Red Sox heat up, halt their skid with resounding win over Diamondbacks

BOSTON — A historic 32-5 stretch this summer gave the Boston Red Sox a bit of a buffer in the American League wild-card standings when the inevitable cooldown came. That icy stretch arrived last week as the Red Sox lost seven of nine games entering Monday.

But a return to Fenway Park against the Arizona Diamondbacks proved just what the Red Sox needed. Every member of the starting lineup drove in a run in a resounding 11-1 victory to ease the anxiety of their August swoon.

“It’s no secret over the last week or so that we were grinding offensively and we weren’t today,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “So it was great to see. Up and down the lineup, contributions everywhere, hard-hit balls. Really, really good offensive output by the entire group.”

ADLEY CRUSHED-MAN

Every single #RedSox batter has one RBI tonight! pic.twitter.com/T2hTY9Kv5Q

— NESN (@NESN) August 18, 2026

The Red Sox scored a run in every inning from the second through the seventh and matched their run total from their three previous games combined. Perhaps more impressive, they did not strike out a single time. It marked the first time since 2010 the team recorded zero strikeouts in a game.

Monday’s win showed signs of another upward swing to halt what’s been an ugly skid.

Caleb Durbin offered the initial spark for the offense in the second inning when he walked, advanced on a wild pitch and stole third before scoring on an Eli White single to get things started. Nick Sogard’s RBI double made it 2-0. The next inning, Willson Contreras doubled and was driven in by Durbin, and in the third, Ceddanne Rafaela doubled to score Sogard making it 4-0. The offense was rolling.

Rafaela finished the night 3-for-5 with three doubles, pushing his American League-leading total to 32. The center fielder had been in a rough patch at the plate over the last week, but put together solid at-bats in the series opener.

“Much better today,” Tracy said of Rafaela. “He’s doing some work on top of and all over the swing-decision piece of it. He swung good pitches today and hit them really, really hard, so it was really good to see.”

Contreras popped his 25th homer of the season in the fifth inning, a solo shot off the top of the Green Monster. It marked a career-high for the first baseman, who’s been banged up in recent weeks. Contreras rarely takes days off but asked for a day off Sunday with his leg bothering him. The rest did him well as he knows how important he is to the lineup.

“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,” Contreras said. “I learned throughout my career to listen to my body.”

Willson Contreras (right) was back in the lineup and doing damage Monday night. (Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)

Newcomer Adley Rutschman started to find his groove, too. The catcher had gone just 1-for-17 in five games since coming off the injured list with an abbreviated rehab stint as he worked to return as soon as possible for his new club. On Monday, he went 2-for-5 with a double and reached base a third time when a ball dropped in front of Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll in his first game at Fenway as a member of the Red Sox.

“It was really cool, just going out there before the game,” Rutschman said of Fenway. “Being in the other bullpen and having fans actually cheering for you when you’re in the bullpen. It’s just a different feeling. But just across the board, feeling the energy was really cool.”

By the eighth inning, the Diamondbacks had second baseman Ian Vargas on the mound in the blowout.

Meanwhile, Red Sox pitchers, led by opener Alec Gamboa and followed by bulk reliever Brayan Bello, did their part.

Gamboa recorded the first four outs before turning the ball over to Bello in his newfound relief role. Entering the day, Bello had posted an 0.75 ERA in 48 relief innings this season and added to that mark on Monday, allowing one run on three hits and walk over 4 2/3 innings to keep Arizona in check.

“I feel happy and proud to be able to help the team win every time they give me the ball and I’m able to perform and give my team a chance to win,” Bello said through an interpreter.

Bello’s importance to the pitching staff continues to grow. The Red Sox were able to push back their starters because of the Gamboa-Bello tandem.

“It’s been great,” Tracy said. “I think it’s obviously well-documented how the beginning of the year went for him, the frustrations 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.”

As the Red Sox continue to push through the dog days of the season, reinforcements are on the horizon. Shortstop Trevor Story, who’s been out since May following surgery for a sports hernia, began a rehab assignment over the weekend for Triple A Worcester. He’s set to play seven-to-nine innings at shortstop the next two days for Worcester on the road and will be re-evaluated on Thursday. Story said there’s a chance he could be activated by this weekend, and while Tracy left open the possibility, the manager said the goal is for Story to play shortstop when he returns and the team won’t rush the process.

“It’s possible (he’s activated Friday), but to be perfectly honest with you, we haven’t discussed that yet,” Tracy said of the timeline. “Let’s get through (the next few days), see how do his legs feel? How is this thing responding? How does this swing feel? And then we’ll go from there.”

Meanwhile, outfielder Roman Anthony is set to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Portland on Tuesday and play left field. Anthony, who has been out since May with a torn ligament in his right hand, began ramping up swinging two weeks ago and has made steady progress. Infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa (forearm stress reaction) is also set to begin a rehab assignment with Worcester on Wednesday and scheduled to play second base.

Tracy admitted the difficulty of integrating the injured players back into the mix with the inevitable need to option some players who’ve played key roles this summer. But he also noted the upside of strengthening the club with healthy bodies at point in the year, when no team is fully healthy.

“It’s difficult, for sure, that being said, you have some impactful players that can do some serious damage when they’re right,” Tracy said. “You can’t run away from the fact that if you get these guys right, how much they can help.

“Having players back healthy matters because there could still be (more injuries) that happen, whether it’s the end of August or in September,” he added.

If the Red Sox season goes where they hope it will, they’ll need every player on the roster to get there.