Red Sox's Pitching Is Doing Something Not Seen Since 1918

The Boston Red Sox's hot streak has been unheard of, to say the least.

Jul 17, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Jake Bennett (64) pitches during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There isn't a team in baseball right now that is hotter than the Boston Red Sox.

There's still a lot of season left, but the Red Sox's turnaround over the last month is one of the biggest overall stories across Major League Baseball of the 2026 season. What the Red Sox are doing right now is almost unheard of. At some point, the Red Sox will lose a game again. But Boston is riding an 11-game winning streak and has won 16 of its last 18 games to scratch and claw its way all the way back to .500 at 48-48.

On Friday, the Red Sox kicked off a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays with a doubleheader and won both legs. That's not all. Boston allowed just three total runs across the two games. Over their last eight games, they have allowed just nine total runs. In the process, the 2026 Red Sox just became the first team in franchise history to allow fewer than 10 runs in an eight-game stretch dating back to 1918, per former Red Sox director of baseball communications and media relations JP Long.

What Boston Is Doing Right Now Is Special

Jul 8, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jake Bennett (64) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"The Red Sox have allowed 9 runs in their last 8 games," Long wrote on X. "This is the first time they’ve recorded an 8-game stretch in which they went 8-0 and allowed fewer than 10 runs. It had been 108 years since they allowed fewer than 10 runs over an 8-game span, regardless of record (1918)."

What Boston has been able to do over the last few weeks has simply been absurd.

A few weeks ago, the Red Sox looked destined to sell at the trade deadline with guys like Aroldis Chapman, Sonny Gray, Jarren Duran and maybe even Willson Contreras potentially on the move. The Red Sox made it clear that they weren't preparing to move on from chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, but his seat certainly was starting to get warmer and warmer. Boston dropped to 14 games under .500 on June 24 after a brutal three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Boston should've won the series, but dropped two out of three games to fall to 32-46.

Since then, Boston has willed itself back into the playoff race. The timing couldn't be better for the organization. The 2026 MLB trade deadline is just over two weeks away. Boston is in a position now to fight for a playoff spot and we could very well see the club get aggressive to add a piece or two between now and the Aug. 3 trade deadline. It could be a very fun summer in Boston, to say the least.