Last Night In Baseball: Red Sox Match Longest Winning Streak Since 1948

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:

The Red Sox swept the AL East-leading Rays to make it 13 wins in a row, the latest of which gave Boston its longest winning streak since 1948. Hall of Famer and Red Sox legend Ted Williams was just 29 years old in ‘48 and hadn’t collected even half of his eventual career homers or hits yet, if that gives you a real indication of just how long ago that was.

Sonny Gray went six innings allowing just one run, despite walking four and giving up five hits — the righty escaped his self-inflicted jams and improved to 12-1 on the season with a 2.48 ERA. The bullpen took care of things the rest of the way, holding Tampa Bay scoreless, but they had some cushion, too: Boston’s lineup managed to score six runs (four earned) off lefty starter Shane McClanahan before Tampa’s pen could similarly lock things down.

After an inside-the-park homer by right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. in the top of the second, the Sox scored six unanswered runs. Shortstop Andrew Monasterio tied the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the frame, then a passed ball scored what ended up being the game-winning run in the third. Third baseman Caleb Durbin reached on a fielder’s choice that pushed another run across, and then second baseman Romy Gonzalez grounded out but not in vain to make it 4-1.

The Sox had big hits, too — first baseman Willson Contreras blasted his 22nd homer of the season 414 feet to make it 6-1, Red Sox, effectively ending McClanahan’s day after five innings despite throwing just 87 pitches.

The Rays have now lost five in a row, but still have a 1.5-game lead on the Yankees in the East, since New York lost two of three to the Dodgers over the weekend. 

The Cardinals had to be feeling pretty good about their chances against the Diamondbacks. After all, it was 5-0 St. Louis after a two-run single from first baseman Alec Burleson in the third….

…and then third baseman Blaze Jordan knocked in another two in the fifth to make it 7-0, Cardinals. There was still a lot of ballgame left, though, and St. Louis would not score during any of it. The Diamondbacks ended up plating eight unanswered runs and winning in the end.

It started with an RBI single from second baseman Ketel Marte in the sixth, followed by two bases-loaded walks from two different pitchers — starter Andre Pallante and reliever Ryne Stanek. In the bottom of the seventh, shortstop Geraldo Perdomo ended up hitting a two-run, inside-the-park homer to bring the D-backs within two.

And then ex-Cardinal Nolan Arenado struck — the third baseman picked up his lone hit of the day, and it was a big one, a two-run, game-tying homer in the eighth. 

Arizona escaped the top of the 10th without allowing a run, thanks to inducing a double play that erased a leadoff single and helped strand lead runner JJ Wetherholt. And in the bottom of the 10th, the lineup got the job done again. Jorge Barrosa started the inning on second, and didn’t have to wait long to come around to score: left fielder Max Kepler was the second batter of the inning, and he ripped a double to right to not only finish the comeback, but pick up the W for the Diamondbacks.

Arizona lost the series opener on Friday, but then won the next two games to take the series. As both teams are vying for a wild-card spot, that’s a huge turnaround: the D-backs are now half-a-game behind the tied-up trio of the Cardinals, Marlins and Pirates for one wild card, and just 3.5 behind the Phillies for another.

On Sunday, Hunter Goodman became the third-ever Rockies player to have multiple three-homer games in the same season. What’s incredible, too, is that the catcher hit 31 dingers last season, and the last of his trio from yesterday was his 30th of this year. He is crushing the ball, and the Rockies helpfully put all three long balls — each one longer than the last — in a single video.

And the first was no slouch, either: Goodman blasted that one 425 feet. The next was 435, however, with an exit velocity of 108.1 mph, and finally in the eighth he shot one 442 feet to center. What an impressive display of power, not a cheapie in the mix.

The problem is that Goodman was about it for offense the Rockies could muster on Sunday: he drove in five of Colorado’s six runs on the day, while Rockies’ pitchers allowed nine to the Reds. Still! Goodman had a huge day, and he’s now batting .257/.326/.561 with 30 homers and 45 extra-base hits. The 26-year-old is having the best season of his career, and there’s a lot of it left.

Goodman wasn’t the only catcher to impress at the plate instead of behind it on Sunday. Braves’ backstop Drake Baldwin hit “just” two homers as opposed to Goodman’s three, but he went 5-for-5 on the day with three runs and two RBIs to support an 8-5 Atlanta win over the Rangers.

The other three hits were all singles, giving Baldwin 11 total bases for the day, and he’s now hitting .276/.362/.481 with 18 homers in 75 games.

The Marlins had been rolling, going an MLB-best 20-6 in June then starting July off 6-2, but Miami has now been swept in consecutive series in the midwest. First in Cleveland by the Guardians, and most recently against the Brewers in Milwaukee. The Marlins nearly avoided the latter sweep, too, as Miami was up 1-0 in the ninth, but then everything fell apart at once.

Pete Fairbanks came on in relief to shut things down, but instead, he gave up a single to left fielder Jackson Chourio and then walked second baseman Brice Turang. While first baseman Andrew Vaughn was called out on strikes, Fairbanks did not stay back on track for long: catcher William Contreras might not have hit multiple dingers like Goodman and Baldwin, but the one he got could not have had better timing.

A walk-off, three-run blast to come from behind and take the series deserves a serious bat flip, and Contreras met that moment, too.

While the Marlins are now in a three-way tie for the last wild-card spot in the NL with the D-backs hovering directly behind them, the Brewers are 62-37, half-a-game behind the Dodgers for the best record in MLB.

It’s right in the name, you know.

The Mariners are desperately trying to get above .500 and into serious wild-card contention in the AL — something that has become maybe a little more difficult now that the Red Sox have seemingly remembered how to play baseball well instead of poorly — but Seattle made it happen against the Giants. While the M’s lost the series opener, they took the next two from the Giants to take the series and succeed at getting back to .500. Now, they are a game back of Boston at the same time the Red Sox and Orioles — just a game back of Seattle owing to their own notable winning streak, now at seven games — have to face off against each other, bringing an end to one of the two.

Starting pitcher Logan Gilbert was great against the Giants on Sunday, going six innings while allowing three runs for a quality start, while striking out 10 against one walk. In the bottom of the sixth, pinch-hitter Luke Raley hit his 15th homer of the year to put the Mariners ahead, 4-3, leaving Gilbert in line for his eighth W of the year.

Second baseman Cole Young would add to the lead later on with his second homer of the game, a two-run shot off reliever Adrian Houser in the seventh to put Seattle up 6-3.

And that would be the final score, with the Mariners now facing off against the Reds at home in a battle of two teams that can’t afford to take on too many more losses as others around them pick up their own slack.

Speaking of teams in need of more and more wins, there are the Padres, who were at least up to the task on Sunday. San Diego dropped the first two games of this series against the Royals, but avoided a sweep against one of the AL’s worst clubs with a 19-run outburst.

The stars of this show were many. Right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. — 2-for-5 with a homer, three runs and four RBIs — second baseman Luis Rengifo — 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs — both stuck out, but center fielder Jackson Merrill and first baseman Ty France had the most explosive days. Merrill singled in an early run then hit a solo homer, 405 feet to the opposite field, to make it 7-2 Padres in the fourth.

France then came up in the eighth and hit a grand slam off Lucas Erceg to make it 13-2 Padres…

…which helped bring in the position player on the mound, Tyler Tolbert, and in turn led to Merrill’s second homer of the day…

…as well as France’s.

San Diego would score another three after this, picking up the dub and moving to within a game of .500. While the Padres are just 2.5 games back of a wild-card spot in the NL, San Diego is also behind seven other teams for those three slots: it’s going to have to start winning more consistently to even be in a position to realistically buy before the trade deadline.

The Dodgers took the series from the Yankees in New York, but on Sunday, at least, the Yanks split the doubleheader. Game one was all Los Angeles, though: starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a complete game to give the bullpen another bit of rest after Saturday’s postponed contest, striking out seven Yankees without walking any and giving up just four hits and two runs over nine innings.

He threw just 102 pitches, as well — the two runs hides how masterfully efficient Yamamoto was here against New York. He did have some help, however, as this play from third baseman Max Muncy and first baseman Freddie Freeman reminds.

New York’s offensive woes carried over into the second game, but unlike in the first, when the Dodgers dropped eight runs on New York en route to a convincing victory, Los Angeles struggled to put runs on the board, too. All the Dodgers managed was run, singular, thanks to a dinger from pinch-hitter Tommy Edman in the eighth inning.

New York got that run and the lead back in the bottom of the frame, though, when second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. drove his 14th homer of the year 402 feet to left-center off reliever Evan Phillips.

That was enough, thanks to David Bednar continuing his scoreless appearance in the eighth with more scoreless ball in the ninth, and the Yankees managed to avoid a sweep and falling further behind in the AL East race, even on a day when the Rays lost. New York sits 1.5 behind Tampa Bay, but is comfortably 4.5 up in the AL wild-card race, at least. And while the Red Sox are making a ton of noise, that’s still 4.5 games of cushion over one of the few teams lifting itself out of the mess that is most of the American League.