Red Sox sweep Rays, reach .500 with 11th straight win

For the better part of the season, the Red Sox looked like a club destined for last place. Fans had grown frustrated with the lackluster play, the lack of power in the lineup and a team that seemed to be drifting without direction.

Meanwhile, the vultures were circling Craig Breslow, with every loss fueling louder calls for his job.

All of a sudden, it looks like meaningful baseball will be played this summer at Fenway Park.

Boston is back to .500, firmly in the American League playoff race and winners of 11 straight games after sweeping Friday’s day-night doubleheader against the first-place Rays with a 5-3 victory at Fenway Park.

Wilyer Abreu led the way with two home runs, while Willson Contreras returned from his five-game suspension in style by homering in his first at-bat back. The back-to-back blasts in the first inning erased an early two-run deficit and helped propel Boston to its season-high 11th consecutive victory.

For the first time since March 28, the Red Sox are back at .500 with a 48-48 record.

Things didn’t start smoothly for rookie left-hander Eduardo Rivera. After recording two quick outs in the first, he allowed a softly hit single to Junior Caminero, issued two full-count walks to load the bases and surrendered a two-run single to Jonny DeLuca. An ill-advised throw home allowed both remaining runners to advance into scoring position, but Rivera escaped further damage after throwing 36 pitches in the inning. 

Ceddanne Rafaela doubled down the left-field line before Abreu crushed a 106.6 mph, 422-foot two-run homer to right-center to tie the game. 

One batter later, Contreras launched a 107.6 mph fastball into the Monster Seats for his 21st home run of the season, giving Boston a 3-2 lead. It marked the Red Sox’s fourth set of back-to-back home runs this season and the first since Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Caleb Durbin accomplished the feat on June 18 against Toronto.

Rivera settled in with a perfect second inning before Caminero got him again in the third. The All-Star slugger turned on a changeup and hooked it just inside the left-field foul pole for a game-tying solo homer, ending Rivera’s outing after 2 1/3 innings.

It didn’t take long for the Sox to answer. 

Abreu led off the bottom of the third by launching another home run to nearly the same spot in the right-field bleachers. His 13th homer of the season restored the lead and marked the sixth multi-homer game of his career.

The Red Sox added an insurance run in the fourth when Anthony Seigler ripped a 104.8 mph RBI double off the short wall in right field, scoring Tsung-Che Cheng to make it 5-3.

Greg Weissert recorded the final two outs of the third before Jovani Morán, Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten and Aroldis Chapman combined for 6 2/3 scoreless innings. The relief corps was aided by a pair of timely double plays and a highlight-reel leaping grab by Cheng at shortstop to end the fifth inning.

The Red Sox have won 11 straight games for just the