Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox

BOSTON – It’s gone from incredible to insane. The Red Sox rallied for their eighth straight victory, pulling it out in the 13th inning on Caleb Durbin’s one-out RBI single for a 12-11 win over the White Sox on Thursday night at steamy Fenway Park. It was the team’s second straight sweep, as Boston moved to 26-3 since July 3 and 31-5 since June 25. The Red Sox are just the fourth team to go 26-3 or better in a 29-game span within a season in the past 70 years, and the first since Cleveland in 2017. “It ranks at the top of the list, I would say,” said interim manager Chad Tracy, who entered his postgame press conference soaked in sweat and sporting a bit of a bewildered look after a four-hour, 23-minute marathon that was filled with more twists and turns than a great spy novel. In terms of time, it was Boston's longest game in the pitch-clock era and ranks as the third-longest regular-season game for any team during that time. This one will certainly go down in Red Sox annals as one of the wackiest. They rallied to tie it in the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th before Durbin’s single up the middle sent automatic runner Nick Sogard sliding headfirst into the plate safely, setting off a raucous celebration that carried into the outfield when they mobbed Durbin. The Sox became the first team in MLB's modern era to score in five separate innings in the ninth or later in the same game. “Relief,” Durbin said, beaming with a smile. “We really wanted that one. I wanted that one bad, obviously we wanted that one. It’s just kind of one of those where you hope the ball falls your way, and we were able to pull that one out.” Boston’s improbable run against some of MLB’s best teams continues. It started in early July, when the Red Sox took three from the AL Central-leading White Sox in Chicago. Then they opened the second half with a four-game sweep over the AL East leaders, Tampa Bay, before heading out west and sweeping three in Los Angeles last weekend against the Dodgers. Tracy’s bunch capped its latest sweep with a memorable victory in front of 37,082.