BOSTON — The night began with a tribute to the Celtics, who carted their recently won Larry O’Brien trophy out to the mound for a first pitch ceremony.
It ended with a walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth, as the Red Sox erased a four-run deficit from two innings earlier and somehow emerged with a thrilling 7-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
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In between, there was a little bit of everything. And noise. A lot of noise, enough so that Alex Cora said the ballpark was the loudest he could remember since 2021.
What had been a taut pitcher’s duel through the first six innings turned into a wild back-and-forth over the final three innings. The game might not have been an artistic triumph — the game featured three errors and two unearned runs.
But it had passion and theatrics and drama to spare. And most of all, it had a night in which Fenway came alive. A surprising number of fans remained after the Sox fell behind. In the end, their patience and loyalty were rewarded.
“It was,” concluded Cora, “fun….The environment was incredible…Today was loud. (The fans) were locked in. They stayed all the way to the end. I think it was a great night at Fenway. The boys had fun today.”
Fun has seemingly been in short supply at Fenway for the last few seasons. But on Monday night, it seemed to permeate the old ballpark.
“The intensity was awesome,” said Jarren Duran, who collected three hits, including the game-winner. “We got down, and it honestly didn’t feel as if (the fans) gave up on us, which was awesome. It definitely helps when you have the fans behind you, rooting for you, screaming. It was an aweome experience and I’m thankful for these fans. It was amazing.”
An assist should go to the Celtics, who revved up the crowd as they surrounded the pitcher’s mound and took part in the first-pitch ceremony. But the Celts’ contributions didn’t end when the game began. A number of players, including Derrick White and coach Joe Mazzulla.
Later in the night, whenever the energy sapped, the Red Sox ballpark production team was savvy enough to show the Celts in the luxury box. Both Mazzulla and White hoisted the championship trophy to ignite the crowd.
But the Sox deserved some credit, too. After Isaiah Campbell imploded in the seventh, surrendering a three-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the seventh, the Sox stormed back. A two-run homer from David Hamilton cut the deficit in half, and a two-run pinch-hit single from Romy Gonzalez squared things 6-6.
Along the way, there were the little things, like Duran legging out a double on a misplayed popup before Hamilton struck. And in the ninth, the mere threat of Ceddanne Rafaela’s speed almost certainly played a part in Spencer Horwitz bobbling a rather routine grounder. Then, Rafael’s presence on the bases helped force a balk on the part of Toronto reliever Zach Pop.
Speed not only kills, it intimidates.
That’s part of the Red Sox identity now: the ability to rattle teams with their athleticism.
Some of it, too, was a byproduct of the Red Sox growing confidence. Winners of 10 of their last 12, they’ve started to believe in themselves. No margin is too large to overcome, no opponent too fearsome.
“They’re feeling good about themselves,” said Cora. “It feels like we can do damage at anytime. We can put up good at-bats at any time.”
“I just feel like we’re just trusting each other, trusting the program that we have going and we’re just keep it rolling,” said Duran.
You can probably trace that burgeoning confidence to the last homestand, when the Red So won series against both the Phillies and Yankees. A successful road trip and two more road series furthered that belief.
The Red Sox are sometimes winning by hitting four homers and sometimes winning by scoring the winning run on a foul sacrifice fly not 250 feet from home plate. They’re winning at home and on the road. And they’re moving up the wild card ladder, now in possession of the third spot in the American League.
For much of the season, the Red Sox have played with a chip on the shoulder. When they alternated between a game over or under .500, that seemed presumptuous. Now that they’re a season-high seven games above the break-even mark. it seems a little more genuine.
More to the point, the fans are starting to get on the bandwagon, too. You could see it — and hear it — Monday night. It began with the crowd getting behind the Celtics; it ended with the Red Sox earning their own tribute.
