BOSTON — Willson Contreras has a fair share of big home runs this season, but none top the majestic shot he hit on Friday night to give the Boston Red Sox the lead.Trailing 1-0 in the third, Contreras stepped to the plate with two on and two outs and obliterated a Logan Webb changeup. The ball shot over the Green Monster at an estimated 116 mph, landing well outside Fenway Park onto Lansdowne Street while traveling an estimated 450 feet. It marked the hardest-hit homer of the year for the Red Sox and the longest home run hit by any batter at Fenway this season.Wilyer Abreu, who was on base when Contreras homered, knew it was out immediately.“I just saw the contact. I put my head down and my arms up because I knew it was going to go out,” he said.
The definition of a no-doubter. pic.twitter.com/6F2F4PPX3J
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 22, 2026Contreras’ shot loomed even larger as the Giants battled back with two homers of their own — including one from Rafael Devers in his return to Fenway — but the Red Sox held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 on a rowdy night at the ballpark.Sonny Gray wasn’t as sharp as he’s been for most of the season but still managed to grind through six innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out six.The Giants tagged him for a run in the third before Contreras pulverized Webb’s changeup to give Boston a 3-1 lead.Gray was in the clubhouse when Contreras hit the monster shot but heard his teammates yelling “para calle” in Spanish, meaning “to the street.”“It was hit a ton,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He hit it really good.”Webb lost the zone after the Contreras homer, loading the bases before walking Andruw Monasterio to bring in another run. He then hit Mickey Gasper to make it 5-1. Webb exited the game after 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start of the year.In the fourth, the Giants surged back. Drew Gilbert hit a two-run homer before Devers crushed a solo shot to straightaway center, making it a 5-4 game. Devers had been booed throughout the game, first when lineups were announced and again when he came up for his first at-bat and struck out looking. The boos came down harder after the home run. He declined to comment after the game.“It was kind of surprising to me,” Abreu said of the boos for Devers. “I didn’t expect to get some boos for him because he’s a really good person, a really good player. He did a lot for the team. But that’s the mentality or the way that the fans live baseball here in Boston. At the same time, I didn’t expect that.”Gray needed just 16 pitches to get through the fifth and sixth innings. The effort helped him pick up his 16th win.“At the end of the day, we were still winning the game,” Gray said. “I wasn’t great tonight, but I’ll take a win any way you can get one.”Gray turned the ball over to Erik Miller, whom the Red Sox acquired from the Giants at the deadline for Marcelo Mayer. Miller shut down his former team, and Alec Gamboa handled the eighth as Tracy navigated a taxed bullpen. Aroldis Chapman picked up his 28th save.“(Gray) had to grind and we needed him to; it was a short bullpen,” Tracy said. “We have some guys that need to be down. … Some of these guys you have to stay off of them, make sure we keep guys up and healthy.”The formula worked on Friday.
