Before we begin looking ahead to 2027, OTM is looking back at 2026, highlighting some of the biggest, strangest, and most memorable moments of a memorable season. Today, we look at an unlikely comeback in the middle of the streak.
A few days ago, before the Ravens-Bills matchup, ESPN ran a parody ad on folks who left a 2025 game early, as Josh Allen and the Bills found themselves down two possessions in the fourth quarter. The Bills, to the ire of this Patriots fan, would win that primetime game last year, and Josh Allen, never one to mince words in his postgame interviews, said “Our team didn’t quit. I mean, I think there’s people that left the stadium. That’s OK. We’ll be fine. But have some faith next time.” The camera then cut to some folks who were in the parking lot during Allen’s comeback, and I found myself laughing at Buffalo fans, as is often easy to do amongst their deep playoff runs filled with hope, their chirps that at least Allen would win an MVP, and celebrations of October records. Of course they’d leave this game early, and how funny it was that they weren’t able to see how brilliant their quarterback was in the clutch in person!
I then recoiled in horror as I realized that, just four months ago, on one fateful afternoon much further downstate in Flushing, I did the exact same thing to our beloved Red Sox.
In my first year of being a resident of the Capital Region, New York, it has been easier for me to hit the Big Apple than Boston. I circled the Mets-Red Sox series in my calendar for the middle of July, reluctantly, as the Red Sox did not start the season very well and the game would be directly before the All-Star game. By the day of the game, though, I was very bullish on this Red Sox team. The Red Sox were winners of eight consecutive games, and it didn’t much matter if those wins came against the Angels and the White Sox, the latter of whom, at the time, weren’t the formidable contender they ended up becoming later in the season, but were certainly no slouches. The team had awakened offensively against the Angels and was showing definite signs of life
This was not the case, though, in the early innings of this game against the Mets, after my trip down 87. The Red Sox had trouble getting anything going against a lanky lefty Zac Thornton. Thornton ended up being a bright spot in an otherwise hapless season for the Mets, but he was on the mound for the first time in what was already his third call-up of the season from Triple-A Syracuse. His first try resulted in the Nationals taking him for five runs in 4 1/3 innings. It was fine for the offensive to flounder while I was watching – I had seen it plenty of times this season. But did the bats have to flounder so harshly while the wonderful Obsession star Inde Navarette was in attendance? No, no, no, no, no, don’t do that! I thought we were having a nice win streak!
If matters weren’t bad enough, this was a scheduled short appearance from Payton Tolle, who looked serviceable for a bit longer, striking out Juan Soto with authority (you can watch that clip below) and Brayan Bello, the guy who departed the Major League roster about a month prior to fall in love with baseball again, was up in relief. Frankly, I was writing this game up as a loss mentally, as the Mets lineup did not look punchless so far and Tolle was lucky to have just Francisco Lindor’s RBI double after 3 2/3 innings.
But Bello coasted for quite a while. Lindor would be pesky yet again with a home run to make the game 2-0, but that was one of two batters Bello did not retire, and the other one would be victim to a double play, anyway. Bello would pitch through the eighth. The problem, though, is that Thornton was dealing. Through seven, he had given up just two hits, was pitching a shutout, and had struck out five. But, good things can’t last forever, and so interim manager Andy Green went to Luke Weaver to start the eighth. At that point, with how hollow the Red Sox’s hitting attempts had become, the Red Sox’s expected winning percentage was hovering around 7 percent. The Red Sox would go 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth. More of the same.
Enter Devin Williams, and enter my walk to the exit when, after a Ceddanne Rafaela single, he’d unceremoniously retire Abreu with a pop fly. The team’s pop was completely nonexistent; why would I subject myself to sitting in more NYC traffic after a loss? It was a sure thing, right? No sooner did my feet hit the closing gate than I heard a roar from a rather divided crowd. Francisco Lindor, the guy who was singlehandedly responsible for the lead the Mets had built, had bobbled the most routine of grounders that would have ended the game. The Red Sox now had men on first and second, and I was left to turn the stream on in the car.
The rest is history as we know it: Devin Williams would walk in the Red Sox’s first run of the game. Aroldis Chapman would start warming, Jarren Duran would have a clutch RBI knock, the game would go to the bottom of the 9th inning all tied up at 2, Chapman would be every bit of the historically dependable reliever we’ve come to know to send the game to extras, the top of the tenth would see the Red Sox playing small ball extremely efficiently, scoring the Manfred runner Masataka Yoshida on two consecutive plays. The small ball was a welcome addition to their game plan, and on that Sunday, it was due to their trust in the man who’d come in to close the game out, Garrett Whitlock, who slammed the door the same way I slammed my door when I arrived to it in the parking lot.
The Red Sox were winners of nine consecutive games going into the All-Star break, a streak that would last two more series. Even better, they were in that situation thanks to contributions — 13 outs in relief, to be exact — from a guy who was one of the reasons the season starting so dire in the first place. On July 12, Bello was electric, and so began a summer that made it exciting to root for Brayan Bello’s growth and success again. They were finding ways to win. I guess, as Josh Allen put it so eloquently, when dealing with a team I should be confident in, I’ll have more faith next time.
Have you ever left a game early and really wish you hadn’t? Can anyone one-up me with a 2013 ALDS story? Sound off below!
