BOSTON — As their incredible, improbable July rolls on, the 14th straight win for the Boston Red Sox was hardly their easiest, even down to the final out.To keep their streak alive, the Red Sox scratched and clawed their way back from three separate deficits as closer Aroldis Chapman stranded runners on second and third, with a hard lineout to shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng ending a heart-pounding 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles.“That was unbelievable,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It was a heck of an effort. Had to come back multiple times and kept fighting back. That’s a heck of a win.”
RED. SOX. WIN.
14 STRAIGHT! pic.twitter.com/Ti1Yut5Fo7
— MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2026Down 1-0, then 4-3, then 5-4, the Red Sox tied it in the seventh before Caleb Durbin, whose dramatic turnaround at the plate this season has helped fuel this Red Sox run, clubbed a solo home run into the Green Monster seats with two outs in the eighth, turning Fenway into a frenzy.“I blacked out,” Durbin said. “I think that was one of the moments where I just didn’t know what was happening.”Each of the last four Red Sox wins has been of the come-from-behind variety as they inch toward history.Boston’s 14-game winning streak is the longest in the majors since the Seattle Mariners’ 14-gamer in 2022. It is now the second longest in Red Sox franchise history, with a chance to tie a 1946 franchise record of 15 straight wins Tuesday night.“I want it,” said Durbin, who has posted a .904 OPS since May 28. “I can’t speak for anyone else. We haven’t really talked about it, but shoot, yeah, I want to make history here.”Baltimore, which had been on its own seven-game winning streak entering the night, didn’t do itself any favors, committing four errors. But the Red Sox — and their sellout crowd of 37,659 — pressured the Orioles all night.The Red Sox will go for their 15th straight win Tuesday night. (Charles Krupa / Associated Press)“You’re starting to feel that 10th man with the crowd being right behind us, and it’s putting pressure on other teams,” starter Payton Tolle said. “It’s lifting us up, and just having that kind of advantage is incredible.”After the Orioles grabbed the early lead on back-to-back doubles in the first off Tolle, the Red Sox tied it in the second on Jarren Duran’s sacrifice fly.In the third, Ceddanne Rafaela reached on an error and scored on a Wilyer Abreu double, making it 2-1. Gunnar Henderson knocked down Willson Contreras’ hard liner to short but couldn’t make a play as the Red Sox went up 3-1.But the pesky Orioles kept at it, tagging Tolle for a solo homer from Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the fifth, pulling them within 3-2 before scoring two more in the sixth. Tolle last pitched the final day before the break, and though he came out strong after nine days off, his velocity dipped from 98 mph to 94 mph in that final frame.Baltimore strung together three straight singles to tie the score again before another seeing-eye single up the middle made it 4-3.The Red Sox bounced back again the next half inning, with Abreu reaching on a throwing error and Contreras doubling him in to make it 4-4. But the Orioles didn’t relent, putting two on with one out in the seventh before Red Sox second baseman Anthony Seigler bobbled a potential double-play ball, allowing a run to score.Rafaela picked Seigler up in the bottom of the seventh with a single to left that scored Cheng, who’d reached on a fielder’s choice. That all set up Durbin’s eighth-inning heroics.“I think it shows the way we play,” Contreras said. “Especially tonight, we were down a few times during the game, and we went back up again. So we’re just trying to tell the guys that let’s do what it takes, whatever it takes to get on base, and then see what happens.”Though it’s been chronicled in detail, that doesn’t make this Red Sox turnaround any less remarkable. The club, which fired manager Alex Cora and six coaches April 25 in Baltimore, sat 14 games below .500 on June 25 as it spiraled into mediocrity. Since then, it has gone 19-2 and has not lost a game since July 1.Standout pitching, strong defense and an offense that’s finally found its rhythm have been the pillars for success.Along the way, the Fenway crowd has turned from booing the team to rocking the stadium.On Tuesday, with Ranger Suarez on the mound in his return from the injured list, the Red Sox are hoping to tie the franchise record.“Oh, it would mean a lot for sure,” Contreras said. “We are trying to play the same way every day. We are thriving. We are trying to find a way to win as much as we can because I know that we have to take advantage of anything, and that’s what we’re looking for. If it happens, it will be great for us. We have to celebrate that. If it doesn’t happen, we have to keep going, but like I said before, this group is relentless and resilient, and it shows on the field the way we play.”
