There could be any number of reasons for the Red Sox' seemingly miraculous July turnaround.
Better hitting, better pitching, better chemistry. Maybe all the above.
But ahead of the first game of a doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, fan Jimmy Cipolla had a hunch as to the real reason for the good times at Fenway Park.
"It was the Scottish [that] started the whole thing," Cipolla said. "I was here for that, too, they put a blessing on the place."
Maybe Cipolla had a point. Heading into Wednesday, the Red Sox had a record of 22-9 stretching back to when Fenway hosted members of the Tartan Army, who were in town for the World Cup, in a loss to the Texas Rangers on June 14.
Call it the luck of the Scottish. That good fortune continued early Wednesday as Boston racked up its 15th straight victory, beating the Orioles 6-3 in the early game to tie a record set by the club all the way back in the Ted Williams days of 1946.
For the middle of the summer, the doubleheader (which took place after Tuesday's game against Baltimore got rained out) sure felt like it carried more weight than simple regular season games. No matter how interim manager Chad Tracy tried to play it after the first game of the day.
"I'm aware of the year and how long it's been," he said. "And it's cool. They've accomplished something great. So it's awesome, but — I don't want to say but, but — we have to turn the page now and go get ready to play another one."
Third baseman Caleb Durbin said that there wasn't a lot of pressure among the group heading into the day.
"It's just you keep stacking one win over another and then you get close and then the games, once you get within three or four, they start to feel like playoff games, 'cause you want to get there, which is also great experience," Durbin said after the first game. "But yeah, then you look back at it, think about where you're doing it and how long this franchise has existed, it's pretty incredible."
Austin Ahern, a Sox fan who was going to the second game of the doubleheader, called the streak the team was on miraculous before the first game.
"They clearly are on another level right now and they feel like they're a team of destiny at this point, the way they're playing right now," Ahern said. "So yeah, let's hope that they can keep the good vibes going."
Unfortunately for Red Sox nation there was no room Wednesday for two historic games. The Orioles put up four runs in the first inning of the nightcap and never looked back, beating the Sox 5-1, their first loss since July 1.
But it's clear that something changed for the Sox during this bold stretch of baseball. In the stands, fans were cheering hard and twisting their shirts above their heads like Petey Pablo deep into the night, a clear sign as any that they're bought in. And there was plenty for first baseman Willson Contreras to be positive about even though the team didn't break any records Wednesday night.
"That was a great ride, 15 game winning streak. There's nothing to be sad about," he said. "We have to be happy, we should be proud of what we did. And from now on just keep playing the way we've been playing lately."
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