Red Sox reactions: Boston wins 10th straight and heads to All-Star break on fire

BOSTON — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (53-45) extend their winning streak to 10 games — their longest since 2018 — with a 4-1 win to sweep the Rays as breakout stars Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela close the first half of the year on a high note:

1) It’s hard to come up with new positive things to say about what Rafaela is doing. For the fifth time in 10 games, he went yard — and this one was again in a key spot. With Boston up 2-1 after being carved up by Rays starter Ryan Pepiot all day, Rafaela worked a 3-2 count with two outs then hammered an inside fastball to (barely) clear the Green Monster. Simply put, Rafaela is scorching.

2) Roman Anthony started that sixth-inning rally — and accomplished something in the process. His rocket double extended his hitting streak to nine games and he became the youngest Red Sox player to put together a streak that long since Tony Conigliaro did it in 1965.

Anthony then scored on a Trevor Story RBI single. Story then stole second to make himself a perfect 16-for-16 on stolen base attempts this year.

3) Brayan Bello finished his first half on high note, continuing a strong recent run. The 26-year-old sliced and diced the Rays for 6 ⅓ innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out five batters.

Bello’s first-half ERA was 3.14 — a number the Red Sox would have signed up for in a heartbeat. He got a nice hand from the Fenway crowd while departing.

The only poor moment of Bello’s outing came in the third, when he continued a pattern of horrible fielding by Red Sox pitchers this season and had a would-be double play ball deflect off his glove for an error. But with two men on, Bello battled to record a strikeout and flyout to keep the game tied.

4) When Jake Mangum scored to tie the game 1-1 on a Josh Lowe sac fly, it snapped an 18-inning Rays scoreless streak that dated back to the fourth inning Friday night.

5) The Red Sox stole a Rays run in the top of the third, then stole one for themselves in the bottom of the inning. With two men on (including the ultra-speedy Chandler Simpson at second) Yandy Díaz looped one into center and Rafaela barely missed a diving catch coming in. Alertly, Rafaela fired to third to get Jonathan Aranda, who was trying to advance from first, and did — before Simpson, who had stopped because he thought Rafaela caught the ball, crossed the plate. The run didn’t count.

Boston then went up 1-0 a half-inning later when the umpiring crew ruled that Junior Caminero had obstructed third base with Marcelo Mayer diving back on a pickoff play. The third out of the inning turned into a run.

Much of the game had the feel of the teams representing students who had already passed a class but still had to show up for the final. That’s often how the last day before the break goes.

6) Last Friday, sitting in the visitor’s dugout at Nationals Park, Alex Cora said — quite wistfully — that he remembered a Fourth of July series in Washington, D.C. being the catalyst for the 2018 Red Sox taking off. That team won three games over Washington to start a 10-game winning streak, after all.

A much-different roster just did the same exact thing. Turns out Cora was onto something.

7) The All-Star break will last four days before the Red Sox start the second half of their season with a very tough stretch against three of the top teams in the National League: the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers. That gauntlet begins Friday at 2:20 p.m. ET at Wrigley Field with Lucas Giolito (6-1, 3.36 ERA) on the mound for the Red Sox against Cubs righty Colin Rea (7-3, 3.91 ERA).

Nine of Boston’s next 12 games are on the road. They’ll visit the Cubs for three and Philadelphia for three before the Dodgers come to Fenway from July 25-27. The Sox then go to Minnesota for three before the trade deadline.