SI:AM | Red Sox’ Winning Streak Finally Snapped, but Their Season Is Saved

The run ended at 15 games, but Boston will be playing meaningful baseball in the second half after a dreadful start to the year.

The Red Sox won more games in a row than they had since Ted Williams was on the team. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I still can’t get over the way Charlie Woods was eliminated from the U.S. Junior Amateur. He was in a playoff with 13 other players and hit an errant shot when the camera shutter on a fan’s phone went off in his backswing. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
🏈 Pete Golding’s swagger
⚾ Trade deadline names to watch
⚽ French star’s MLS debut

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They’re suddenly back in the mix

The Red Sox just did something they hadn’t done since the United States of America was a mere 249 years old: lose. 

Boston’s loss to the Orioles in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Wednesday snapped a 15-game winning streak that tied a franchise record. The Red Sox’ last loss came all the way back on July 1. 

Tuesday’s rainout meant that Boston had a chance to tie and then break the franchise mark for consecutive wins if it could sweep yesterday’s doubleheader. The Sox won the first game after roughing up Baltimore starter Dean Kremer for six runs on eight hits. But Red Sox rookie Eduardo Rivera gave up four runs in the first inning of the second game and Boston was unable to rebound. Baltimore won the nightcap, 5–1, to snap the Red Sox’ winning streak at 15 games. After the final out, the fans in Boston gave their team a standing ovation. 

The only other time in franchise history that the Red Sox won 15 straight was in 1946. That streak came early in the season (in the team’s 10th through 24th games of the year) and was a harbinger of good things to come. That year’s team was led by Ted Williams, who won the first of his two career MVP awards fresh off a three-year absence for military service, and also featured other stars like Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr. Boston finished 104–50–2, the second-best winning percentage in franchise history, and won the AL pennant by 12 games. It was the team’s first World Series appearance since winning the championship in 1918, but the Sox lost to the Cardinals in seven games. 

This year’s team is not going to cruise to a pennant, but the streak did turn a lost season into one where the second half won’t be meaningless. The Red Sox got off to a terrible start, firing manager Alex Cora after they went 10–17 in the first four weeks of the season, and things didn’t get much better under new manager Chad Tracy. They went 13–14 in May and 12–14 in June. After they lost on July 1, they were in last place in the AL East at 37–48, 14 games behind first, and had the third-worst record in the AL. Fangraphs gave them a 13.8% chance of making the playoffs. Now, they’re 52–49, good enough for the third and final wild-card spot in the AL. They’re in third place in the division, seven games behind the first-place Rays. Fangraphs puts their playoff odds at 61.9%. The streak is over, but it salvaged Boston’s season. 

The Red Sox are also fortunate that they play in a surprisingly weak American League in an era of expanded playoffs. Boston is one of only five teams in the AL with a winning record, while 10 teams in the NL are above .500.

As the trade deadline looms, the question for the Red Sox is whether they think it’s now worth making an addition to make a stronger playoff push. One reason they might not be inclined to do so, though, is that Boston already has internal reinforcements on the way. Several players currently on the injured list should be back in time to help the team try to lock up a playoff spot. The most notable is pitcher Garrett Crochet, who finished second in Cy Young voting last year. He hasn’t pitched since April 25, and it’s unclear whether he’ll return this season. But other players like Connelly Early, Trevor Story, Ranger Suárez and Roman Anthony are expected to return from the IL. I doubt they could have predicted when they got injured that they would return in the middle of a playoff race. 

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The top five…

… things I saw last night: 
5. The final score of this German soccer game: 21–0. TSG Hoffenheim, which finished fifth in Germany’s highest league last season, throttled SV Massenbachhausen in a preseason friendly. But it’s actually a pretty heartwarming story. Massenbachhausen, a tiny amateur club in a small town, won a contest to host a game against the Bundesliga club. It looks like everyone had a good time. 
4. A less heartwarming soccer moment: Inter Miami goalie Rocco Ríos Novo made one of the worst blunders you’ll ever see to allow an own goal. 
3. A nice defensive play by Brewers second baseman Brice Turang.
2. Yankees first baseman Ben Rice’s diving play to save a run in the ninth inning.
1. Mateus Fernandes’s rocket of a goal in his first preseason friendly with Tottenham.