What makes the 2026 Red Sox so frustrating is their inability to build on momentum.
Just when it looks like Boston has turned a corner offensively, the lineup disappears for a few games before breaking out again.
One night after managing just two runs in a loss to Baltimore, the Red Sox pounded the Orioles 8-1 on Wednesday night at Fenway Park and put themselves in position to win the series Thursday afternoon.
Amid the backdrop of Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s comments about the distractions that come with playing at home, Boston came out focused and immediately put pressure on Orioles starter Chris Bassitt.
Jarren Duran led off the bottom of the first with a single, advanced on a groundout and scored on a Wilyer Abreu RBI single to give the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead.
Willson Contreras followed with a double down the left-field line, but Abreu was thrown out at the plate trying to score. It marked the latest in a growing trend of aggressive sends by third-base coach Chad Epperson. Over the last 13 games, six Red Sox runners have been thrown out at home on balls put in play or defensive miscues.
Abreu got the run back himself two innings later.
The outfielder launched a two-run homer around Pesky’s Pole in the third inning, his seventh home run of the season and first since May 8, extending Boston’s lead to 3-0.
Abreu finished 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI.
While the offense supplied early support, rookie left-hander Payton Tolle continued his impressive season on the mound.
Tolle tossed six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out five. The 23-year-old generated 17 swings and misses, including 10 with his four-seam fastball, five with his cutter, one with his sinker and one with his curveball.
His 59 four-seamers averaged 95.6 mph and topped out at 97.4 mph. Tolle’s 99 pitches were a career high, surpassing the 94 he threw against Atlanta on May 28. While his velocity was down slightly from previous outings and he labored through a 25-pitch first inning, Tolle repeatedly worked out of trouble.
He stranded a runner at third in the first, left two Orioles aboard in the third and escaped another jam in the fifth after Marcelo Mayer lost what appeared to be an inning-ending pop-up in the twilight sky.
Mayer’s misplay allowed Gunnar Henderson to reach second with a two-out double, but Tolle responded by retiring Adley Rutschman on a fly ball to right field to preserve Boston’s 3-0 lead.
The outing marked Tolle’s fifth quality start of the season and lowered his ERA to 2.28.
The Red Sox finally put the game away in the fifth inning.
Contreras doubled and Masataka Yoshida walked before Mickey Gasper lifted a routine fly ball to center field. Orioles center fielder Blaze Alexander lost the ball in the lights, turning what should have been an out into a two-run triple that pushed Boston’s lead to 5-0.
The floodgates opened from there, with Kiner-Falefa following with an RBI double before Caleb Durbin added another run-scoring double. Ceddanne Rafaela capped the five-run inning with an RBI infield single, diving headfirst into first base to beat Pete Alonso’s throw to reliever Albert Suárez covering the bag.
By the end of the inning, Boston had built an 8-0 cushion.
Durbin continued his recent surge, finishing with
