The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-4 at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, July 31, 2026.
The win capped a historic 21-4 record for July.
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Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the third inning.
The Dodgers answered in the fourth when Freddie Freeman drove in a run, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
Shohei Ohtani gave Los Angeles a brief 4-3 lead in the fifth with a two-run homer off reliever Jovani Morán.
The Red Sox responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning.
Seventh-Inning Surge
Nick Sogard drew a lead-off walk, setting up Ceddane Rafaela's 405-foot home run to left field.
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That two-run shot off reliever Cole Irvin broke the 4-3 deficit and put Boston ahead for good.
Irvin, who had his Triple-A contract selected earlier in the day, allowed six runs and eight hits over six innings in his first major league appearance since 2024.
Additional run-scoring plays from Andruw Monasterio and Jarren Duran extended Boston's lead to 8-4. Brayan Bello earned the win after pitching four innings of three-hit relief.
In the third inning, Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras left the game for precautionary reasons after being hit in the helmet by a pitch from Will Klein.
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The teams continue their series on Saturday. Payton Tolle starts for Boston against Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Los Angeles.
