The Boston Red Sox came into Friday night without a winning streak for the first time in three weeks. Fifteen straight wins had ended Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, one win short of setting a new franchise record.
Thursday was an off day. The run had already done its work, turning a team that looked like a deadline seller in June into a wild card contender by late July.
Then the Toronto Blue Jays came to Fenway Park, and Boston faced the first real question of its summer. What does this team look like when it is not winning every night?
What the Red Sox Did in the Eighth Inning
Tied 4-4, Boston sent Romy Gonzalez up to hit for catcher Connor Wong with a runner aboard.
Jarren Duran had singled to start the inning. Gonzalez pulled a line drive into the left field corner and Duran came around to score. Anthony Seigler doubled again two batters later for insurance.
Two runs, a 6-4 lead, and Boston did not give it back.
What stood out afterward was how routine the players made it sound.
“There’s no panic,” Gonzalez said.
Earlier this season Boston lost these games. The Red Sox had gone the entire year without winning once they trailed by three or more. Now the eighth inning is where the game turns their way.
GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JULY 24: Jarren Duran #16 high-fives Andruw Monasterio #32 of the Boston Red Sox after scoring a run on an RBI hit by Romy Gonzalez (not seen) against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning at Fenway Park on July 24, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
How Boston Nearly Lost It First
The bullpen spent two innings giving away a four-run cushion.
Greg Weissert opened the seventh, got an out, then hit a batter and walked another. Kazuma Okamoto jumped the first pitch he saw and drove it to center for his 23rd homer of the year. Three runs, and a comfortable night became a one-run game.
Garrett Whitlock took the eighth. He had not been scored on in 13 consecutive appearances. He allowed a leadoff double and the tying run came home on a sacrifice fly, his first blown lead since May.
Aroldis Chapman worked around a walk to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the ninth for career save number 391, passing Hall of Famer and former Red Sox closer Dennis Eckersley for ninth on the all-time list.
“We knew this was going to happen,” Seigler said.
Not the collapse. The response.
GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JULY 24: Aroldis Chapman #44 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Fenway Park on July 24, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
Final Word for the Red Sox
Boston has won 21 of 24 games. Somewhere in that stretch the team stopped treating comebacks as occasions.
That is what Friday actually showed. The bullpen handed back a four-run lead against a last-place club, and nobody in that clubhouse acted like the night was over. A pinch hitter delivered. Seigler kept hitting. Chapman closed it.
The streak is gone. Whatever built it is not.
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