​Chicago, Illinois – July 8: Jake Bennett, wearing number 64 for the Boston Red Sox, pitched against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning at Rate Field on July 8, 2026. The day’s action featured a series of moments captured by Daniel Bartel of Getty Images as Jarren Duran, number 16, celebrated scoring on a single by Tsung-Che Cheng (not pictured) in the third inning, while Cheng, number 39, delivered a one-run single in the fourth inning against Chicago. The Red Sox defeated the White Sox 5-0, extending Boston’s win streak to five and improving their record to 10 victories in the last 12 games. The dominant stretch marks the best run of the season by a wide margin, lifting the club to 42-48 and placing them within six games of .500 for the first time since late May. The win also leaves Boston a half-game behind in third place in the American League East and three games back in the Wild Card race, with the road trip from Anaheim through Chicago having reshaped their season’s trajectory.
The victory was powered by a rookie who has quietly become the marquee development in a rotation that has suffered losses elsewhere. Bennett spread four singles across seven innings, striking out four and walking one, needing just 81 pitches to go seven frames, with 53 of those pitches finding the strike zone. Only a single Chicago batter reached second base all night. Bennett’s earned run average sits at 2.61 through his first eight major-league starts. The only genuine threat came in the second inning when back-to-back baserunners reached with nobody out; Bennett responded by striking out the next two hitters and then getting a grounder to end the frame. “I’m just a pretty even-keeled guy. I’ve always been that way,” Bennett said. “It’s easy to get emotional. Baseball is a super hard game, and when things don’t go your way, you start tilting. I try to keep it right in the middle.”
Weissert and Morán finished the final two innings, and together with Bennett, retired the last 13 White Sox batters in order. The pitching staff has not allowed a run in consecutive nights after Payton Tolle’s six shutout innings on Tuesday. The atmosphere around the team has been buoyant, with Bennett commenting succinctly on the energy surrounding the hot stretch: “The vibes are great.”