The Red Sox made their biggest statement of the season this weekend.
Boston marched into Dodger Stadium and swept the defending World Series champions, capping it off with an 8-4 victory Sunday night to improve to 60-51. The win extended the club’s road dominance to 15 victories in its last 16 games and pushed Boston to 31-8 over its last 39 contests.
After sitting 14 games below .500 earlier this season, the Red Sox are now nine games over .500 and firmly in possession of the second American League Wild Card spot.
With Monday’s trade deadline looming, Boston has done everything it could on the field. Now the pressure shifts to chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to reinforce a club that suddenly looks like a legitimate postseason contender.
The offense flexed its power against Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan.
Trailing 3-2 in the second inning, the Red Sox launched three solo home runs in a span of four batters.
Ceddanne Rafaela started the barrage with a 388-foot blast to left before Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida followed with back-to-back pull-side home runs to put Boston ahead 5-3.
Sheehan never recovered, allowing five runs on six hits while recording just eight outs.
Rafaela’s torrid second half continued.
The All-Star center fielder homered four times during the three-game series with Los Angeles and now has seven home runs in 17 games since the All-Star break. His 15th homer of the season leaves him just one shy of matching the career-high 16 he set in 2025.
Boston had already put pressure on Sheehan in the opening inning.
Nick Sogard drew a leadoff walk before Abreu singled. Yoshida and Caleb Durbin followed with RBI singles to give the Red Sox a quick 2-0 lead before the Dodgers came to bat.
Credit to Jake Bennett for another really solid start. Defense let him down early, but he stuck with it.
5.2 IP – 88 Pitches/52 Strikes
6 Hits
3 ER/R
4 K
2 BB
0 HR
8 Whiffs
Consistency is the first word that comes to mind. Less of the 4SFB, more of the Sweeper and Cutter. pic.twitter.com/G8FTqkjrWM
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) August 3, 2026
Jake Bennett once again showed why the Red Sox are excited about his future.
