After spending much of the last week searching for offense, the Red Sox found plenty of it Monday night.
The Red Sox didn’t strike out once, and all nine starters drove in a run. It marked just the fourth time since 2000 that every starter in Boston’s lineup recorded an RBI and just the fourth time they’ve accomplished the feat at Fenway Park since 1950.
The home cooking was exactly what the Red Sox needed after returning from a miserable 2-5 road trip through Toronto and Pittsburgh. Boston had lost seven of nine entering Monday and scored four runs or fewer in six of seven games on the trip.
“No secret, over the last week or so that (we’ve been) grinding offensively and we weren’t today,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It was great to see. Up and down the lineup, contributions everywhere.”
Eli White opened the scoring with an RBI single in the second before Nick Sogard followed with an RBI double. From there, the Red Sox kept piling on and never gave Arizona much of an opportunity to get back into the game.
White’s contribution continued what has quietly been a solid start to his Red Sox tenure.
Acquired from Atlanta at the trade deadline, White’s addition was understandably overshadowed by Boston’s bigger moves. But he’s already shown why the Red Sox wanted him.
With Arizona starting left-hander Mitch Bratt, White got the start in left over Jarren Duran and delivered at the plate before showing off his range defensively. In the fifth, he ran down Jose Fernandez’s 104.3 mph liner to left for an impressive catch.
White is now 5-for-19 with a walk, two RBI and a stolen base since joining the Red Sox.
The offense gave Brayan Bello far more support than he needed. Following opener Alec Gamboa, Bello continued to look like a completely different pitcher in his bulk-relief role. He worked 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk while striking out three.
In 11 relief appearances this season, Bello is 4-0 with a 0.85 ERA and one save. His first four appearances out of the bullpen came when the Red Sox were moving him back and forth between roles, but things have changed since his somewhat stunning five-week demotion to Triple-A Worcester.
Since returning, the bulk role has become Bello’s home, and the results have made it difficult for the Red Sox to consider changing anything.
Tracy acknowledged before the game that Boston hasn’t completely ruled out eventually moving Bello back into the rotation, but for now, it’s hard to mess with what’s working.
“It’s been great,” Tracy said. “I think obviously it was well documented how the beginning of the year went for him, the frustrations and that he believes he’s a starter. We still think that. But he’s in a really good place as far as accepting the role and knowing that he’s not only accepting the role, but he’s going out there and helping us win in that role, and that’s a good place for him to be.”
Brayan Bello found a way to limit damage out of the bullpen once again.
4.2 IP – 76 Pitches/50 Strikes
3 Hits
1 ER/R
3 K
1 BB
6 Whiffs
Lots of loud contact. 10 Hard-Hit balls. Velocity was up across the board again. Leaned less on the Sinker. More of the Cutter and Changeup. pic.twitter.com/2HLvqX7hD4
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) August 18, 2026
Gamboa did his part before handing things over to Bello, retiring all four hitters he faced with three groundouts and a strikeout.
Willson Contreras added another milestone to what’s already been a terrific season. After hitting just two home runs over his previous 22 games, Contreras led off the fifth by lifting a 347-foot solo shot just over the Green Monster.
It was his 25th homer of the season, establishing a new career high after he hit 24 with the Cubs in 2019.
“I always was wondering if I had a healthy full season what the number is going to look like,” Contreras said. “And thankfully this year, it’s been one of the best years of my career. I’ve been healthy. Right now, I’m trying to stay healthy, trying to stay on the field.”
Contreras returned to the lineup Monday after asking for a day off Sunday in Pittsburgh as he continues to manage soreness in his leg.
“My leg is sore. I won’t lie,” Contreras said. “I feel like I needed a day. … I’m just trying to stay healthy. I don’t want the soreness to become an injury. So I felt like my body needed a rest last night and I asked for it. So it helped.”
Ceddanne Rafaela also bounced back after a difficult weekend in Pittsburgh.
Rafaela entered Monday having gone 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in the Pirates series, then responded with three doubles against Arizona. He matched a career high with three extra-base hits and became the first Red Sox hitter with three doubles in a game since Trevor Story in August 2023.
Rafaela now has 32 doubles on the season, putting 40 well within reach over the final weeks.
Sogard wasn’t even supposed to hit leadoff Monday night. He was initially penciled into the eighth spot before Jahmai Jones was scratched with hip tightness.
“Had it yesterday, too,” Tracy said of Jones before the win on Monday night. “Much better today, which is good. He was able to do some activity, but there’s still a little bit of end range in his swing, that he’s just at a place where he’s worried about like, fully turning the swing fully loose.”
Tracy moved Sogard to the top of the order, and the move paid off.
Sogard’s RBI double in the second made it 2-0. He doubled again with two outs in the fourth and scored on Rafaela’s two-bagger. It was Sogard’s third career game with multiple extra-base hits and his second this season, with the other coming Aug. 8 against the Athletics.
Mickey Gasper also benefited from the late lineup shuffle after he was inserted after Jones was scratched, Gasper wrapped a 343-foot home run around Pesky’s Pole for his first homer as a member of the Red Sox. It was the third homer of Gasper’s major league career and snapped a 37-game, 118-at-bat homerless drought.
