For the first time since Opening Day in Cincinnati, the Boston Red Sox are above .500, thanks to a thrilling 7-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park that extended their winning streak to 12. 

Much like the finale in New York just six days ago, it was a sleepy start to the afternoon for the Red Sox offense, which mustered just three hits and six baserunners through the first six innings against Rays pitching. 

But the tides turned in the bottom of the seventh with Tampa leading 6-3, as the Red Sox were able to capture the magic that has been with them for much of the last three weeks. 

The inning began with shortstop Andruw Monasterio ripping a leadoff double off Tampa reliever Casey Legumina, chasing the right-hander from the game as Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to Cole Sulser to keep the Tampa lead at three.

Sulser began his outing against left fielder Jarren Duran, who weakly grounded a ball to first baseman Ryan Vilade; however, the first baseman was too slow getting the ball to the covering Sulser, allowing Duran to reach as Monasterio took third. 

With men on the corners and still nobody out, interim manager Chad Tracy turned to Masataka Yoshida in place of catcher Carlos Narvaez, with hopes of a ball in play cutting the Tampa lead to two, 6-4. Yoshida did his job, hitting a chopper to shortstop Ben Williamson that was too slow to turn a double play on, allowing Monasterio to score and Duran to advance to second base. 

With Duran on second and one out, Sulser got second baseman Anthony Seigler to strike out on four pitches, leaving it up to Ceddanne Rafaela to continue to cut into the Tampa lead. The 25-year-old All-Star did just that, launching a double off the Green Monster, scoring Duran, and cutting the lead down to just one, 6-5.

In a curious decision from Cash, the Rays skipper turned to left-hander Garrett Clevinger to face right fielder Wilyer Abreu. In 127 plate appearances, the 27-year-old Abreu has performed substantially better against left-handed pitching, hitting .345/.421/.527/.948 against southpaws in 2026. 

Cash's decision proved to be exactly that as the two-time Gold Glove winner launched his fourth home run in two days, 412 feet into the bleachers, giving the Red Sox a 7-6 lead, sending the Fenway crowd into a frenzy. 

With the win, the Red Sox stretch their winning streak to 12, marking the longest Red Sox winning streak since 2006. As noted by Red Sox Nation Stats on Twitter/X, they now set their sights on the franchise record, 15 straight wins, which was accomplished by the 1946 Red Sox. 

They'll look to make it 13 straight on Sunday afternoon in the series finale against the Rays. Sonny Gray (11-1, 2.54 ERA) will make his first start of the unofficial second half opposite Shane McClanahan (8-5, 2.83 ERA) for Tampa Bay. First pitch from Fenway set for 1:35 p.m. ET. 

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