd, Rafael Devers had a career-high eight RBIs, hitting a three-run homer in the sixth inning a grand slam in a 13-run eighth to lead the Red Sox over the Baltimore Orioles 19-5. The next day, with one out and a runner on second in the bottom of the 10th inning and the score tied at 5-5, Rafael Devers hesitated on his way to the batters box, waiting to see if the Orioles would signal an intentional walk. No signal came. And Devers laced a hit through the middle of the infield with enough juice to bring Ceddanne Rafaela home for a walk-off single to end the first game of May 24th's doubleheader, 6 to 5. The evening game saw the debut of Marcello Mayer taking the place of the injured Alex Bregman. He and the Sox lost 2-1 in spite of a great pitching performance by Liam Hendricks. Unfortuneatly the Sox were 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position and split the series.

GARRETT CROCHET

In Milwaukee on May 26th, Garrett Crochet (2.04 ERA) struck out 11 but lost again because his teammates were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. With runners in scoring position, the Sox have a staggering 154 strikeouts.

Kristian Campbell started the year off hot with a 17-game on-base streak, but he's been ice cold lately with a .183 BA in his last 30 games. Campbell's isn't the only slumping bat in Sox lineup, and that's exactly its problem.

The Red Sox are also lucky to get through five innings with their starters (besides Crochet).

The Red Sox called Marcelo Mayer up to the big leagues to shore up the infield in the wake of a long-term injury to Bregman. Mayer has performed well early in his tenure, with five hits, including two doubles, in his first five games. Without Bregman's consistency in the batting order, the Red Sox needed Mayer to be at his best to have any shot at replicating his production, which is a lot of pressure for the 22-year-old.

Garrett Crochet experienced a mix of dominance (a season-high 12 strikeouts), frustration and adversity  when he got out of a few tough jams in the first six innings of his outing against the Braves. Then there was pure jubilation in the seventh when he struck out Michael Harris II, Nick Allen and then star Ronald Acuña Jr. on just 13 pitches. Crochet carved up the Braves lineup all afternoon, though he didn’t avoid trouble.

Trevor Story could have easily left Atlanta with three homers in three games. The ledger will read that he had one in the Sox 5-1 win on May 30th, but after narrowly missing one to center the next day, he came even closer in the first inning of this game. when he smoked a Bryce Elder pitch off the top of the wall. He missed a homer by inches but still took home a three-run double that was enough for the Red Sox 3-1 win on June 1st.

Back at Fenway the Angels bombed the Sox. Another night in which the Red Sox didn’t take advantage with runners in scoring position. Another night in which they were sloppy in the field, committing three errors and what should have been a fourth. Another night in which the fundamentals were again missing. And, of course, two more one-run losses in the first two games.

But on June 5th, the Sox flipped the script on their trend and eked out a close win for a change, avoiding the sweep with a 11-9 win over the Angels thanks to a Ceddanne Rafaela walk-off homer that traveled just 308 feet before it tucked into the seats near Pesky’s Pole.

The Red Sox lost the opener at Yankee Stadium on June 6th, after Walker Buehler dropped the offense into a deep hole by giving up five runs in the first inning. Sox starters have a 7.06 ERA in the first inning.

The team rebounded in the second game on June 7th. Trevor Story was a force offensively, giving the Sox plenty of spark for a 10-7 win. Story went 3-for-5  with five RBIs. He got it going early. After surrendering three runs in the bottom of the second inning, the Sox fought back immediately, rattling off five runs in the top of the third, thanks in large part to a 3-RBI double from Story with the bases loaded. In the ninth inning after the Yankees fought back within one run, Story delivered again. He drove in two more runs with a single, giving more cushion to get through the bottom of the frame unscathed.

CARLOS NARVAEZ

In the final game on June 8th, Carlos Narváez put the Sox ahead with a three-run homer against his former team in the sixth inning, and the Red Sox overcame two home runs by Aaron Judge in an 11-7 victory over the Yankees. Kristian Campbell hit a two-run homer to the short porch in right field off Rodón in the fifth. Abraham Toro and Trevor Story hit back-to-back solo shots in the eighth and Rafael Devers also went deep as the Sox equaled a season high with five longballs to take two of three games at Yankee Stadium.

After returning to Fenway and losing the opening game to the Rays in 11 innings, the Sox rebounded the next night, June 10th. Roman Anthony, the top prospect in baseball had been called up from the Woo Sox the day before. He hit a two-run double for his first major league hit and added a sliding catch in right field to help the Sox beat the Rays, 3-1.

Trevor Story added two hits, including a solo homer over the Green Monster and onto Lansdowne Street. Lucas Giolito, who gave up seven runs to the Angels in his last start picked up his first win in five starts. Giolito (2-1) limited the Rays to one unearned run — thanks to his own errant pickoff throw — on three hits and three walks while striking out four over six innings.

Finally, on June 11th, Marcelo Mayer hit two of the Sox four solo home runs to outlast the Rays, 4-3. Abraham Toro added a go-ahead homer in the fifth inning, and Jarren Duran also hit one. Walker Buehler (5-4) allowed three runs off six hits over seven innings and struck out seven.

Back at Fenway on June 13th, the Sox played the Yankees again. Garrett Crochet looked as dominant as ever, allowing just three hits and no runs entering the ninth inning leading 1-0. Crochet had struck out Aaron Judge in six straight at-bats dating back to his previous start last week. But Crochet’s 107th pitch of the evening allowed Judge to launch it 443 feet and well onto Landsdowne St. and tie the game at one run apiece. That took the tie game to extra innings and the Sox walked it off in the 10th inning by way of a Carlos Narvaez RBI single high off the Green Monster to beat the 2-1.

In the second match-up on June 14th, Hunter Dobbins helped lead the Red Sox to another win, 4-2. Dobbins went six scoreless innings, giving up only two hits while striking out five and walking one.

In the finale, Brayan Bello threw a great game against the Yankees, winning 2-0. Rafael Devers liftied a solo shot into the first ledge of the Green Monster to put up an insurance run and help the Sox sweep the series. It looked as though a season rife with drama and underwhelming returns was starting to turn a corner. The win give the Sox five in a row, and seven victories in its last eight contests. 

A few hours later, however, as the team boarded a plane for a series in Seattle, Devers was traded to the San Francisco Giants.

ROMAN ANTHONY

In Seattle on June 16th, Lucas Giolito threw a 2-0 shutout over six innings and was helped by Roman Anthony, who hit his first major league home run. Two days later Garrett Crochet struck out eight over six inning in a 3-1 Sox victory. Trevor Story's two-run homer snapped a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning.

The Sox moved down to San Francisco for a weekend series on June 20th. The first game was one where thye lead changed hands many times and the Sox prevailed 7 to 5. Ceddanne Rafaela came through with a rall-starting double, an RBI single and a towering solo homer and also made a great leaping catch in center field. In his last 71 at-bats he was hitting .338 with five homers.

Loses in the next two games were frustrating, when the Sox lost the lead on defensives miscues. Two unearned runs in the second game and five in the third game were the reasons for each loss.

In a loss as bad as the Red Sox have suffered this season, the Sox twice were done in by Angels second baseman Christian Moore on June 24th. First, he homered off Greg Weissert in the eighth to tie the game at 1-1. Then, after the Red Sox had gone ahead in the top of the 10th on a Marcelo Mayer RBI single, Moore homered again, this time off Justin Wilson with the automatic runner on board. The walk-off shot, which barely left Angel Stadium, handed the Sox their fourth loss in a row, 3-2. Mayer also supplied the only real offense of the night for the Red Sox, leading to both of their runs.

Garrett Crochet did his part to fill the role of stopper, tossing seven shutout innings and allowing just three hits. From the third through the sixth, he retired 12 of 13 and completely dominated the Angels.

The Sox returned to Fenway after being swept by the Angels. For the series, they fanned 33 times and hit a collective .177 and oiutscored almost two to one.

After a brutal six game losing streak, the Red Sox scored three runs in each of the first three innings and cruised on June 28th. Their offensive output in the first three innings tied the output from the previous four games. In total, the club had 18 hits. The big swing of the day came from Wilyer Abreu, who opened things up early with a three-run homer in the first inning.

Lucas Giolito benefited from pitching with a big lead but still did his job. After going six innings in each of his last three outings, he powered through seven and was charged with just one unearned run, winning 15-1. But the Sox lost the finale and thus two of the three games with Toronto.

Next were the Cincinnati Reds, who were in town to helk celebrate thye 50th anniversary of the 1975 World Series. On June 30th the Sox romped to a 13-6 win, highlighted by an inside-the-park homer by Wilyer Abreu. He followed that up by slugging a grandslam homer, the first Sox player to do it since Jim Tabor in 1939. Tabor hit two grandslams at Shibe Park, one of which was also an inside-the-park homer.

After splitting the last two games with the Reds, the Sox headed down to Washington, six games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

On July 4th, the Red Sox used a balanced offensive attack and big days from Lucas Giolito and Trevor Story, to rout the Nationals, 11-2. Giolito has held opponents to three earned runs in 32 2/3 innings over his last five starts, good for a 0.83 ERA in that span. He’s 5-1 with a 3.66 ERA this year. Story singled, stole second and scored in the first, hit a two-run single in the fifth inning, singled again in the sixth and capped off his day with his 13th hgome run blast of the year.

The next day, the Sox offense won the game for them again. The bats stayed hot in a 10-3 triumph. Jarren Duran’s two-run triple and Ceddanne Rafaela’s two-run homer highlighted a seven-run third inning off Nationals, helping the Red Sox build a 9-0 lead en route to their 10,000th win in franchise history. The Sox join the Dodgers, Yankees, Giants and Cardinals as the only franchises to reach that benchmark.

CEDDANNE RAFAELA

Trevor Story homered and the Red Sox beat Washington 6-4 on July 6th to complete a three-game sweep. Left-hander Garrett Crochet (9-4) allowed two runs and struck out seven in five innings. He leads the majors with 151 strikeouts and is the fourth pitcher in Red Sox history with 150 strikeouts before the All-Star break, joining Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez and Chris Sale. Ceddanne Rafaela ripped a ninth-inning solo homer as part of a three-hit game for the Red Sox (46-45), who have won six of eight.

Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Romy Gonzalez homered to help the Sox to their seventh win in nine games against the Rockies on July 7th, 9 to 3.

The next night, just three outs from his first career shutout, Brayan Bello settled for his first nine-inning complete game, a performance more than dominant enough to lead his Red Sox to a 10-2 victory over the Rockies. While Bello was story early on, the Red Sox offense did its share later, scoring four runs with two outs in the sixth, to break the scoreless tie, and then tacking on another six runs in the seventh. In that game-breaking seventh, Trevor Story mashed a three-run homer against his former team, and Jarren Duran added two more with a 456-foot missile over the bullpen and into the bleachers in right-center.

The Red Sox kept on rolling, riding the latest sparkling outing from Lucas Giolito and another batch of timely hits to their sixth win in a row, downing the Rockies, 10-2, to complete a three-game sweep on July 9th. Masataka Yoshida, playing his first game since this year, made himself right at home, going 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Ceddanne Rafaela hit a go-ahead, two-run double during a three-run seventh inning and the Red Sox earned their season-high seventh straight win by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on July 10th. Making his final start before the All-Star break, Garrett Crochet proceeded to put a stamp on his expectation-exceeding first half with a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win over the Rays, on July 12th. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer, Brayan Bello pitched one-run ball into the seventh inning and the Red Sox extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 4-1, series-sweeping victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on July 13th.

ALEX BREGMAN

After the Sox bats went silent during the first two games against the Cubs after the All Star break, they exploded for a 6-1 win in thre third matchup on July 20th. Wilyer Abreu hit a two-run homer with no outs in the seventh to get ahead 2-1. Then Alex Bregman broke the game open with a pinch-hit three-run home run in the eighth inning, making it 5-1. Bregman was not supposed to play, but pinch hit for Masa Yoshida. Abreu finally hit a another homer in the eighth inning to put the Sox up 6-1. While the day was punctuated by the late-game home runs, ace Garrett Crochet bought time for the offense to find itself, gutting his way through six strong innings in which he gave up one run on eight hits while walking two and striking out five. The lefty threw 100 pitches, 64 of them for strikes.

After the Sox lost their first two games with the Phillies, striking out 28 times, in the final match-up on July 23rd, Carlos Narváez hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning to help the Red Sox complete a rally for a 9-8 victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

A lost popup by Marcelo Mayer, that should have been the final out in the fifth inning quickly turned into six runs by the Sox. With the bases loaded, Rob Refsnyder fouled a 2-0 pitch behind the plate, but neither Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto nor pitcher Jesús Luzardo tracked the ball and it fell harmlessly in foul territory. It was just the break the Red Sox needed. After Refsnyder and Jarren Duran drew RBI walks to cut the deficit to 5-2, Romy Gonzalez crushed a changeup from Luzardo into the seats in left-center field for his first career grand slam and an unlikely 6-5 Boston lead.

Both Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez homered off Garrett Crochet in the first inning for the Dodgers at Fenway on July 26th, setting the tone for a rough night. But Crochet settled into the game in the second and third innings, and became a major reason the Red Sox were able to mount a comeback and beat the Dodgers 4-2. He pitched six full innings and struck out 10 batters. Jarren Duran lede the offense and had his first career game with two triples and also added a double.

After losing a heartbreaker in Minnesota, the Sox roared back by beating the Twins, 8 to 5 on July 29th. Trevor Story’s homer and Lucas Giolito’s strong outing lifted the Red Sox. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a one-out triple and scored on Roman Anthony’s single. Alex Bregman followed with a double, and Anthony scored.  Then Story’s two-run homer gave the Sox a 4-0 lead.

Giolito (7-2) gave up one run on five hits and two walks while striking out five. Jarren Duran also homered, doubled and stole a base for the Red Sox.

Jarren Duran went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs, Trevor Story hit his second homer in as many games, and the Red Sox earned a series win with a 13-1 victory at Minnesota on July 30th. Red Sox starter Brayan Bello yielded one earned run on five hits in seven innings with four strikeouts. The Red Sox (59-51) finished July in third place, five games behind Toronto.

Roman Anthony lined a fly ball over drawn-in center fielder Chas McCormick’s head to score the automatic runner from third, and the Boston Red Sox rallied in the 10th inning to beat the new-look Houston Astros 2-1 on August 1st. With Abreu at third, Anthony lined a 2-2 pitch to center. McCormick ran after it and it flew just beyond his glove for what was scored as a walk-off single.

The Red Sox faced a 2-0 deficit before they even stepped up to the plate on August 2nd, but Romy Gonzalez, who has thrived against lefty starters all season, sent the leadoff pitch in the bottom of the first straight over the Green Monster. And a reinvigorated Sox lineup rattled off six straight runs across four innings, leading to a 7-3 win over the Astros. Trevor Story also homered with three RBIs, going 2-for-4, and Abraham Toro hit a two-RBI home run of his own. With the win the Sox moved past the Yankees into second place in the AL East, four games behind.

On August 3rd, the Red Sox swept the Astros behind Lucas Giolito. He only had one blemish in his start, giving up a solo home run as he allowed just three hits in eight innings. Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela had consecutive RBI singles in a six-run fourth inning filled with five Houston mistakes. Connor Wong added a sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu was credited with a sacrifice on a safety squeeze for an RBI during the inning.

The Royals came to Fenway on August 4th. Jarren Duran, came through with the biggest hit of the game as the red-hot Red Sox ran their winning streak to six games with an 8-5 victory. Duran mauled a three-run 419 ft homer into the center-field bleachers. Wilyer Abreu then made a cannon of a throw to the plate to short-circuit Kansas City’s four-run rally in the eighth.

The next night, Garrett Crochet (13-4) struck out eight to win his ninth consecutive decision and to help the Sox win for the ninth time in 10 games. Trevor Story hit a blooper into center field to break a sixth-inning tie. Story drove in two runs in the sixth and and added another RBI single in the three-run seventh, when the Red Sox took a 6-2 lead. The Red Sox (54-51) took 2-of-3 from the Ruyals and were 13 games above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2021 season, and were 23-5 since June 4th.

Wilyer Abreu made former teammate Nick Pivetta pay for his mistakes with a two-run home run in a four-run fourth inning and Masataka Yoshida also connected to help the Red Sox beat the Padres in San Diego, 10-2 ,on August 8th. Connor Wong added a bases-loaded double and Walker Buehler (7-6) shut out the Padres on four singles through six innings. But the Sox lost the next two games in SAn Diego.

On his return to Houston, August 12th, Alex Bregman was cheered. But after he homered in his first bat, he was booed the next time he came to the plate. The Sox lost however, 7 to 6.

The next day was different however. On August 13th, Bregman homered again, Anthony homered again also, and Carlos Narváez added a three-run shot to lead the Sox to a 14-1 win overs the Astros. Dustin May cattered five singles across six scoreless and struck out eight in his second start since a trade from the Dodgers. Wilyer Abreu hit an RBI double in the seventh and a two-run double in the Sox four-run eighth.

TREVOR STORY

The Sox lost 2-of-3 to the Astrois however and came back home to face the Miami Marlins. On August 15th, the Sox couldn’t secure a hit until the fifth inning and didn’t plate a run until the sixth, but Trevor Story notched a walk-off hit to defeat Marlins in comeback fashion, 2-1. Lucas Giolito allowed seven hits and one earned run, but he kept Miami at bay, paving the way for his teammates to create magic in the ninth inning. The right-handed hurler tossed 6 ⅓ innings on seven hits, one earned run, one walk, and five strikeouts.

The win marked the club’s 40th win at Fenway this season, good for a 40-22 overall record. Ten of them have come in walk-off fashion, which leads MLB.

After outlasting the Miami Marlins, 7-5, the next day, the Sox had now won 16 of itheir last 18 home games. The Red Sox (68-56) were 41-22 at home on the season, compared to 27-34 on the road. Brayan Bello found a rhythm early and never relented in a strong all-around effort. He appeared to relax even more when the Red Sox gave him plenty of run support. Trevor Story continued his recent tear with a two-hit day, and he blasted a three-run shot to left that plated Anthony and Jarren Duran.

The Sox lost both games to the last place Orioles and the one on August 19th was a heartbreaker. Newcomer, Nathaniel Lowe, in his first game with the Sox, homered to tie the game in the ninth. But after loading the bases in three consecutive innings, the Sox failed to score on all three occasions. Meanwhile, the Orioles pushed the winning run across in the 10th inning.

In Yankee Stadium on August 21st, the Sox continued to waste opportunities and strand base runners, while the Yankees tried hard to give the Sox the game. They were just 3-for-19 in such situations and left 14 men on base. It was a brutally sloppy game across the board, yet in spite of that, they beat the Yanks, 6-3, behind Nathaniel Lowe and Roman Anthony.

Brayan Bello shut out the Yankees, 1-0, giving up just three hits, in the next game on August 22nd, with some help from Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman.

In the third game on August 24th, Garrett Crochet stifled the Yankees scattering five hits and striking out 11, reaching 200 for the season and winning 12-1. The hot bat of Trevor Story produced a two-run double, to break a scoreless tie and later he knocked out a solo homer, his 20th of the season. The Yankees took the final game the next night.

Homers by Roman Anthony and Jarren Duran, as well as two shutdown innings by Garret Whitlock and Ardolis Chapmam at the end, were all the Red Sox need to beat Baltimore, 4 to 3 on August 25th. The next night Lucas Giolito shut out the Orioles, 5-0, going eight strong innings. Trevor Story and David Hamilton provided the offense with home runs.

In the third game with the Orioles on August 27th, Ceddanne Rafaela reprised his role of home run hero at the perfect time. Just two innings after he and Jarren Duran converged on a flyball, only to watch it fall between them as the Oriolestook the lead, Rafaela clocked a go-ahead, two-run homer to left-center with none out in the ninth, lifting the Sox to a thrilling 3-2 victory.

The Sox swept the Orioles behind Garrett Crochet, 3 to 2 and finished a 7-1 road trip. Rob Refsnyder and Romy Gonzalez came of the bench along with Trevor Story (22 hrs) to provide the offense.

When the Sox returned home on August 29th to face the Pirates, the fans greatly anticpated the match up of the N.L.'s top pitcher, Paul Skenes vs the Sox pitching phenom, just called up from the Woo Sox, Payton Tolle. And, except for the outcome of the game, they were not disappointed. Tolle, in his major league debut, kept the Pirates on ice, pitching 5 1/3 pristine innings with eight strikeouts. He left with a 2-0 lead only to see Greg Weissert give it away.

The next game was an ambarrasment for the Sox. Dustin May was all over the place losing 10-3. But the Sox hitters fell into their old habit of not being able to come through with runners in scoring position. In their last two games the Sox were 3-for-15 in those situations. At one point they were 14-1 at Fenway, but had now lost five straight at home.

But with the Sox slumping at the plate, Jarren Duran took matters into his own hands and legs on August 31st. With two men on and two outs in the fifth inning, Duran smashed a line drive headed toward the triangle in center field. By the time the Pirates outfielders got it under control, Duran was rounding third and heading home. It turned a 1-1 tie into a three run lead and an eventual 5-2 win.