The Boston Red Sox started their 13-game win streak on the road before the All-Star break, but home cooking has helped to fuel it.

After completing a four-game sweep of the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox look to keep the good times rolling when they welcome the Baltimore Orioles — who have won seven in a row themselves — into Boston for the start of a three-game series on Monday night.

“I feel like we’ve flipped the script,” Boston third baseman Caleb Durbin said.

The current heater has Boston two games above the .500 mark for the first time since a win on Opening Day. Now the team is two games short of the club record of 15 straight set in 1946.

“You’re winning games against clubs that have a chance to be in the playoffs. That’s important,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It’s important that we’re playing this way out of the All-Star break. It’s important that we’re doing it at home. All those things matter.”

Another thing that matters? The return of Willson Contreras.

Contreras’ two-run homer in the fifth inning on Sunday gave the Red Sox a 6-1 lead, which proved to be the final score, in support of another quality start from Sonny Gray. It was the first baseman’s second round-tripper in three games since returning from a suspension and his fourth in seven games since July 4.

The Red Sox hand the ball to Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.11 ERA) for his first start since the All-Star break after being limited to 3 2/3 innings last Sunday against the New York Mets in an effort to manage his workload. The 23-year-old was still effective, striking out seven and allowing just one run on three hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Tolle has allowed just one run or fewer in three of his last four starts, while one of his three shutout performances this season came in his first career start against Baltimore on June 3, as he limited the Orioles to seven hits over six innings and struck out five.

Though the Orioles remain two games below .500 (49-51) on the season, they continued their winning ways with a 5-2 Sunday triumph and a three-game road sweep over the Houston Astros.

Baltimore managed just six hits, including a pair from Dylan Beavers, but seven walks and four hit batters helped set its offense in motion. Gunnar Henderson’s steal of home on a double steal also highlighted the effort.

“(Our offense just wants to) continue to put pressure on defenses,” Henderson said. “If you do that over the course of nine innings, you’re bound to break through.”

The Orioles did just that in the fifth, thanks to a two-run single by Leody Taveras.

As his team arrives in Boston, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz will be watching the status of catcher Samuel Basallo, who exited Sunday’s game with right shoulder discomfort during an at-bat in the second inning.

“It’s been a lingering thing, and obviously, he just aggravated it,” said Albernaz, who also noted that All-Star Adley Rutschman was experiencing left discomfort before the game.

Baltimore looks to continue its recent momentum with Shane Baz (4-9, 4.19) on the mound, searching for his first win since June 12. The righty has fanned nine batters in two of his five outings since then, including a 4 2/3-inning start last Sunday against the Kansas City Royals.

The rotation initially had Kyle Bradish scheduled to make the Monday start before he was pushed back a day. Bradish signed a five-year contract extension on Saturday, becoming the highest-paid pitcher in Orioles history.

Baz is 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox. He was a winner in Boston in that June 2 outing, pitching seven innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

The visiting San Diego Padres will try to cool off the Atlanta Braves’ revived offense when they open a four-game series on Monday.

The Braves, fresh off a series win against Texas, have scored at least five runs in nine straight home games dating back to July 1, its longest stretch since a 10-game streak in June 2019. Atlanta scored a combined 29 runs in taking two-of-three from the Rangers over the weekend, including Sunday’s 8-5 win.

The Padres, who swept a three-game series against Atlanta in June, avoided being swept at Kansas City on Sunday by beating the Royals 19-2. The win pulled San Diego to within one game of .500.

“This close to a series win, which is what our goal is anytime we play somebody,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said. “Now it’s on to the Braves and try to win that series somehow against a good team, which we played good against at home. Hopefully we can keep those good feelings going against them and play our best baseball.”

Heating up for Atlanta are catcher Drake Baldwin and third baseman Austin Riley.

Baldwin was 5-for-5 on Sunday – becoming the first Atlanta catcher with a five-hit game since Johnny Estrada in 2004 — and was 10-for-14 with three homers and eight RBIs in the Texas series.

“After a couple of days off, coming back and I was kind of a little recharged,” Baldwin said. “It’s nice to see that we’re firing on all cylinders with the offense, so it’s just kind of carrying that momentum forward.”

Riley, who had gone 4-for-21 on the road trip prior to the All-Star Game, was 6-for-12 with three homers, five RBIs and five runs scored in the Texas series. He hit two homers and drove in four runs in the series finale, reaching four homers this month after he didn’t have any in June.

“The first half beat me up pretty good,” Riley said. “Just needed to clear my head.”

The starting pitchers for the series opener will be Atlanta right-hander Bryce Elder (5-6, 4.12 ERA) vs. San Diego southpaw JP Sears (2-2, 5.03).

Sears will be making his fifth start of the season. In his last outing on July 10 against Toronto, he pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits and one walk, striking out three.

Sears has made four career starts against the Braves, going 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA. He beat the Braves on June 24 in San Diego after throwing 5 2/3 innings and allowing two runs in a 5-2 victory.

Elder has struggled of late. He was 5-3 with a 2.66 ERA through June 7, but over the last four starts has gone 0-3 with an 11.00 ERA. In his last outing on July 9 against Pittsburgh, he allowed four runs (three earned) in four innings. He has worked exactly four innings in three of the last four starts after throwing six-plus in 10 of his first 14.

Elder has had no luck against the Padres. In two career starts, he’s 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA, although he has not faced them since 2024.

San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. was 2-for-5 with four RBIs on Sunday. He has reached base safely in 18 of his last 19 road games and is hitting .333 (26-for-78) with 15 RBIs during that stretch.

Ty France homered twice on Sunday and is batting .417 (5-for-12) with two doubles, three homers and six RBIs since the break.

–Field Level Media

The host Toronto Blue Jays aim to gain some ground in the American League East on Monday night when they open a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Blue Jays seem to be catching the Rays at the right time. Tampa Bay is on a season-worst five-game losing streak after being swept in a four-game series by the Boston Red Sox. They have four contests left on their eight-game road trip.

“I point to every facet of our game,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after a 6-1 loss on Sunday. “We just weren’t playing as clean of baseball, whether it was on the mound, at the plate or on defense.”

The Rays are still first in the AL East, 10 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Blue Jays, who lost the rubber match of a three-game series with the visiting Chicago White Sox 3-0 on Sunday.

The problem for the Blue Jays is they are also struggling. The Blue Jays scored five runs in three outings against Chicago, winning the middle game 1-0.

The Blue Jays are 1-2 to open a seven-game homestand as their struggles continue. They were 3-7 on their previous homestand June 22-July 1 before embarking on a 4-5 trip.

“We talk about it, players talk about it,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “We’ve got to start winning. That’s just the bottom line. And it doesn’t really matter how you do it. If you win 1-0, if you win 10-9, you’ve got to start winning. You have to just understand what the situation calls for every game and you have to go out and try to execute it. I don’t want to put pressure on the guys because the season is where it is and the calendar is where it is, but you’ve got to turn it around in a hurry.”

The team has been waiting for things to turn around after a slow start as they did last season when they won the AL East.

“As a player, you’ve just got to play loose,” Toronto center fielder Daulton Varsho said. “You have to trust the person behind you. That’s all I can really say. I know it’s what we’ve been saying all year, but it’s got to turn at some point. And right now, we just have to do it a little bit faster. Sooner rather than later.”

The Rays lead the season series with the Blue Jays 5-1.

Right-hander Dylan Cease (6-4, 2.56 ERA) is the scheduled starter for Toronto on Monday. Cease is 1-3 with a 4.54 ERA in eight career starts against Tampa Bay, including a seven-inning outing on May 13 when he allowed just one run and three hits.

Cease lost a no-hitter on a leadoff single in the ninth in a 10-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on July 8. He struck out the side in the first inning of the All-Star Game.

Right-hander Nick Martinez (8-2, 2.65) is expected to get the nod for the Rays. He is 2-2 with a 5.83 ERA in seven career games (five starts) against Toronto. He last faced them on May 4, when he allowed one run on five hits in five innings to get the win.

The Rays are 14-4 in Martinez’s outings this season. He tossed a scoreless fifth inning in the All-Star Game.

The Rays’ pitching gives them hope that the wins will come again.

“We can’t get discouraged,” said Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda, who was 1-for-12 at Boston. “We’ve got to keep our heads up high and be super encouraging and keep doing our thing. That’s the biggest thing. We’ve been playing good baseball.”

–Field Level Media