Red Sox win 14th straight game in UNBELIEVABLE run
Red Sox win 14th straight game in UNBELIEVABLE run originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Video Transcript
That was unbelievable.
It was a heck of an effort, had to come back multiple times, and kept fighting back.
It was, that's, that's, was a, a heck of a win.
Can you, can you even make sense of this month, the whole thing?
We're s- we're playing good baseball.
I know it's hard to win that many games in a row when you're playing good baseball, but, we're just, we're doing a lot of things right.
So I mean, yeah, the number of wins in a row is, is hard to believe, but it's, they're, they're, they're playing, they're giving everything they got, and they're executing, and they're, they're doing a great job.
All right, this has just been absolutely unbelievable.
Yeah.
Tom Giles, Michael Hull here on, Town for Town on BST.
I, they're, they're finding ways to win.
They're taking advantage of opponents' mistakes.
On, on the flip side, they're playing good defense.
I mean, we showed you the out that, that ended the game.
The play before that, there was a double off the wall in which Jarren Duran played it perfectly to hold the runner at third base, not allow the tying run in that situation.
Michael, right now they're doing the little things, and the little things have mattered.
Right.
So now in that situation you mentioned with Duran, it's second and third with two outs instead of, maybe the Orioles with the lead or, or, or tying the game.
Tying the game, yeah.
Tying the game up in that situation.
This is real though.
I'm gonna say this.
This is a real winning streak.
You know, you can- Giles, you can win, you know, six or seven games in a row and it could be fluky.
Maybe eight is a little fluky.
14, there's no fluke to it, especially with nine of the, nine of these 14 against AL East opponents, and they're not, not just 14 in a row, 19 of their last 21.
Yeah.
So what the Red Sox are doing now, they're taking advantage of teams who were doing what the Red Sox were doing at the beginning of the year.
Yep.
Now, you saw that line up there, the Red Sox win six to five.
You saw the Orioles had five runs and four errors.
So we saw the Red Sox do stupid stuff like that in the beginning of the season, but they're not now.
This is a, this is a legit team now.
And now you look and it's not just the wild We'll, we'll have the wild card stats up there.
Yeah.
They're six games out of first place.
Yeah.
Tampa Bay I think did win today, right?
They're six out of first.
I, it, but you know, it's, it's, it's, it's kind of funny because they go on this streak, they just catapulted into a wild card spot.
You know what I mean?
It, you, you're still doing some scoreboard watching, seeing what's going on- Right with Seattle and Cleveland and some of the other teams that are in the mix there.
Baltimore was another team that was in the mix.
By the way, Baltimore's been playing pretty good baseball coming into this one as well.
They had won seven in a row, so they were the second hottest team in baseball.
It's, it's been the pitching that has carried them.
Right.
But they've also found different ways.
Like Saturday in that rain delayed game where Will Abreu hits those two home runs, you could just feel the energy.
They're getting these energetic wins, and getting them at home here.
They're falling behind.
They fell behind multiple times in this game, found a way to battle back and, and they didn't necessarily have the best pitching tonight, but they were able to come through with the timely hitting when they needed to.
And, and, and again, they're, they're just doing whatever they need to do to win each one of these 14 games.
And here's, here's something else that doesn't necessarily show up in the, in the winning streak.
It's just a vibe thing.
Okay, if we go back to April or May and you see this place- Yeah you see Fenway Park, it was lifeless.
There was no energy.
Outside of the, the pomp and circumstance of, of opening day and Patriot's Day where you're supposed to, you got a lot of people there, it's the energy of this, these traditional days.
But for the most part, the Red Sox were giving their fans no reason to get really excited about the product in April and May.
They didn't win at home.
They didn't score a lot of runs at home.
It was a lot You know, if they, if they'd won, they got two or three runs.
It just wasn't a lot there.
That place is popping now.
I mean, the, and they're taking advantage of what the park is.
I've said this many times.
The, Contreras tonight, what was that?
You did the highlights.
Contreras, what'd you say?
Hits one off the what?
Off the wall.
Oh, there's a big wall.
There's a big wall in left field.
Use it.
Use it.
It's your friend.
So they're playing better baseball at Fenway Park.
They're better, playing better baseball against the AL East.
Forget about the wild card.
Hey, the, the Rays, we know what the Rays are.
Their run differential's not great.
I think it's plus 20 this year.
Uh-huh.
And Aaron Judge is still not back for the Yankees.
Take advantage.
Go for the, go for the division.
They, why not?
I mean, it, right now it feels like literally this team is just trying to win one game at a time, which is what you have to do in order to try to keep a streak like this alive.
And you look at some of the numbers diving further into it, I mean, that's, again, 14 consecutive wins.
They've scored 82 runs, allowed just 29.
Look at that ERA.
What?
Sub 2 ERA.
What?
And that ERA actually went up a little bit tonight.
They have hit 22 home runs as well in the streak.
And by the way, it feels like they're blowing teams out.
They're not necessarily b- They, they've had a lot of nail biters in this- Yeah in this streak as well.
We got Andrew Callahan joining us now, the Boston Herald.
And, I guess Callahan, y- you're a Red Sox guy.
How much are you- Yeah, baby enjoying this?
And, Michael Hull, he said this is really Y- you get the 14, it, that, there's nothing to sneeze at.
No, it's not.
I mean, think about this.
This did not happen in '04.
They didn't do this in '07.
They didn't do this in '67, or the greatest Red Sox team of all time in 2018.
This is something most of us have never seen before.
So look, their overall record is the most telling.
This is a 51 and 48 team that frankly you go all the way back to March, February, all the prognostications, this makes sense.
Like, if you got hit in the head by a foul ball on opening day and went into a coma and came out tonight, you'd be like, "Yeah, this is where they should be."
But understanding where they were at the end of April, like Hullie said, I thought we were gonna end the season with Noah Kahn selling out Fenway more than the Red Sox did.
Look at this team now.
Listen to the ballpark.
That tells you everything you need to know about what it feels like watching a team play like this and win 14 games in a row.
All right, so 14 games in a row, and you just pointed out this is a pretty historic streak you haven't seen in a long time.
Now, when, when they did it with Morgan Magic, you know, he took over.
They were, they, they got, they won the division Made the playoffs.
Are you so bought in that you think they can win the division?
Like, how impressed are you with this 14-game streak, and what does it mean big picture for you?
Yeah.
It, it's a good question, Holly, because I think we can't dismiss the possibility now given they just swept the Rays who, of course, as you just mentioned, are in first place.
Now, six games i- is not an insignificant gap, and we've obviously got a lot of baseball to go.
But the biggest driving force behind this win streak, to me, is sustainable.
And what it is is they're finally playing league average offense.
You go back to when Chad Tracy took over, you know, in the doldrums, and it continued to be bad baseball for weeks thereafter.
But since that point, they're 15th in offense.
And right now this team has been better on the win streak.
Granted, this is a top 10 team, but th- they're not blowing teams out with the exception of a game here or there.
What they're doing is winning on the margins, they're stealing more bases, and the starting pitching has been so good that you don't need that much at the plate.
League average offense will get it done.
They're not gonna keep winning at this pace, but I think they can keep playing winning baseball like this.
And if the Rays falter, all you have to do is close that gap of six games in what?
Six, seven, eight weeks now?
Yeah.
A- a- and, and again, I If anyone says that they saw this coming, saw the, the Red Sox ripping- No off 14 in a row and going from where they were just a few weeks ago to where they are right now, I'm, I'm not believing that at all.
It, it, I You do have to wonder if it was all about patience and everything else.
Here's an interesting quote from Craig Breslow back on April 26th after the firing of manager Alex Cora.
It really comes down to the belief that we have in the players and the belief that we have in the group to accomplish what we set out to accomplish.
And by acting today, it gives us 135 games ahead of us, so we've got almost a full season's worth of, of run, to, to take advantage of, of this fresh start an- and ultimately to compete for a division and, and, a deep postseason run in the way that we talked about it and, and envisioned and believed, you know, heading into spring training.
All right.
So Craig Breslow talks about patience- Yeah and belief, Michael Holly.
And I, and I understand, you know, it's some of the moves that he made this off season have really helped.
Also, some of the guys that are contributing right now in this streak are not guys you ever imagined were even gonna be a part of this mix.
You know what, guys?
I- I- It's You think about it.
For a, a fire, a, a press conference where you're announcing that you're gonna fire your manager after the Red Sox scored 100 runs the night before.
I don't know if you remember that.
Yeah.
They scored a bunch of runs, then they fired Alex Cora.
That's a pretty ballsy statement from Craig Breslow because what He didn't have to say, "Oh, we still can do something."
He could have said, "Hey, the season we're in a hole, and we're just gonna try to tread water over the next 135 games."
Callahan, he kind of put it out there that no, the season's not done.
I think if we change the mana- He pretty much blamed the manager.
I believe in the players.
Yeah.
I don't believe that Alex Cora is the guy.
So now we got a guy, I think we got a chance.
It looks like he's right.
Do you agree?
It looks like he's right.
I mean, look, I, I think there's a real chance this streak or this record Again, they're 51 and 48 overall.
That tells the story of the talent of the team and how they played over the entire season.
That's the point of a whole record.
But the point is to me, I think this could happen with Alex Cora.
The fact that it's happened under Chad Tracy though, a guy who came in in bad circumstances, then endured worse circumstances, they continued to lose, and we all saw the Rocky Series that wasn't that long ago.
To continue to guide this streak, sweep the Yankees, sweep the Rays, is a credit to him.
And also the fact that Breslow looked at this roster and says, "I don't think Caleb Durbin," who has been swinging the bat faster, by the way, and had a higher launch angle under Chad Tracy and company than he did against Alex Cora, will continue to be the worst hitter in baseball.
So I think this was always going to come around, but Breslow played the card he had to play, which is fire Cora, not me, and then I'll just cross my fingers and hope the next guy, who looks a lot like me, by the way, we don't talk about this enough, that Chad Tracy might be Chad Breslow.
Look, we'll, we'll just either get lucky, do better, or both.
And right now it seems like the answer's both.
Well, you mentioned the, the job security situation there because y- you go back to another quote, worth looking back on, and Sam Kennedy talked about Craig Breslow's job security on June 11th.
I fully understand and appreciate questions regarding Craig Breslow and his job security and, and all that.
But the issue of a change there, just to be clear, that it's not even on the table.
You have to understand at the time there- Yeah I think a lot of us looked at it and did not Sam Kennedy's just saying what he needs to say.
He was a head crasher, right?
But I don't think any of us thought that Craig Breslow, even if he was to finish out the year, was gonna be making the decisions when it came to the trade deadline back on June 11th.
I think now you look at it and say, "Okay, Craig Breslow's gonna be making the decisions here," and people are saying, "Hey, please, Craig, go ahead and add to this team."
All right.
So Sam Kennedy says it wasn't on the table, Callahan.
That shocked me at the time.
It's like, wait.
Look, I'm not saying go ahead and fire him, but to say you're not even thinking about a guy, firing a guy who has, put this disaster together, I thought it was a curious comment.
But are you prepared to say, Andrew Callahan, today, on July 20th, I think that's today, on July 20th- Yeah that you want Craig Breslow and Chad Tracy to come back next year?
No.
No, no, no, no.
Come on.
No?
Well, well- Come on, come on, come on, come on 14 games.
No, no, no.
You just said, "We haven't seen it.
It's historic."
Look, I'm enjoying today, which is July 20th.
Well done by you.
Thank you.
But look, I, I, I want to see how this team does over the course of the rest of this week and next week.
Like this- This week?
This is going to really And this isn't a total reflection on Breslow and Tracy, right?
Like again, this is about a 500 team.
And as someone who has been about as hard on Breslow as anyone in the market, we have to give him credit for guys who are really driving this who are coming up in the next block.
Willson Contreras looks like the best hitter in baseball.
I didn't love the trade when you coulda just spent more money and had a guy who was on the other dugout tonight in Pete Alonso.
Setting all that aside, he's done better than we were describing the team and their efforts in the roster earlier this season.
But I, I, I'm not ready to commit suddenly to two guys for next year when I don't know how this season ends
