Boston Drops 14 on Chicago, Durbin Grand Slam Sets the Tone
Boston dismantled Chicago 14-2 on August 4, sending a message from the very first inning. Caleb Durbin's 401-foot grand slam to left center in the first — clearing the bases with Rafaela, Contreras, and Yoshida all scoring — swung Boston's win probability from 71% to 90% before Chicago had even blinked.
The game was effectively over before most fans had settled into their seats. Contreras singled to center to score Sogard and set the table, then Durbin unloaded that grand slam to make it 5-0. Duran followed two batters later with a 414-foot shot to right center, and just like that Boston was up 6-0 in the first inning. Erick Fedde lasted only 3.0 innings for Chicago, allowing 5 hits and 4 earned runs — the damage was done early and it was thorough.
Chicago managed a brief flicker of life in the fifth and sixth, pulling within 6-2 on a Vargas sacrifice fly and a B. Montgomery groundout. But Boston's sixth inning looks like the moment any remaining drama was suffocated entirely. Monasterio singled to center to score Durbin and Duran, pushing it to 9-2. Then Rafaela doubled to left, scoring Sogard and Monasterio to make it 11-2. Contreras followed with a single to left, Rafaela scored on a throwing error by Grichuk, and Yoshida doubled to center to score Contreras — a six-run frame that turned a comfortable lead into a laugher at 13-2. Wilyer Abreu capped the night with his second home run, a 419-foot shot to center in the eighth, finishing the scoring at 14-2.
The story of the night was Boston's lineup operating in lockstep. Six different players recorded multi-hit games or multi-RBI nights: Abreu went 2-for-4 with 2 home runs and 2 RBI, Durbin went 2-for-3 with 4 RBI, Duran added a homer and 2 hits, Contreras drove in 2 and scored twice, Monasterio went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Rafaela contributed 2 RBI off just one hit. On the mound, Brayan Bello appears to have been the quiet standout — 3.0 innings, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 earned runs after Sandoval's workmanlike 5.0-inning start. Chicago's offense, held to 2 runs total, looks like a team that had no answer for any of it.