BOSTON — What happens when two unstoppable forces collide on a big league baseball field? The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles were keen to find out Monday, with both clubs coming in riding season-long win streaks. Something had to give, and the Red Sox made sure it wasn’t going to be them. Coming from behind on three separate occasions, the Red Sox rallied past the Orioles 6-5 to win ...

Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox greets Caleb Durbin at home plate after hitting a solo home run to take the lead in the eighth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on Monday, July 20, 2026, in Boston.

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BOSTON — What happens when two unstoppable forces collide on a big league baseball field? The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles were keen to find out Monday, with both clubs coming in riding season-long win streaks.

Something had to give, and the Red Sox made sure it wasn’t going to be them.

Coming from behind on three separate occasions, the Red Sox rallied past the Orioles 6-5 to win their 14th game in a row. Caleb Durbin hit the go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, and with the win, Boston also snapped Baltimore’s seven-game win streak and moved within one win of matching the longest win streak in franchise history.

That 15-game win streak took place more than 80 years ago from April 25 to May 10, 1946, a stretch that prominently featured club legends like Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky and Bobby Doerr.

The Orioles, who came into Monday riding a seven-game win streak, caught a couple of lucky breaks early to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Gunnar Henderson hit a liner down the left-field line that bounced off the stands into no-man’s land for a double, and on the next pitch Tyler O’Neill dropped a blooper just inside fair territory down the right-field line for an RBI ground-rule double.

But as has been so often the case these past few weeks, the Red Sox made their own luck.

Boston tied the game on a Jarren Duran sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second, and in the third, the Red Sox capitalized on an error by Jeremiah Jackson that extended what would otherwise have been a 1-2-3 inning.

Jackson’s two-out error allowed Ceddanne Rafaela to reach safely, and the Red Sox center fielder scored from first when Wilyer Abreu subsequently lined an opposite-field RBI double into the left-field gap. Abreu advanced to third on a second error by the shortstop Henderson, and he came in to make it 3-1 when Willson Contreras hit a hard liner that bounced out of the leaping Henderson’s glove for an RBI single.

The Orioles got a run back in the fifth on a solo home run by Christian Encarnacion-Strand, but otherwise it looked as if Baltimore wouldn’t get much else against Red Sox starter Payton Tolle. The rookie left-hander had nine strikeouts and was one out away from locking down his ninth quality start of the season, but he couldn’t finish the Orioles off in the top of the sixth.

With a man on and two outs, Tolle allowed three consecutive singles, allowing the Orioles to first tie the game and then take a 4-3 lead. Leody Taveras started the rally, Jackson tied it up with a knock to left field and Encarnacion-Strand tallied his second RBI of the game with a softly hit grounder up the middle that deflected off Tolle’s leg.

Once again the Red Sox had a quick response.

Abreu led off the bottom of the sixth with a chopper in front of the mound that Orioles starter Shane Baz threw away for Baltimore’s third error of the game, and Contreras immediately made the O’s pay with a game-tying RBI double off the Green Monster.

But the Red Sox couldn’t get Contreras home from third to retake the lead, which proved pivotal when Baltimore immediately got runners on the corners with no outs to start the seventh. Red Sox reliever Tyron Guerrero struck out Henderson for the first out and drew a ground ball to second from O’Neill that the Red Sox might have been able to turn for a difficult inning-ending double play, but Anthony Seigler bobbled the ball and had to settle for the out at first, allowing the go-ahead run to score.

Could the Red Sox rally again?

Tsung-Che Cheng reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on a ground out by Anthony Seigler, giving Rafaela a chance to tie the game with a base hit. The center fielder delivered, bringing Cheng home with two outs on an RBI single through the left side of the infield to make it 5-5.

Garrett Whitlock shut Baltimore down with a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, and with two outs in the bottom of the frame Durbin completed the comeback by crushing a solo shot to the Green Monster seats.

Aroldis Chapman finished the job, striking out Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso en route to his 22nd save of the season. A two-out double by Henderson put two men in scoring position, but Chapman drew a lineout to shortstop to end the game.

The good times keep rolling for the Red Sox, who are an MLB-best 22-5 in their last 27 games, have won 19 of their last 21 games and are 14-1 in the month of July. Boston is now a season-high three games over .500 at 51-48 and will remain in sole possession of the third American League wild-card spot.

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