All good things must come to an end.

For the Boston Red Sox, that meant the end of a franchise-record-tying 15-game winning streak.

The quest for a new streak begins on Friday night as the Toronto Blue Jays enter for the start of a three-game weekend series.

“All of us knew that it was going to end at some point. It just happened to end (on Wednesday),” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said after a 5-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of a doubleheader. “The big thing is if we continue to play baseball that way, regardless of how many wins in a row, we’re going to win a heck of a lot more than we lose.”

To say the least, it was a season-turning stretch for Tracy’s group, which went from 37-48 then to 52-49 now. Before Wednesday night, the Red Sox had not lost since July 1, and they were 20-2 since completing a four-game sweep of the archrival New York Yankees on June 28.

Before Tracy could even speak to his team at the end of the streak, veterans Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray took the lead in addressing the clubhouse, imparting a message that matched that of their skipper.

“We can beat anybody. That’s lesson No. 1,” Contreras said. “We are a good team in the battles. We are resilient and a team that sits together, winning or losing. … There’s nothing to be sad about. We have to be happy. We should be proud of what we did.”

The past few weeks have seen Contreras break out to the tune of a .381 average with 13 RBIs in 12 July games. The first baseman had three hits in the Wednesday twin bill, with the nightcap being Boston’s first game scoring fewer than two runs since June 30.

The Red Sox will give the ball on Friday to left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who remains in search of his first win in his third start since returning from a two-year absence following Tommy John surgery. Sandoval (0-0, 4.82 ERA) was touched for five runs, four earned, on nine hits in five innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

Sandoval has faced the Blue Jays twice in his career, posting a 6.00 ERA and no decisions in nine innings.

The red-hot run has the Red Sox sitting in third place in the American League East, now six games ahead of the bottom-dwelling Blue Jays.

Toronto arrives in Boston having broken a four-game skid with a 3-1 Thursday afternoon win over first-place Tampa Bay. It was just the second victory for the Blue Jays in a nine-game span.

Shane Bieber dealt seven innings of one-run ball in his second consecutive strong start, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer both had two hits and an RBI.

“Today we played a complete game,” Springer said. “We pitched. We got guys on (the bases), over and in, and we caught the ball, so it was a good day for us, but it’s on to (Friday), and that’s against another extremely good team.”

Trey Yesavage (4-5, 3.78 ERA) will look to keep the Blue Jays on the right track. The 22-year-old right-hander took a loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday despite logging a season-high nine strikeouts over six innings of three-run ball.

Yesavage, who made his major league debut last September, has gotten his first taste of the Red Sox this season. He is 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA in two head-to-head starts, recording a home win on April 28 with 5 1/3 shutout innings before working 7 1/3 innings of three-run ball in a June 18 no-decision at Boston.

–Field Level Media

The San Diego Padres continue to invest heavily in their roster, but they still haven’t seen many dividends.

After dropping five of seven coming out of the All-Star break to match their low mark on the season at three games under .500, the Padres will try to turn things around when they continue their 10-game road trip against the slumping Miami Marlins on Friday night.

“Given the time of year, we know where we’re at,” Padres first baseman Ty France said after a 6-5 loss against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday afternoon. “It’s a weird spot to be in. Basically, if we want to go where we want to go and put the front office in position to do what (general manager) A.J. (Preller) typically does, we need to win some baseball games. We’re not doing that right now.”

The Padres own one of the top 10 payrolls in the major leagues, but they sit four games back in the NL wild-card race.

The Marlins, with the lowest payroll in the majors, still own a better record than the Padres despite losing their first six games coming out of the All-Star break and nine straight overall.

San Diego had the daunting task of facing former Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale on Thursday and rattled him with three runs in the second inning but couldn’t add on until France’s two-run homer in the eighth made it a one-run deficit.

“A lot of positive things from our offense against one of the best pitchers in all of baseball,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “Pitching has got to pick up our offense in that situation.”

San Diego plans to start German Marquez in the series opener on Friday.

Marquez (4-2, 5.24 ERA) is 1-0 in four starts this month with a 4.20 ERA.

The right-hander was limited to three-plus innings in his most recent outing, a 19-2 road win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. He departed with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth and the Padres leading 7-2 before the bullpen blanked the Royals the rest of the way.

Marquez has made eight starts against the Marlins in his career, going 4-3 with a 5.09 ERA.

The Marlins had a day off on Thursday to try to regroup. They lost 5-2 to the host Houston Astros on Wednesday to complete their 0-6 road trip.

“We’ve been playing way different than the first half,” Miami ace Sandy Alcantara said. “I think we’ve got to put things together and find a way to put ourselves in that situation that we were in the first half. This is baseball, someday you win 20 and someday you lose 25. We’ve got to keep fighting together.”

Esteury Ruiz started in center field in place of Jakob Marsee on Wednesday and went 1-for-4 with two stolen bases. Miami manager Clayton McCullough expects to use that lineup more often in the second half.

“He’s been a really fantastic spark for us,” McCullough said of Ruiz. “He’s come off the bench and done a lot of great things. When he’s gotten chances to start, he’s done things like (Wednesday). He’s certainly a threat on the bases.”

Miami was undecided on its starting pitcher for the series opener as of Thursday night.

–Field Level Media

The Cleveland Guardians will look to put one of their more frustrating losses of the season behind them when they begin a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Rays have the best record in the American League and own a two-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Cleveland lost 3-1 in 12 innings to the visiting Minnesota Twins on Thursday despite a stellar outing by right-hander Gavin Williams, who struck out 11 and allowed two hits and no walks over seven shutout innings.

The Guardians went 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position and were held scoreless aside from Patrick Bailey’s solo homer in the fifth inning.

“Their pitching was just like ours was,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “This was a well-pitched game on both sides, and Gavin was unbelievable. That was about as good as we’ve seen from him.”

Rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter drew a fourth-inning walk to extend his career high-tying on-base streak to 15 games for the Guardians, who split the four-game series.

The Guardians used four relievers on Thursday, including right-hander Colin Holderman, who stranded automatic runners in both the 10th and 11th innings.

“When you can put up a scoreless inning in extra innings, you’re doing something, and Holdy did it twice,” Vogt said. “Our bullpen has been phenomenal all year. We just weren’t able to get that big hit.”

Left-hander Joey Cantillo (8-5, 3.74 ERA) will take the mound for the Guardians in the series opener. He allowed four runs over five-plus innings in a 7-1 home loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

Cantillo, 26, has recorded at least seven strikeouts in five of his past six starts.

Cantillo is set to make his second career start against Tampa Bay. He tossed five scoreless innings in a 6-1 home win over the Rays on Sept. 14, 2024.

Tampa Bay will counter with Shane McClanahan (8-6, 3.16 ERA), who allowed six runs (four earned) over five innings during a 6-1 road loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

McClanahan, 29, gave up five hits and three walks while fanning three in his first start since July 8.

“The body felt great. Arm felt great. Obviously, those 10 days (of rest) are great for the body, but really bad for the routine,” McClanahan said. “Just looking forward to getting back to normal and having that routine and getting some things cleaned up.”

McClanahan will face the Guardians for the first time since allowing two runs over seven innings in a 2-1 loss in an AL wild-card-series game on Oct. 7, 2022. His only regular-season outing vs. Cleveland came that same season, and he permitted five runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings during a loss.

Tampa Bay is beginning a nine-game homestand after completing a 3-5 trip against the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays coming out of the All-Star break. The Rays won three straight against Toronto before losing 3-1 on Thursday in the series finale.

“Obviously, you want to win the fourth game and get the sweep, but you’ve still got to be grateful for the three games that you won,” Rays third baseman Junior Caminero said via interpreter Kevin Vera. “We wanted to go home happy, but we’re happy going home with the series (victory).”

–Field Level Media