A sweep of the Los Angeles Angels was one thing. A sweep of the Chicago White Sox marked another.The once down-and-out White Sox have been one of the better teams in the American League this season and hadn’t lost a home series since April. On Thursday, the Red Sox beat the White Sox 2-1 on the strength of a two-run homer from Caleb Durbin and an impressive return to the mound after more than two years from Patrick Sandoval.It marked Boston’s second consecutive three-game sweep, the team’s longest winning streak of the season.The Red Sox have turned a corner over the past two weeks, starting with a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees at the end of June. They’ve now won 11 of their past 13 games and moved to within 2 1/2 games of the third wild-card spot with Thursday’s win.The latest MLB draft intelKeith LawThough the Red Sox are still five games under .500, they were as many as 14 games under .500 just three weeks ago.The wins have also given interim manager Chad Tracy a winning record (33-31) since taking over the team April 26, following Alex Cora’s firing.While Sandoval helped close out the series sweep, Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett set the tone. Tolle dominated in the first game with six scoreless innings, bouncing back from a career-worst start last week, and Bennett followed up with seven scoreless innings on Wednesday. The starts benefited from standout defense and timely homers, a recipe the Red Sox have been searching for all season.Boston played a man short on Tuesday and Wednesday, as Nate Eaton served a two-game suspension for his part in last week’s brawl with the Washington Nationals. Then on Thursday, they were without Willson Contreras, who began serving a shortened five-game suspension.With three more games on tap this week against the New York Mets to close out the first half, the Red Sox hope to ride this momentum. But Boston’s biggest test will be maintaining their strength coming out of the break during a nine-game homestand against three AL East opponents: the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Orioles.The Red Sox looked like sellers for much of the season, but this recent stretch has to give chief baseball officer Craig Breslow pause. They’ve done all of this as a team full of players called up from Triple A and without Garrett Crochet, Roman Anthony, Trevor Story and Marcelo Mayer.Patrick Sandoval returnsOn his first pitch of the game, Patrick Sandoval induced a popup to shortstop. It marked the first big-league out he’d recorded in 749 days. The left-hander made a triumphant return to the mound on Thursday, nearly two years after having an internal brace procedure in June 2024.Sandoval threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits and a walk while striking out five. He threw 41 of his 65 pitches for strikes.The 29-year-old hit 95 mph with his four-seamer and relied mostly on a slider/four-seam/changeup mix.