Eight straight wins and 10 wins in the last 11 games.
Last night Boston beat the White Sox 12-11 in 13 innings. They tied the game in the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth before winning it in the thirteenth. They have won 10 consecutive series and are just a 1/2 game behind the Yankees for second place in the AL East.
They are 26-3 since starting their 15 game winning streak on July 3rd.
Marlins left fielder Heriberto Hernández and center fielder Esteury Ruiz did not communicate about who was going to catch the deep fly ball, and they collided with each other on the warning track. When Ruiz and Hernandez collided, the ball popped up and over the wall for a home run.
so they can now join Jose Canseco in MLB history:
On May 26th, 1993, Jose Canseco hilariously allowed a home run in the outfield when he missed a fly ball, it caromed off his head, and bounced comfortably into the bleachers.
They are definitely this century’s “evil empire”, and that’s because they have a lot of positives going for them.
This play is more on point
9 in a row! Fun night at Fenway.
and then got traded
Former pitcher Tommy John, who was the first baseball player to undergo the reconstructive elbow surgery which became named after him, missed today’s Yankees Old-Timers Day. The Yankees released a written statement from John, in which he thanked the Yankees organization for “giving me this opportunity to say goodbye to everyone.”
The statement gave no further details, though the Yankees said that he “battles health issues.”
I was just about to post that same story.
In other news, Craig Kimbrel has declined assignment to the Rays’ minor league team, and is now a free agent.
Damn, sad.
He was a fun pitcher to watch back in the day.
Tommy John was a classic compiler. 288 wins and a 3.34 ERA in a career that spanned the pitcher-advantaged 60s through the 80s. Not quite HOF in my opinion, but a good pitcher for a long time. I watched a lot of his games with the Yankees in the 80s. I’m glad he had the chance to say goodbye on his own terms.
It’s been a long time since I looked at his stats. He had a run, from '77 to '80, when he was in the top 10 in Cy Young voting every year (finishing in 2nd place twice), was an All-Star three times, and got MVP votes in two years. Yet, when you look at his stats for those seasons, they are good, but not what you would consider Cy Young caliber; sabermetric stats weren’t really a thing in that era, but John’s WHIP is kind of ordinary, and his bWAR is good, but not great. About the only stat you’d look at now and say he did really well in was in giving up very few home runs.
But, he won a lot of games when pitching wins were felt to be meaningful, and played for the Dodgers and Yankees, two of the powerhouse teams of that era.
Baseball Reference sometimes puts amusing Easter eggs in player pages, and for John, in 1975, when he did not play, it says, “Did not play - Eponymous Surgical Procedure.” 
If ;you are a fan of double-digit streaks, then last night in Fenway was a heartbreaker.
The Red Sox lost to the A’s 7-3, breaking their 9-game winning streak.
The win by the Athletics ended their 9-game losing streak.
Kimbrel has now signed with the Royals. KC’s bullpen has been unbelievably pathetic this year, so adding Kimbrel is almost certainly an improvement.
One of the oddest decisions I have ever seen. Bosox @ Jays last night. Jays up 2-0 in 7th, Boston has runners on 1st and 3rd. One out, but the scoreboard says two. Fly ball to right, caught and both runners trot off the field. Rt. fielder throws to first to double off that runner, while the runner from 3rd nonchalantly trots across home. Instead of throwing to third for a “4th out” which would have nullified the run the runner from third scored by touching home before the 3rd out, the Jays left the field. The umpires spoke to NY before correctly counting the run. The final score was 2-1.
Yeah, the runner on third scored on a fly ball without tagging up.
Here’s the rundown of what happened:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/why-red-sox-were-awarded-run-in-seventh-inning-after-blue-jays-got-three-outs/
The ruling was correct. It’s an unusual play but it is very specifically explained in the Official Rules.
A play like this literally changed the outcome of the 1980 National League Championship Series and the umps screwed up even more on that one. Pete Rose was at third and Mike Schmidt was at first; Greg Luzinski hit a line drive to right that was caught, but one ump signalled a trap, so both Rose and Schmidt took off. Then it was ruled a catch and the Astros got the ball to first to double up Mike Schmidt. Rose had already crossed the plate, and the Astros left the field. Once they did, Rose’s run scored.
Both teams, of course, lost their minds; Mike Schmidt was livid over the initial and then reversed call, and the Astros were subsequently very surprised the Rose run counted.
As a result of Rose scoring, the Phillies tied the game 3-3. It went to extras, and they won it with two runs in the 10th. That kept them alive in the series and they won it in Game Five (in what is still regarded as one of the greatest playoff series of all time; four of five games went to extras.)
What’s weird about the specificity of Rule 5.09c4 is that it’s never once been applied in MLB history. Not a single time. The situation comes up every ten years or so, and they KNOW it could happen, but it never has.
When they switched from calling it a trap to a catch, what should they have done? Call it a dead ball and send the runners back?
It is not widely known but every play in which a runner is doubled off after a caught fly is technically an appeal play and not an automatic out. In practice the umpire will generally assume the appeal and call the out immediately. But he could wait for the fielder to ask.
As noted by @RickJay, the 4th out has never actually been called. Had the first baseman with the ball accidentally touched 3rd base when jogging to the dugout but had left the field without appealing to the umpire, an interesting question could have arisen. Is the act of touching the base or the act of appealing to the umpire what has to happen before the defense can appeal. My WAG is that it is the latter.
Which is what happens every time a line drive is caught by an infielder and a runner is doubled-up when the throw reaches the base before he can safely return.