FINAL: Red Sox 11, Cubs 5 - Yoshida restarts scorching July with grand slam

WHO: Red Sox (49-44) at Chicago Cubs (43-48)
WHEN: 2:20 p.m.
WHERE: Wrigley Field, Chicago.
SERIES TO DATE: Series tied, 1-1.
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Kutter Crawford (3-4, 4.11) vs. LHP Justin Steele (9-2, 2.56)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUP

RED SOX

Refsnyder CF

Turner 1B

Devers 3B

Duvall RF

Yoshida LF

Alfaro DH

Arroyo 2B

Wong C 

Chang SS 

Crawford SP 

CUBS

Tauchmann CF

Hoerner SS

Morel 2B

Happ LF

Bellinger 1B

Suzuki RF

Gomes C

Mancini DH

Mastrobuoni 3B

Steele SP

WHAT’S UP

The Sox have won 9 of their last 11 games. They own MLB’s best record since June 30 (9-2) and the AL’s best since June 14 (16-9)...At 49-44 (.527), Boston entered today with the MLB’s 15th-best record. ...With a win today, the Red Sox would improve to 17-11-2 in series play, including 8-5-2 on the road. Boston has won each of its last 3 series (at TOR, vs. TEX, vs. OAK) and is 5-3-1 over its last 9, beginning 6/9....The Sox have scored 5 or more runs in 7 of their last 11 games (66 total runs), following a season-long streak of 8 straight games with 4 runs or fewer (15 runs). Boston is 39-6 (.867) when scoring 5+ runs, the 2nd-best record in the AL (4th in MLB).... The Red Sox are 4-1 so far in their stretch of 12-straight games against teams that currently own a sub-.500 record (3-game series vs. OAK, at CHC, at OAK, vs. NYM)....8 of their 11 series from 7/7-8/17 are against teams that entered today with record of .500 or lower....In 10 July games, the Red Sox lead MLB in AVG (.309), OBP (.363), OPS (.884), and SLG (.521) (109-for-353, 29 2B, 2 3B, 14 HR, 27 BB)....The Sox have homered (11 total HR) in each of their last 4 games since snapping a season-long 4-game homerless streak....The Red Sox have gone 1-for-16 (.063) with runners in scoring position over their last 2 games...The Sox were 25-for-65 (.385) with runners in scoring position in their previous 6 games entering Friday’s game....Overall with RISP, BOS ranks T-3rd in MLB in OBP (.356), T-3rd in AVG (.280), and 5th in SO% (19.3)....The Red Sox tied a season high in runs allowed yesterday (10, 5x, previous: 6/27 vs. MIA)....Justin Turner recorded his 499th and 500th career extra-base hits with doubles in the 1st and 4th innings...selected RHP Jake Faria to the MLB roster from Triple-A Worcester and designated RHP Taylor Scott for assignment...Scott allowed 3 H and 2 ER in 1.0 IP on Saturday and posted a 4.91 in four relief appearances for Boston....Three Red Sox players are on re-hab assignments: Richard Bleier, Pablo Reyes, and John Schreiber...

Cubs southpaw Justin Steele today makes his first start of the "second half" after pitching a scoreless inning in Tuesday's All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle ... this marks his 50th career start since making his major league debut in relief back in 2021 - in his first 49 career starts, Steele has gone 15-13 with a 3.26 ERA (92 ER/254.0 IP)....Steele in his last five outings since May 31 is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA (6 ER/26.1 IP) with three walks and 24 strikeouts, contributing to a .216 opponent batting average and a .539 opponent OPS, his 2.56 ERA ranked second in the N.L....The Cubs are 6-10 in their last 16 games since June 25 following a stretch in which it went 11-2 in 13 contests from June 9-24. ....The Cubs are the only N.L. Central Division club with a positive run differential (+27) ... Pittsburgh is at -50, St. Louis -32, Cincinnati -13 and Milwaukee -9 ...on the season, Cubs starting pitchers have put up a 4.05 ERA (219 ER/487.0 IP) in 91 games ... that's the fifth-best ERA among N.L. starting rotations....Chicago has 41 quality starts, second-most in the N.L. (San Diego, 43) and tied for sixth in baseball....The Cubs bullpen has a 2.49 ERA (25 ER/90.1 IP) in the team's last 26 games since June 13, the second-best mark in the majors behind Atlanta (2.38).... Cody Bellinger in 23 games since being reinstated from the injured list on June 15 (left knee contusion) has batted .366 (30-for-82) with 19 runs, four doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI and an 1.004 OPS ... he has a 7.7% walk rate and 15.4% strikeout rate in this span...Bellinger owns a .444 average (28-for-63) since June 24, the second-best mark in the majors in that span behind Boston's Jarren Duran (.449) ... Bellinger has hit three homers in his last two games and has five blasts in his last six games.

UP NEXT

7/17 at OAK, 9:40 p.m., SP TBD, NESN

7/18 at OAK, 9:40 p.m., SP TBD, NESN

7/19 at OAK, 3:37 p.m., RHP Bryan Bello (7-5, 3.14) vs. TBD, NESN