Red Sox reactions: Second straight sweep stretches win streak to six

CHICAGO — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field Thursday:

1) The Red Sox remained perfect on their road trip, recording another series sweep — their third in the last four series – while running their record to 6-0 with three games. They’re now the hottest team in the game with an 11-2 mark in the last 13 games. The Sox got just two runs — a two-run shot by Caleb Durbin – but strong work by the pitching staff made those stand up.

2) No doubt Patrick Sandoval would have liked to have pitched deeper in the game. He didn’t hide his disappointment when Chad Tracy came to get him with one out in the bottom of the fifth. But after waiting more than two years between major league appearances, he had to be (relatively) happy with an outing that saw him allow one run on four hits over 4.1 innings. His fastball showed good life, as he racked up five strikeouts in the first four innings. The hits he allowed — all singles – were ground balls and not hit particularly hard. He also managed to pitch around a few jams, allowing leadoff singles in three of his five frames.

3) After a month-long hot streak, Caleb Durbin had been fighting himself a bit at the plate, going just 3-for-21 since July 1. But Thursday saw him begin to turn things around. After a hard lineout to right to lead off the second, Durbin came to the plate with a runner on and no out in the fourth and hammered a pitch out to left for a two-run homer, his ninth homer of the season. He’s now within two of his homer total from a year ago when he hit for Milwaukee in his rookie season. With 39 RBI, he’s now tied for fourth on the team in that category.

4) The game was a reminder of how much Willson Contreras means to the Red Sox. With Contreras unavailable and suspended, the Sox lineup had a completely different look as Romy Gonzalez served as the cleanup hitter in the absence of Contreras. Facing lefty starter Anthony Kay, the Sox didn’t show much pop. Fortunately for the Red Sox, three of the five games Contreras will miss will come against the lowly Mets. But it wouldn’t be a surprise if they struggle to score runs without Contreras.

5) Tyrone Guerrero continues to climb the trust tree out of the Red Sox bullpen. He contributed a 1.2 innings in relief of Sandoval, bridging the game from the starter to high-leveler set-up man Garrett Whitlock. Guerrero hasn’t allowed an earned run in 13 of his last 14 appearances. In that span, he has an ERA of 0.61.

6) Credit to Anthony Seigler for returning to the lineup, hours after suffering a trap contusion during a head-first slide into home plate in the third inning Wednesday. Interim manager Chad Tracy said Seigler, who came out of the game, was arguing to remain on the field and wasn’t surprised that Seigler declared himself available Thursday morning. “Tough kid,” said Tracy in admiration.

7) Newcomer Brett Harris, making his Red Sox debut, handled whatever few chances he had at first base without incident. In three plate appearances, he was hit by a pitch, hit into an inning-ending double play in the fourth and grounded out to second in the seventh.

8) Former Red Sox reliever Jordan Hicks was unloaded in a salary dump earlier this year, with the Red Sox paying a good chunk of the reliever’s salary to rid themselves of him on the roster. His problem: poor command that wiped out his plus velocity and stuff. The White Sox have apparently found something to unlock him — at least that’s how it looked in this series. He faced his former team twice for a combined 2.2 innings and struck out four without allowing a baserunner.

9) The Red Sox move on to their third city of their three-city, nine-game road trip with the first of three with the New York Mets. RHP Sonny Gray (10-1, 2.61 ERA) vs. TBD at 7:15 p.m.

• BETTING: The over/under for Friday’s Red Sox versus Mets game is currently set at 7.5 total runs over on FanDuel. Our complete FanDuel Sportsbook review provides a useful guide on how to use their app.

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