Despite their hefty payroll and a roster filled with stars and exciting young prospects, injuries had ravaged much of the team's depth through the first half of the season.Entering July, the Red Sox were dead last in the American League East at 37-48.
They had the third-worst record in the AL as a whole, were 14 games out of first place and seemed posed to become sellers at the trade deadline.As recently as June 21, they had just an 8.4% chance of reaching the postseason, per FanGraphs.Then, history.RED SOX COME BACK FROM THE DEAD, MOVE INTO POSTSEASON CONTENTION WITH REMARKABLE 14-GAME WIN STREAKBoston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu celebrates after his RBI double in the third inning of a game against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday, July 20, 2026, in Boston.
(Charles Krupa/AP)Even without key players like Garrett Crochet, Trevor Story and Roman Anthony, the Red Sox entered a day-night doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday having won 14 games in a row.Sure enough, they jumped out to a four-run lead they never relinquished, with the game fittingly ending on a great defensive play by shortstop Tsung-Che Chung.That 15th consecutive win tied a franchise record set 80 years ago, and became just the eighth winning streak of 15 or more since 1961.
And the first since the St.Louis Cardinals in 2021."You keep stacking one win over another, and then you get close, and once you get within three or four, they start to feel like playoff games because you want to get there," infielder Caleb Durbin this week, per MLB.com.
"But yeah, then you look back at it, and think about where you're doing it and how long this franchise has existed.It's pretty incredible."RED SOX HAD A NIGHTMARE TRAVEL DAY FOR THE AGES, YET STILL FOUND A WAY TO BEAT THE METS IN NEW YORKBoston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rivera sits in the dugout after being pulled from the game in the first inning during the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles, Wednesday, Ju...