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The Red Sox have become nearly unbeatable at Fenway Park over the last two months

The Red Sox have become nearly unbeatable at Fenway Park over the last two months

CBS Newsa day ago
It hasn't mattered who the Red Sox have played or which uniforms they've worn. Alex Cora's club has been nearly unbeatable at Fenway Park for almost two months.
With Monday night's 8-5 win over the Kanas City Royals, Boston has now won six straight games on its home diamond. The Red Sox have taken 13 of their last 14 games at Fenway Park, and 24 of their last 29 games going back to the first half of the season.
Whether they've been in their classic home whites, yellow marathon-themed uniforms, or the new Green Monster City Connect unis, the Red Sox are putting up important wins at a key point in the season. More importantly, they've made coming to Fenway Park a miserable experience for opposing teams -- and a lot of fun for their own players and fans.
"This place is fun again," Cora said Sunday after the team broke out the brooms for a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros.
The electricity inside Fenway has been evident in and around the ballpark. The Red Sox have swept five of their last nine series at home, scrubbing away the likes of the Yankees, Nationals, Rockies, Rays, and Astros. The team has won eight of its last nine series overall at their home ballpark, taking two of three against the Rays, Reds, and Dodgers to go along with those sweeps. The only blemish at Fenway over the last two months is when the Red Sox lost two of three to the Blue Jays in the last week of June.
The Red Sox have been getting it done in different ways too. They've done it by crushing the baseball, as Boston did when it outscored the lowly Rockies by 22 runs over three games. The Red Sox have also won by playing smallball, as we saw several times over the weekend against the Astros. The team has eight one-run victories over its torrid home stretch.
It's led to some exciting nights at Fenway Park and a rejuvenated fanbase, which was charged up throughout Monday night's victory thanks to a five-run first inning from the Boston offense. The Red Sox are now 38-21 at Fenway Park this season, and tied with the Mets and the Blue Jays for the most home victories.
Such joyous nights at Fenway were no guarantee over the last three seasons. After going 43-38 at Fenway Park in 2022, the team finished below .500 at home in each of the last two seasons. The Red Sox averaged just 40 home wins over the last three years, and missed the playoff in each.
They're already flirting with 40 Fenway wins in 2025, and this home surge has seen the Red Sox climb up the American League standings. Winners of six straight overall and eight of its last 10, Boston now sits at 63-51 -- a season-high 12 games above .500 -- and owns a 2.5-game lead over the Yankees and Mariners for the top Wild Card spot. The Red Sox trail the Blue Jays by just three games in the American League East.
The Red Sox offense has found its footing overall, but it's really taken off inside the friendly confines of Fenway Park. Boston is tied for the most home hits in baseball with 525 and second in runs scored at 312. The Red Sox are fourth in baseball with a .266 batting average, a .338 OBP, and fifth with a .453 slugging percentage at home. The team's .791 OPS at Fenway is tied for the second-best home OPS in MLB.
Last year at home, the Red Sox ranked eighth with a .253 batting average and 10th with a .321 OBP and .422 slugging percentage. Last year's team averaged 4.5 runs per game, to this year's 5.3 runs per game at Fenway Park.
Righties are doing a lot of the damage for the Boston offense this season. At home, right-handed hitters are batting .273 (ranking third) with a .342 OBP (also ranking third) and a .447 slugging percentage (seventh). Those numbers are way up from last season when the Red Sox hit .241 (ranking 17th) with a .306 OBP and .391 slugging percentage (both ranked 18th).
But really, it feels like anyone stepping to the plate at Fenway Park in a Red Sox uniform has been swinging a hot bat this season. Romy Gonzalez is slashing .330/.360/.612 with four homers, three triples, and 11 doubles in his 32 home games. Rookie Roman Anthony, who delivered a game-winning, walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning of Friday night's win over the Astros, has slashed .302/.381/.465 with 11 extra-base hits in his 25 games in his new ballpark.
Jarren Duran has been touching a lot of bases at Fenway Park this season, with seven of his 12 homers, seven triples, and 18 doubles at the ballpark. Trevor Story has also left the yard seven times at Fenway Park, while Wilyer Abreu leads the team with 11 round trippers in front of home fans.
Scoring a ton of runs is good, but we all know pitching is what really matters. Boston's pitching staff has been excellent at Fenway Park as well, touting the seventh-best home ERA at 3.42. Last season, Red Sox pitchers had a 4.16 ERA at home, which ranked 21st.
Boston starters have turned in 28 of their 52 quality starts this season at Fenway Park. Brayan Bello has really thrived at home, going 6-3 with a 3.09 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Lucas Giolito is 4-1 at home, and even Walker Buehler has been decent at Fenway Park at 3-2 with a 4.35 ERA.
Ace Garrett Crochet has enjoyed most of his success on the road, going 9-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. But he's thrown five quality starts at Fenway to go with a 3-3 record, a 2.42 ERA, and 1.12 WHIP.
The Red Sox are starting to put it all together this season, and can thank a lot of their success to some quality home cooking. If they keep it up and remain the top Wild Card team, the Red Sox would be hosting a best-of three Wild Card series at Fenway Park this October.
But given how they've been playing as of late, surpassing the Blue Jays and claiming home-field advantage for the postseason isn't out of the question for the 2025 Boston Red Sox.
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