Boston Red Sox
Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run, go-ahead home run in the seventh inning.
The Red Sox ended their historic July on a high note. Friday night’s win was their 21st win of the month. AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
August 1, 2026 | 5:39 PM
3 minutes to read
The Boston Red Sox capped off a July for the books with an impressive series opener against the reigning world champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Red Sox battled back to win 9-4 on Friday night in another game that featured late-game heroics to help further improve Boston’s playoff chances.
The club found itself ahead 3-0 early, courtesy of a Jarren Duran RBI knock in the first inning and Masataka Yoshida two-RBI at-bat in the third. Starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was rolling, holding the home team scoreless until the fourth frame.
The formidable Dodgers eventually clawed their way back. They scored three times in the fifth inning to claim a 4-3 advantage over the Red Sox, two of those runs coming off the bat of Shohei Ohtani.
Boston could have cowered its way into the Dodger Stadium visiting dugout after Ohtani’s blast, but that wouldn’t be par for the course for this version of the 2026 Red Sox.
Ceddanne Rafaela, who’s having a phenomenal breakout year, clubbed his 12th home run of the year in the seventh inning, a go-ahead, two-run, 405-foot shot to give Boston a 5-4 lead.
“I think I was concentrated right there,” Rafaela said of his big swing postgame. “Focus on hunting a pitch that I can really do damage on, and not give away outs. I got the changeup right there and then able to put the swing on the ball. … I’m happy to help my team.”
After Rafaela’s latest electric moment on the diamond, Boston never looked back.
Andruw Monsaterio continued his sizzling hot month with a two-run double in the same frame to extend the Red Sox’ lead, 7-4. Duran drove in another run to make it a four-run lead in the seventh, and Carlos Narvaez made it 9-4 in the final inning with a sacrifice fly.
Interim manager Chad Tracy applauded his lineup’s ability to persevere and continue to make late-game comebacks.
“I think it’s fairly clear at this point: we got a resilient group,” he said. “(Ohtani) hits the home run; obviously that guy hits home runs off a lot of people. He’s really good. But you get out of the inning, you still come in like, ‘Hey, we’re down a run and there’s still a lot of game left. So, if we can fight back and get a lead, then we’ll be alright.’ That’s the way they viewed it, and they did a fantastic job.”
Boston’s offense will receive most of the credit for Friday’s exciting win, but perhaps MLB’s best bullpen should get some love, too.
Jovani Moran was the one who allowed Ohtani’s go-ahead homer in the fifth after taking over for Suarez, but Brayan Bello was the star from then on. Bello, who has succeeded extremely well in relief despite his league-worst stats as a starter earlier in the season, pitched four scoreless innings to keep Los Angeles at bay in the second-half of the contest.
Bello leads MLB in relief ERA with a 0.69 mark (seven appearances, 39 innings), ahead of San Diego Padres shutdown man Mason Miller (0.79).
As a starter, Bello has a league-worst 10.35 ERA (eight starts, 35.2 innings).
If it works, it works.
Tracy said Bello’s outing was “fantastic” and helped give the bullpen a much-needed break.
“Huge. Obviously, our bullpen’s heavily used and a little beat up right now. Because when you win that many games over that period of time, those guys have been used a lot,” Tracy said. “Brayan threw the ball great, pitched out of a couple spots where he had people on to keep them off the board, and in so doing, got our guys some more rest that they needed. He was fantastic.”
Bello, who earned the win, paved the way for the Red Sox’ bats to do what they do best, which is to rake when it matters most.
Boston scored six of their nine runs in the final three frames, five of which came in that thrilling seventh inning, to give Bello plenty of cushion.
It was another successful team effort for the Sox, who finished July a franchise-best 21-4 (.840 winning percentage). That record is the organization’s best in any calendar month in history.
Rafaela said he’s well aware of the team’s dominant stretch and wants to keep it rolling into August and beyond.
“I think since July 1st, we’ve been doing a great job as a team,” he said. “The plan is to keep doing exactly what we’re doing and finish strong.”
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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