Over the last six weeks, there has been no MLB team hotter than the Boston Red Sox. Going into their weekend series at Fenway Park against the Athletics, Chad Tracy’s team had not lost a series since June 29-July 1 against the Washington Nationals.
Since that series, Boston went on a streak that nobody saw coming. They put together a 15-game winning streak that saw them go from the basement of the American League to the second wild-card spot. It has been some time since the Red Sox lost a series, but who had the Athletics being the first team to take a series from them since the Nationals series? Nobody.
However, that is what happened over the weekend. After Boston won the opener, 13-2, on Friday night, the Athletics bounced-back to win the final two games, 7-3, on Saturday night and 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. After the game, Tracy took it all in stride.
Boston Red Sox Interim Manager Chad Tracy Drops Honest Quote After Losing Series To the Athletics
The run that Boston went on through July and the first week of August impressed a number of people, including Buster Olney of ESPN. However, shortly after his quote, the Red Sox dropped two straight, including blowing a late lead on Sunday. It’s a feeling that hasn’t been felt by the Red Sox interim manager and his team in a long, long time.
“It’s been a minute,” Tracy said, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “I think I said this comment when the [15-game] winning streak ended. I was like, ‘We knew that was going to happen eventually,’ and I think in this case, you probably knew this was going to happen eventually. You’re not going to win every single series the rest of the year.”
He’s not wrong. It was crazy to even think or suggest the Red Sox were going to win every single series the rest of the season. Honestly, what they did was impressive. Eventually, you knew that they were going to cool off and hit adversity. On Sunday, set-up man Garrett Whitlock gave up a game-tying RBI single in the top of the eighth with two outs.
In the top of the ninth, closer Aroldis Chapman allowed the game-winning RBI double with two outs. In the home half of the inning, Ceddanne Rafaela had a chance to tie or win the game, but lined out sharply to left field to end the game with the winning run on base.
Boston Red Sox Make Things Interesting For Second Straight Game
The Red Sox are never out of a game. They had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth Saturday night when the game ended and the tying run at the plate. On Sunday, they had the winning run on first and were one Rafaela hit away from another walk-off.
“We gave ourselves a shot both days. Played a good game, even yesterday (in a 7-3 loss), got the game with the (potential) tying run at the plate, and we just lost them,” Tracy said, per Browne. “So you move on, tip your cap and move on to Toronto.”
On to Toronto they go for a four-game series beginning on Monday night against the Blue Jays. There is the possibility that newly acquired catcher Adley Rutschman makes his Red Sox debut in the coming days.
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