Red Sox Win 14 Straight, One Shy of 1946 Club Record

Sport

By lines

July 21, 2026

The Red Sox winning streak reached 14 games Monday night. Caleb Durbin’s tiebreaking homer beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 at Fenway Park. Boston now sits one win from the franchise record set in 1946.

Durbin’s Green Monster Shot Puts 1946 in Reach

Durbin connected with two outs in the eighth inning. He drove a 1-0 cutter from Tyler Wells over the Green Monster to break a 5-5 tie. Boston erased three deficits before the winning swing. Aroldis Chapman then stranded runners on second and third when Tyler O’Neill lined out to short. Durbin, acquired from Milwaukee in an offseason trade, finished the night with four hits. The loss ended the Orioles’ seven-game winning streak, their longest of the season.

Boston is 19-2 over its past 21 games, the best record in MLB since June 25, per ESPN. Through June 24, the Red Sox sat at 32-46, the worst record in the American League. Chapman’s save was his 22nd this season and the 389th of his career. Only nine relievers have recorded more saves since the statistic became official in 1969. Chapman now trails Dennis Eckersley’s 390 by one.

The 1946 Red Sox, led by Ted Williams, won 15 straight and still hold the franchise record 80 years later. Boston’s current run is the second-longest in club history, per ESPN. No MLB team had won 14 in a row since the Milwaukee Brewers did it last August. That 1946 team went on to win the American League pennant.

The players are not hiding what Tuesday means. “I want to make history here,” Durbin told reporters after his fourth hit of the night sparked the celebration. Willson Contreras, who jumped the dugout railing first, said Monday felt like “playoffs, going to the World Series.” The 14-game surge has turned a 32-46 start into a live postseason chase. Contreras put it plainly: “We’re on the way, but there’s a lot of season left.” He added: “If it happens, that would be great for us. We can celebrate that.”

Boston goes for win number 15 against Baltimore on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. A victory ties the 80-year-old mark set by the Ted Williams club. Durbin, who homered off a 1-0 pitch Monday, said he is trying not to think about it. “I’m trying not to, but I want it,” Durbin admitted of the record. Nobody in the Boston dugout believes him. “There’s not a lot of times that you black out,” Durbin said of his trip around the bases. Fenway Park hosts the record attempt Tuesday night.