Red Sox Week in Review: Fenway Magic Rights the Ship

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Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot

Record Last Week: 5-1

Runs Scored Last Week: 40

Runs Surrendered Last Week: 22

Standings

3rd Place AL East

6 GB First Place

2nd place AL Wild Card

3 GB First Place

Transactions

08/17/26: Boston Red Sox selected the contract of RHP Wyatt Olds from Worcester Red Sox.

08/17/26: Boston Red Sox optioned LHP Raymond Burgos to Worcester Red Sox.

08/17/26: Boston Red Sox placed LHP Eduardo Rivera on the restricted list.

08/18/26: Boston Red Sox sent LF Roman Anthony on a rehab assignment to Portland Sea Dogs.

08/19/26: Boston Red Sox sent 2B Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a rehab assignment to Worcester Red Sox.

Scores

Game 125: BOS 11, AZ 1

Game 126: BOS 9, AZ 4

Game 127: BOS 6, AZ 7

Game 128: BOS 6, SF 4

Game 129: BOS 3, SF 2

Game 130: BOS 5, SF 4

Series Breakdown/Highlights

Diamondbacks Series: The Red Sox went into the series against the Diamondbacks after hitting a week-long skid. Luckily for the Sox, almost everything went their way during the homestand. Game one was a scheduled bullpen game with Alec Gamboa being asked to kick off the series. He struck out one over 1.1 innings of work before giving way to the best reliever in baseball, Brayan Bello. Bello went 4.2 innings, striking out three, allowing one earned run, one walk, and three hits. He managed to escape major damage when a pretty clear home run clanked off the foul pole but the Diamondbacks didn’t challenge the call of a foul ball on the field. Finally, Greg Weissert, Jovani Moran, and Wyatt Olds all worked clean innings to close out the game. On offense, both Willson Contreras and Mickey Gasper knocked home runs for the Sox. Instead of listing every RBI here, just know that the entire starting lineup each contributed at least one RBI to the win and none of them struck out.

In game two, Ranger Suarez worked the deepest into a game he’s gone since returning from the injured list by tossing 5.1 innings of four-hit, four-run baseball. He struck out three while managing to keep the damage to a minimum. Tyron Guerrero, Erik Miller, and Wyatt Olds all came in out of the pen to shut the game down. Adley Rutschman and Mickey Gasper both homered for the offense in the win. Contreras, Caleb Durbin, and Andruw Monasterio all contributed RBIs as well.

Game three was the lone loss on the week, but it really seemed like the Red Sox would pull off the come-from-behind win late. Payton Tolle looked to turn in his third consecutive impressive outing but ran out of gas in the fifth inning. He struck out six while allowing six hits, three earned runs, and two walks. Weissert, Miller, Guerrero, Moran, and Aroldis Chapman all came out of the bullpen to try and get the Sox over the hump, but it was clear when Moran came in in the 10th inning that he didn’t anywhere close to his best stuff on the mound. Offensively, Nick Sogard knocked his first major-league home run off Brandon Pfaadt. Gasper and Jarren Duran also got in on the home run action, but ultimately the offense came up just a bit too short to complete the sweep.

Giants Series: The Giants came to Boston for the first time since Rafael Devers was traded last season and he was met by the Fenway Faithful with an overwhelming chorus of boos during each plate appearance. Like clockwork, he did go deep to straight center in the first game, but he was mostly unimportant for the series.

In game one, the Sox got to the best pitcher the Giants have, Logan Webb, and chased him out of the game by the end of the third inning. Contreras hit the furthest hit ball at Fenway Park this season, clocking in at 450 feet. Wilyer Abreu, Monasterio, and Gasper all contributed RBIs in the win as well. On the pitching side, Sonny Gray was a little shaky to start but settled in nicely and tossed a solid six innings of four-run ball. Miller, Gamboa, and Chapman all featured out of the bullpen with Gamboa working the first high-leverage eighth inning of his big league career. He handled it beautifully and has likely earned more trust from Chad Tracy as the team awaits some bullpen reinforcements in the near future.

Game two was a low-scoring affair, but it takes all kinds of victories to get through a 162-game season. Patrick Sandoval, like Gray the night before, struggled early in the outing but managed to turn in 5.2 innings of effective pitching. He struck out six, gave up five hits, and allowed two earned runs. Weissert, Moran, and Olds all contributed out of the 'pen and allowed the high-leverage guys to get a night of rest just two days after an off day so they’d be fresh for the team to hit the road after Sunday. Offensively, Sogard, Abreu, and pinch hitter Eli White were responsible for the RBIs, with Abreu’s walk-off single being the moment of the game.

In game three, Jake Bennett followed the same script as the previous two starters. He started slow, allowing three earned runs in quick fashion. He settled though, and eventually turned in seven innings of six-strikeout baseball. He gave way to Guerrero and Chapman out of the 'pen and the rest, as they say, was history. Offensively, Sogard hit his second big-league home run in three days, this one coming from the right-hand side of the plate. Gasper, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Connor Wong all contributed RBIs in the win. Most notably, Rafaela went three-for-four with a huge play in center field to keep the game close. He looks to be breaking out of the slump he found himself in during the middle of the month.