Boston Red Sox
“This game exemplifies who we are now. There was never any doubt.”
Teammates mob Caleb Durbin following his walk-off single in the 13th inning Thursday. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
August 7, 2026 | 7:17 AM
5 minutes to read
In a dream summer full of dramatic victories, the Red Sox may have delivered their most epic performance of the regular season Thursday night.
In a bonkers, back-and-forth game that featured a whopping five Boston comebacks and lasted nearly five hours, the Red Sox outlasted the White Sox, 12-11, in 13 innings at Fenway Park.
The instant classic required 17 pitchers, who threw a combined 447 pitches, and ended with a Caleb Durbin RBI single up the middle that scored Nick Sogard.
“They walked the guy in front of me,” Durbin told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “I had to make them pay for it.”
Then came the Gatorade shower.
“It’s a hot one tonight, so that felt really good,” said Durbin, who now has six winning RBIs.
Then another shower for Durbin, who certainly earned the double refresher with a 3-for-6 performance while playing through pinkie discomfort.
When Webster asked Durbin to elaborate on the significance of the result, Durbin kept it simple and professional, like he did at the plate.
“It’s who we are,” Durbin said. “We worked really hard to get to this point. This game exemplifies who we are now. There was never any doubt.”
Don’t mess with “The Durbinator”
There’s only one Dustin Pedroia, but Durbin has shown time and time again that he has a lot of Pedroia in him.
Boston loves a scrappy, undersized gamer who doesn’t take no for an answer and plays with passion and guts. It couldn’t have been easy to bounce back after such a slow start to the season, but Durbin deserves an immense amount of credit for his resurgence.
After his first career grand slam Tuesday, an RBI single Wednesday, and his heroics Thursday, Durbin is 7 for his last 16 with seven RBIs and four runs.
He also made several strong defensive plays and hustled all night despite the discomfort after sliding into second base and jamming his finger. Regardless of how the rest of the season shakes out, it was a great move and he’s exactly the type of player they should build around.
Ranger danger
Long before the late-game chaos, it was a tough outing for Ranger Suárez.
Suárez has been consistent for the Red Sox this season, but Thursday wasn’t his finest performance. He fell behind hitters, struggled to locate his pitches, and even had a pitch-clock violation that yielded a walk.
Suárez (3 innings, 3 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks) looked out of sorts and flustered at times. He surrendered a two-run homer to Chase Meidroth, then an RBI single to Colson Montgomery that led to two runs after a rare throwing error from Ceddanne Rafaela.
He has allowed three earned runs in three of his last four outings, raising his ERA to 3.32. If the Red Sox hope to make a deep postseason run, they’ll need Suárez to return to form.
Comeback kids
Early in the season, a four-run deficit meant fans could go to the concession stands, check their phones, or head for the exits to beat the traffic.
Now, it’s reached the point where a comeback is expected and it’s more surprising when they don’t make some noise.
It started with a Connor Wong two-run blast over the Green Monster in the third inning, scoring Anthony Seigler. Wong, who entered 0 for his last 15, gave an 86-mile-per-hour slider a ride to inject some life into Fenway Park.
Red Sox were down 2-0.
Red Sox were down 4-0.
Red Sox were down 4-2.
Red Sox were down 5-2.
Red Sox were down 5-3.
Red Sox were down 7-5.
Red Sox were down 7-6.
Red Sox were down 9-7.
Red Sox were down 9-8.
Red Sox were down 10-9.
Red Sox were down 11-10.
Red Sox won the game.
— Sam Block (@theblockspot) August 7, 2026
A Sam Antonacci double off Greg Weissert in the fourth made it 5-2 Chicago, but that didn’t faze the Red Sox one bit. Andruw Monasterio doubled to right, plating Durbin, then Seigler did the same to drive in Masataka Yoshida and Monasterio and tie it at five.
The White Sox responded, as a tricky high-hopper from Braden Montgomery led to a poor throw from Justin Slaten that triggered two runs in the fifth and made it 7-5 Chicago.
Yoshida knocked in Durbin with a double to center to slice the deficit in half in the sixth. A crazy game got even more wild, as the teams combined for 13 runs through the first six innings.
The Red Sox nearly rallied multiple times but came up just short in the seventh and eighth. In the ninth, Wong doubled off the Monster, then pinch-runner Eli White moved to third on a beauty of a bunt from Nick Sogard.
Wilyer Abreu, who had been quiet all night, delivered a clutch two-out single up the middle to tie it at 7 and extend the game. While a walk-off homer would have brought the house down, Abreu deserves credit for not trying to do too much. He took what came his way and made the smart and simple play to keep the Red Sox alive.
There is just absolutely no quit in this team.
Back and forth, over and over again
They had them right where they wanted them, but the 10th inning wasn’t as kind to the Red Sox.
Aroldis Chapman, who has been brilliant again this season, allowed a two-run homer to Meidroth as the White Sox vaulted back in front, 9-7. Chapman, who entered with a 1.45 ERA at home, allowed a run for the first time in more than a month.
But they weren’t done yet. Yoshida walked, and Monasterio smashed a double off the wall to score Abreu.
Monasterio, one of the unsung heroes during this remarkable run, extended his hitting streak to eight games and his career-long on-base streak to 18 games. Twenty-eight of his 57 hits have gone for extra bases. When he’s up, you feel like something good is going to happen.
The Boston Red Sox come from behind five times, and beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-11, in 13 innings for their 8th consecutive victory.
Crazy game.
Crazy team.
They have won 26 of their last 29 games.
They are now 12 games over .500 after being 12 games under .500.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 7, 2026
Seigler did his job and drove in pinch runner Jahmai Jones with a sacrifice fly to center field to tie it at 9. The White Sox pulled ahead, 10-9, in the 11th on a sacrifice fly from Montgomery, then Rafaela singled to center and Sogard scored on a sacrifice fly from Abreu.
Chicago pulled ahead once again, 11-10, in the 12th, on a single from Antonacci. A throw home from Jarren Duran to nail Montgomery helped Brayan Bello limit the damage to one run.
Jake Rogers scored Duran on a sacrifice fly to center to tie it at 11, as the longest game of the year so far rolled past 11:30 p.m.
Down 5-2, they tied it at five. Down 7-5, they tied it at seven. Down 9-7, they tied it at nine. Down 10-9, they tied it at 10. Down 11-10, they tied it at 11.
Finally, Bello retired the side and Durbin finished the job to cue the celebration and cement the sweep. When asked where the game ranks in ones he’s been a part of, interim manager Chad Tracy didn’t hesitate.
“That ranks at the top of the list, I’d say,” Tracy told reporters.
The magical run continues
The Red Sox are now a season-high 12 games over .500 after falling as many as 14 games below .500 early in the season.
They’ve won nine straight series and have 13 consecutive victories over division-leading teams. It’s one thing to beat up on the bad teams; it’s another to win every single game against the teams they could face in the playoffs.
The Red Sox never led until the game was 4:23 old. And then it was over. Caleb Durbin ends it as the Sox win 12-11.
— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) August 7, 2026
None have unfolded quite like this one.
“They just did not want to lose,” Tracy said. “It was incredible.”
For those keeping track at home, that’s eight straight, 26 of 29, and 31 of 36. They’re playing better than .800 baseball and showing no signs of slowing down.
Think about that for a second. It doesn’t make any sense, but it doesn’t have to. It’s real, and it’s spectacular. Enjoy it, folks. You may never witness anything like this again in your lifetime.
Trevor Hass is a sports producer for Boston.com, where he writes and edits stories about Boston’s professional teams, among other tasks.
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