Friday’s slate comes with a few fresh arms taking the ball, but the biggest noise from Thursday belonged to the finishers. Boston survived a wild one, Chicago found a way in extras, and Giants fans got word that one of the most familiar voices in the game is nearing the end of the line.
Boston’s 13-inning win over the White Sox had just about everything. The Red Sox erased five separate deficits before finally ending it on a Caleb Durbin RBI single.
Even more remarkable, Boston scored in all five innings from the ninth on, something no team had done before. “That’s kind of who we are right now and it’s been showing lately,” Durbin told reporters (h/t Christopher Smith of MassLive.com).
“So we’re just gonna fight till the end. And I mean, that’s why we’re here.”
The victory pushed Boston’s winning streak to eight, and the sweep marked the sixth time this season the club has taken down a first-place team, a record.
The Cubs had their own extra-inning drama, and this time it ended with a win. Toronto’s Dylan Cease shut them down for seven innings, and Chicago was staring at its final strike against All-Star closer Louis Varland before Alex Bregman cracked a game-tying homer to keep the night alive.
The Cubs then stranded the winning run at third with one out in the 10th, and it looked like another chance had slipped away in the 11th when Carson Kelly was thrown out at home on a Pete Crow-Armstrong single. PCA answered by taking over himself, swiping third and scoring on a throwing error.
Chicago has now won four straight and 13 of its last 20 in the second half.
There was also major news out of San Francisco. Mike Krukow said Thursday that 2026 will be his final season in the Giants booth, ending a run that has stretched back to 1990.
Krukow and Duane Kuiper have long been one of baseball’s most respected broadcast teams, and they were on the call for San Francisco’s World Series titles in 2010, 2012, and 2014. “With his beloved and inseparable partner Duane Kuiper, he has taught generations of fans about baseball, brought us inside it from the perspective of a Major League pitcher and called every game with incredible insight, unmistakable humor and genuine heart,” team president Larry Baer said in a statement.
Before his broadcasting career, Krukow pitched for three teams across a 14-year playing career and made the All-Star team in 1986 with the Giants.
In Other News...
Red Sox Fans Can No Longer Ignore Chad Tracys Case
When the Red Sox made the change from Alex Cora to Chad Tracy in the dugout, it looked like a stopgap move for a team trying to steady itself after a rough start. Instead, it has turned into one of the sharper turnarounds in the American League. Boston has gone 53-34 under Tracy, enough to push the club from early-season frustration into the thick of the playoff race and make the managerial decision feel a lot bigger than a temporary label.
Now the conversation around Tracy is no longer just about getting through the season. There is real speculation that the interim tag could come off if Boston keeps this pace, and his work has even placed him in the mix for Manager of the Year. For a team that needed direction, the bigger question is whether the Red Sox will choose stability and reward the manager who helped change the tone, or keep the situation open a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Now Face One Huge Adley Rutschman Decision
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Rutschman has done plenty this season to justify the clubs interest, contributing on both sides of the ball and looking every bit like the kind of catcher who can anchor a contender. The timing matters too, with Boston surely aware of the broader contract landscape for players at his position and the possibility of getting something done before the 2027 lockout shifts the entire negotiating climate. [Read more 🡒]
Payton Tolle Gives Red Sox Fans Another Reason To Believe
Payton Tolle kept giving the Red Sox exactly what they needed at Fenway Park, striking out a career-high 14 batters over six innings in Bostons 13-1 rout of the Athletics. He held Oakland to two hits and one run, and with the offense piling up 15 hits behind him, the night fit neatly into a stretch that has Boston looking increasingly hard to ignore.
The win pushed Tolle to 7-6 and trimmed his ERA to 3.20, but the bigger picture is the one surrounding the clubs nine-game winning streak. Raymond Burgos finished it off with three perfect innings and his first save, another sign that Boston is stacking useful performances in all the right places as the September chase takes shape. [Read more 🡒]