It’s the magical summer of 2026. Fenway Park was full and frenzied on a slightly cool August evening. And the Red Sox were wearing the City Connect yellows, which (to me, anyway) still glow with a corona of magic from that wonderful 2021 season. And so, even as the Sox sleepwalked through the first seven innings of the game, I felt pretty confident that they were going to find a way to pull out yet another memorable win.
Patrick Sandoval was, once again, not all that good. In fact, had Jung Ho Lee’s sharply hit groundball with the bases loaded been just a foot or two to either the left or the right, this game might’ve been out of reach in the third inning. But that ball was snagged for the third out by Willson Contreras, and Sandoval did manage to keep the offense in the game as he labored into the sixth.
For most of the night, though, the offense didn’t really seem like it wanted to get into the game; they mostly seemed like they wanted to get home. The Sox put just one single runner in scoring position in the first seven innings: it was Nick Sogard in the third and he was stranded there one batter later when Willson Contreras struck out to end what little threat there was. This was one of those nights where the Sox just couldn’t get that one hit they needed.
Then came the eighth. Mickey Gasper doubled into the right field corner. Nick Sogard took a four-pitch walk. And Ceddanne Rafaela stung a single to left that was hit too hard to score a run but brought the ballpark to life nonetheless. The Sox had the bases loaded with no outs and the heart of the order up. Bases loaded/no outs situations result in runs so often that Bill James actually invented a stat (the Houdini) to track the rare times that it doesn’t. There’s an entire internetty acronym that flies around Twitter every time a team fails to score there. Any MLB team would be expected to score there. The 2026 Red Sox — in August, in the yellows, with Abreu, Contreras, and Adley Rutschman due up — would be expected to start a dance riot.
Instead, the Giants called on closer Dylan Smith for a six-out save. Abreu struck out for the fourth time, Willson Contreras was caught looking on an ABS challenge that wasn’t particularly close, and then Rutschman flew out to deep center to end the threat.
But reread the first sentence of this recap — summer 2026, Fenway, the yellows. This game wasn’t over yet.
Gassed by all those high-leverage pitches, Smith immediately issued a non-competitive walk to Caleb Durbin to leadoff the ninth. He was replaced by Sam Hentges, who immediately hit Jahmai Jones. Andruw Monasterio lucked out of a double-play on a booted soft grounder to second, putting runners on the corners. Then Eli White lucked into the Sox’ first RBI on a softly hit single up the middle. One hit away! Again!
This time they did get that one hit — from Nick Sogard, who roped a double to left to tie it. Wilyer Abreu strode to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to redeem himself for what had been an awful night. And he did. I mean, he only barely did: he grounded to first and then the Sox got their third bit of ninth inning luck when a bad throw barely pulled Andrew Knizner’s foot off the plate to score White from third. (Frankly: he looked out to me. Still not sure how it wasn’t overturned.)
It was an incredibly lucky ninth inning, but by now it’s clear that the 2026 Red Sox specialize in that type of thing. Magic.
Nick Sogard: It wasn’t just the RBI double in the ninth. He’d already reached base three times and made a key defensive play in the game. How could you even consider sitting him in favor of Trevor Story right now?
Caleb Durbin: He didn’t hit the ball particularly hard tonight, but he reached base three times, including a hope-inducing leadoff walk in the ninth.
Wilyer Abreu: Abreu was terrible for most of the night. The Sox only put runners in scoring position on two separate occasions in the first eight innings and Wilyer Abreu subsequently struck out both times. He struck out four times overall. He went 0-5. And his game-winning RBI came the lamest way an RBI can: via a fielder’s choice combined with a very questionable call. But it was a game-winning RBI, damn it.
No duds on a night like this.
