Caleb Durbin lit up Fenway Park with an eighth-inning home run on Monday, July 20, driving home the Boston Red Sox’s mind-blowing 14th consecutive victory. It was a dramatic, two-out blast over the Green Monster against Baltimore pitcher Tyler Wells, and it sent the crowd absolutely wild. This dude is straight up magic right now, making history repeat itself. Seriously, for the second straight year of his big-league career, Durbin has been part of a team racking up 14 wins in a row. Last year, he was with the Brewers when they set a franchise record with 14 straight victories. Now, he’s the heart of Boston’s mid-summer revival, and with one more win on July 21, the Red Sox will equal their own club record for consecutive victories, a run established all the way back in 1946. That’s wild!
Durbin’s Redemption Arc Is Legit
Talk about a turnaround! Durbin’s season has been a total roller coaster, going from deep struggles earlier this year to a fan favorite, crushing clutch homers. As recently as May 24, his OPS was a measly .479 and his batting average sat at .163. Fast forward to now, his overall numbers are climbing to a .699 OPS and a .236 batting average. They’re not quite at his 2025 levels, when he was third in Rookie of the Year voting, but they’re a universe away from where he started. This latest homer was his 10th of the year, just one shy of his total from last season. He’s actually homered three times just during this insane Red Sox run, which kicked off on July 3. That streak started when the team was a dismal 37-48 and a whopping 14 games out of first place in the American League East. Now, they’re sitting at 51-48, only six games behind Tampa Bay for first place, and they hold the third and final wild-card spot in the league, 1½ games ahead of Texas. What a turnaround! The Orioles, by the way, came into this game on their own seven-game winning streak. Someone had to lose that battle, and Durbin made sure it wasn’t Boston.
The Trade That Keeps Giving
Remember that offseason trade? The Brewers sent Durbin, Anthony Seigler, and Andruw Monasterio to the Red Sox. In return, Milwaukee got pitchers Kyle Harrison and Shane Drohan, plus infielder David Hamilton. Looking back, it’s a move the Brewers would make again and again after Harrison became a breakout star in the first half of the season, Drohan became a reliable component of the rotation, and Hamilton solidified his spot as a regular starter at third base. But Boston isn’t exactly complaining, are they? Seigler has become their leadoff hitter and second baseman, sporting a .706 OPS. Utility man Monasterio has a quality .731 OPS and has played in 60 games. What’s even crazier is that Monasterio himself hit an unlikely extra-inning home run last August in Cincinnati that triggered Milwaukee’s 14th consecutive victory, setting that franchise record. So both Durbin and Monasterio have basically been good luck charms for 14-game streaks!
After this incredible win, Durbin said, “I can’t imagine it being more electric [on Tuesday] than tonight, but it might be. We’ll see. Tonight was awesome, though. I can’t speak for anyone else. We haven’t really talked about it but, shoot, yeah, I want to make history here.” You bet he does! The Red Sox play again on July 21, with a chance to tie the 1946 club record for consecutive victories. Can Durbin and the squad make history happen again? You know everyone will be glued to their screens.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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