Fresh off sweeping the Dodgers over the weekend and the trade deadline on Monday, the Red Sox continued to make winning look easy, welcoming the White Sox to town for a three-game series.
Boston erupted for six runs in the first inning and never looked back, pounding the White Sox 14-2 Tuesday night at Fenway Park to improve to 61-51.
The victory was the Red Sox’ 24th in their last 27 games and 29th in their last 34, while continuing a remarkable turnaround at home, where they’ve gone 14-4 since June 25 after opening the season 12-25.
Caleb Durbin wasted little time putting Boston in control.
With the bases loaded in the first inning, the Sox third baseman crushed the first grand slam of his major league career, launching a 401-foot drive into the Green Monster seats off Davis Martin for a 5-0 lead.
Durbin’s blast was the first Red Sox’ grand slam at home in the first inning since Michael Chavis did it against the Blue Jays in July 2019.
Durbin’s turnaround at the plate has been one of the club’s biggest developments this summer. After batting just .163 with nine extra-base hits over his first 48 games, he’s hitting .308 with 23 extra-base hits in his last 57 contests.
One batter later, Jarren Duran followed with a 414-foot homer to right-center, giving the Red Sox back-to-back blasts and a 6-0 advantage before Chicago had a chance to settle in. Duran recorded his 19th multi-hit game and his fifth in his last 11 games in the victory.
The offense never let up, pounding Davis.
Wilyer Abreu joined the home run parade with a 430-foot solo shot in the fifth before adding another 419-foot blast to center in the eighth. The two-homer performance was the eighth of his career, third this season, and pushed his season total to 19 home runs.
Boston broke the game completely open with a six-run sixth inning.
Andruw Monasterio delivered a two-run single, Ceddanne Rafaela ripped a two-run double, Willson Contreras added an RBI single and Masataka Yoshida capped the rally with an RBI double as the Red Sox stretched the lead to 13-2.
Patrick Sandoval continued to build momentum in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Making just his fifth start since returning from an internal brace procedure that sidelined him for more than two years, the left-hander earned his first major league victory since May 7, 2024. Sandoval allowed two runs on six hits over five-plus innings, walking four and striking out five.
Boston also got its first look at one of its newest acquisitions.
Left-hander Erik Miller, acquired from the Giants on Monday in exchange for Marcelo Mayer, made his Red Sox debut in the sixth inning. Entering with a runner on second and two outs, Miller needed just four pitches to strike out All-Star Tristan Peters and end the threat.
The hard-throwing lefty has now struck out 46 of the 143 hitters he’s faced this season, good for a 32.2 percent strikeout rate.
Brayan Bello since being recalled from Triple-A:
16.2 IP | 0.54 ERA | 0.66 WHIP | 2 BB | 15 K
He has a 0.64 ERA in 42 IP out of the bullpen and a 10.35 ERA in 35.2 IP as a starter this season 😳 pic.twitter.com/qqzopPd8yG
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 5, 2026
Brayan Bello finished the final three innings, retiring every hitter he faced without allowing a hit or a run to preserve the bullpen for the remainder of the series.
Boston’s 14 runs marked its second-highest scoring output of the season, trailing only the club’s 17-1 victory over Baltimore on April 25. It was also the sixth time this season the Red Sox have reached double digits in runs. The Sox also hit four homers in back-to-back games for the first time since July 2021. They’ve also hit a home run in eight straight games, their longest streak since last season.
The Red Sox and White Sox continue their three-game series Wednesday night at Fenway Park. Sonny Gray (13-2, 2.93 ERA) is scheduled to start for Boston against Chicago right-hander Sean Burke (7-5, 3.04 ERA).
Adley Rutschman officially joined the Red Sox on Tuesday and began getting acclimated to his new surroundings at Fenway Park.
“Just from playing here, the city loves baseball. It always has a great atmosphere and I’m excited to play in it,” Rutschman said Tuesday before the win over the White Sox. “They’re playing the game the right way and doing things right. It was cool to watch from a distance. Now being here, like I said – just trying to fit in and help out any way I can.”
The three-time All-Star catcher is currently on the injured list with left wrist inflammation but has already resumed swinging a bat. The Red Sox remain optimistic he’ll return soon, though they’re not interested in rushing the recovery of a player they paid a steep price to acquire before Monday’s trade deadline.
“It’s been feeling good. I’ve got to get with the medical staff here and kind of just see
