Davis Martin’s night at Fenway Park went sideways fast, then somehow found a way to get worse.
The White Sox right-hander was buried almost immediately in a 14-2 loss to the Red Sox, giving up six runs before he could even record a second out. After that opening avalanche, he did what he had done against the Yankees: settled in and made the middle innings look manageable. But the damage was already deep, and when the White Sox tried to stretch him into the sixth, Boston turned the game into a full-blown rout with another six-run burst.
The first inning was brutal from the start. Nick Sogard doubled off the wall, Cedanne Rafaela was hit by a pitch, and after a flyout, Willson Contreras singled in the first run.
Masataka Yoshida followed with a single to load the bases, and Caleb Durbin cleared them with a grand slam to straightaway punishment over the Green Monster for a 5-0 lead. Jarren Duran then made it back-to-back, and suddenly the Red Sox were up 6-0 before Martin could even breathe.
To Martin’s credit, he did at least stop the bleeding for a while. He used a pair of double plays - one unusual, one routine - to get through five innings. But the White Sox offense was forced to play catch-up from the opening frame, and even though it never truly threatened Boston, it did scrape together a couple of runs.
Patrick Sandoval had to work for everything. Miguel Vargas came up with runners on the corners and nobody out in the fifth, but his bid for extra bases on the Monster warning track ended in a sacrifice fly.
In the sixth, Colson Montgomery and Joey Bart opened the inning with walks, which sent Sandoval out after 5⅓ innings. Sam Antonacci and Braden Montgomery then delivered back-to-back groundouts to bring home another run and cut it to 7-2.
That was as close as it got.
Martin came back out for the sixth, walked Durbin, and watched a stolen base and a Duran single put runners on the corners. Will Venable then went to Erick Fedde in a bullpen role, and that move did not hold up.
Boston kept piling on. Andruw Monsterio poked a cutter off the plate through a drawn-in infield for a 9-2 lead, then Fedde walked Nick Sogard and gave up another hit on another pitch that missed the strike zone.
Rafaela followed by looping a sweeper down the left-field line for a two-run double and an 11-2 advantage.
Contreras added an RBI single off the base of the Monster, and when Grichuk’s throw to second got past Sam Antonacci, that turned into extra ground covered. Yoshida then doubled to center to bring in another run and make it 13-2. Wilyer Abreu capped the scoring with a solo homer in the eighth.
Boston’s bullpen shut the door after that. Erick Bello retired all nine batters he faced over three innings, and with help from Greg Weissert and Erick Miller, the Red Sox set down the final 12 White Sox hitters in order.
The loss left the White Sox 0-4 against Boston in 2026, outscored 29-4 in those four games.
Brenton Doyle had a solid White Sox debut, finishing 1-for-2 with an infield single and the club’s only hit with runners in scoring position. Antonacci pinch-hit for him against a lefty and then started an 8-6 double play that helped Martin escape potential trouble in the second inning.
Bart also made his White Sox debut and went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
There were a couple of small bright spots for the White Sox beyond the scoreless work by Boston’s bullpen: Martin and Fedde both took the punishment, but Chicago used fewer pitchers than the Red Sox. And with the Guardians losing to the Mets, the White Sox at least got that result in their favor, with the Twins still left to play.
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