The Red Sox have won nine straight in honor of Teddy Ballgame, and in that span, we’ve seen Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet pitch their first career complete games. Crochet’s came in an exclamation point of an end to his first half in Boston, as he finishes with a 2.32 ERA and 129.1 IP. His dominance was on display when he decided to use his sweeper 26% of the time (it’s been his fourth-most used pitch over the rest of the season) just for fun en route to allowing three total base runners and striking out nine.

He got some help along the way from some, shockingly, good Red Sox defense, with Trevor Story making another highlight play for the second day in a row and Abraham Toro and Carlos Narvaez combining some picture-perfect bunt coverage to keep the Rays off the board and, ultimately, erase what would’ve been a game-tying run.

Narvaez adds to his legacy as The Captain with the only RBI of the game as Roman Anthony continues to be the picture of consistency, reaching base two more times today.

So, as this win streak extends to nine and the Sox have an ERA under 2.00 over that span for the first time since 1990, I ask, does a series win against the Rays make this team legit enough? If you ask me, I’ll definitely say yes. The way this team has been playing over the past two-ish weeks has looked like a playoff-caliber baseball team, which is obviously exciting after the mediocrity of the 2025 Red Sox to start the season. The pitching has taken a huge step forward in the past month, the kids are up and swinging, and Masataka Yoshida is finally freed from his prison. Not much more you can ask for going into the All-Star break.

I will say, though, and not to be a pessimist, but just because this team looks like a playoff team or could be a playoff team, doesn’t mean it will, as we well know from last year. So for now, I’m enjoying this stretch of incredible baseball in the present and complaining about lineup construction as long as this team has 4+ main outfielders.

Three Studs

Garrett Crochet

His dominance was on clear display once again, and the rare sweeper reliance was oddly beautiful to witness.

Carlos Narvaez

Narvaez and Rafaela feel like the heartbeat of the Red Sox for me right now. Narvaez continues to both call great games and provide solid defense behind the dish while also being a force to be reckoned with on offense. With the game’s single RBI, he had all three of these traits on display once again today.

Trevor Story

As a part-time Rockies fan, watching Trevor Story’s resurgence over the past month and a half has absolutely been the highlight of my summer. While he didn’t hit a bomb today, he had a fun little double off Fenway’s wacky right field walls and made yet another cool play on defense.

Three duds

While no one necessarily deserves “dud” status, Wilyer Abreu did strike out three times, and Yoshida unfortunately failed to record a hit for the first time since his return. Really, all the production from the day came from the first four in the lineup, and the bottom third went 0-for-8 with five strikeouts and a walk. But I suppose that’s what happens when you move Rafaela up to the No. 2 spot.