Red Sox rip off 13th straight win as deadline math flips fast
Boston beat the Rays 6-1 at Fenway Park, pushing its streak to 13 and turning a once-likely selloff into a much trickier trade deadline call.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
The Red Sox are suddenly the hottest problem in baseball.
Boston beat the first-place Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon, according to CBS Sports, stretching its winning streak to 13 games. That matches the franchise’s longest run since 1948 and puts the club two wins from tying the team record.
Sonny Gray gave Boston a strong start, CBS Sports reported, as the Red Sox recovered after Tampa Bay went ahead in the second inning on an inside-the-park home run. Boston answered in the bottom half, then took control with three runs in the third and two more in the fifth.
Willson Contreras supplied the fifth-inning blast, his 22nd homer of the season. CBS Sports noted that Contreras is now two home runs shy of the career high he set with the Cubs in 2019, when he hit 24.
A streak with history attached
The Red Sox franchise, which began in 1901 as the Boston Americans, has rarely seen a run like this. CBS Sports listed Boston’s longest winning streaks as 15 games from April 25 to May 10, 1946, 13 games from July 18 to July 27, 1948, and the current 13-game streak that began July 3, 2026.
Boston stays at Fenway Park next for a three-game series against the Orioles. That gives the Red Sox a chance to chase the franchise record at home.
The streak is part of a broader surge that has transformed the club’s season in a hurry. CBS Sports reported that after losing two of three to the Rockies in late June, Boston was 32-46 and looked like a clear trade-deadline seller.
Since then, the Red Sox swept the Yankees in four games and have gone 18-2, according to CBS Sports. Their record now sits at 50-48, putting them two games over .500 and in playoff position.
Deadline plans get messy
The timing matters because the Aug. 3 trade deadline is closing in. CBS Sports reported that Gray and closer Aroldis Chapman had been among the names mentioned in trade rumors when Boston looked headed toward selling.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said before Sunday’s game that the club’s position remains unsettled because the roster picture is still changing.
“I think it's complicated in that there's still quite a bit of uncertainty even with our own personnel, and every day that goes by, we're getting a little bit more information about not just who we are and what we're capable of, but, also what the outlook appears to be for some of the guys that are hopefully getting healthy,” Breslow said, according to CBS Sports.
Breslow also pushed back on the idea that the team had locked in a firm deadline stance weeks ago.
“I think to say that (our goals) have changed drastically implies that there was a set position 12 days ago or 14 days ago,” Breslow said. “The reason that we say we want to give ourselves as much time as possible to see who we are and to watch our identity emerge is because we believe that it can change, and it can change really quickly.”
With two weeks of games still left before the deadline, Boston has moved from likely seller to live buyer in less than a month. If the streak keeps rolling, the Red Sox front office may be shopping for October instead of taking bids.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.