The Buzz · July 21, 2026
The Buzz — Tuesday, July 21
Last night had a streak extended, a lineup drop answered, and a calculated risk blown up on one pitch. Five names, each with the number that settles the take.
Caleb Durbin
The take Durbin's late HR sealed Red Sox 14-game streak
Fourteen straight wins, the second-longest in franchise history, and the moment everyone will replay is the tiebreaking solo off Tyler Wells that cleared the Green Monster with two outs in the eighth — Durbin's 10th of the year, putting Boston ahead for good in a 6-5 win. The crowd has the moment right. But the weight underneath it is the real story. Boston was 32-46 through June 24; since then they are 19-2, a reversal from worst-in-the-AL territory into something nobody planned. Durbin was hitting .236 entering the game, acquired from Milwaukee, listed at 5'6" and 183 pounds — not the profile of a cleanup hitter, and nobody is claiming he is. But he has hit safely in 31 of his last 44 games, with 20 extra-base hits and nine home runs in that span. Last night was the night the camera found a guy who had been doing the work for six weeks.
Caleb Durbin cards on eBay →(paid link)
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The take Jazz powers Yanks win with two homers, five RBIs
Both home runs came off Braxton Ashcraft, an All-Star starter — a three-run shot in the first after two Pirates errors, then a two-run blast in the third to reclaim a lead Pittsburgh had just taken at 5-4. Chisholm went 2-for-4 with five driven in, his 10th career multi-homer game, with homers in three straight plate appearances counting the prior night. The production was as loud as advertised. What tempers it is the season it lives inside — a streaky power bat who runs hot enough to carry a week and cold enough to vanish for a month. Last night was the hot version, and the Yankees won 8-5. The night was genuine. The season is what it is.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. cards on eBay →(paid link)
Petey Halpin
The take Rookie hits first two HRs in team's 7-HR rout
He entered batting .194 with zero major league home runs — a part-time outfielder optioned and recalled multiple times this season, most recently brought back from Triple-A Columbus on July 9. He left with two: a two-run blast in the second and a solo shot leading off the fourth, part of a 3-for-4 night with a double, three RBI, and three runs. The Guardians hit seven home runs, matching a franchise record for a home contest, six of them against Twins starter Joe Ryan. That is a career night for a rookie, and it deserves the attention. But a rookie batting .194 does not become a fixture because of one rout. The crowd has the moment right. The player is writing the rest.
Petey Halpin cards on eBay →(paid link)
Mookie Betts
The take Betts hit two HRs in four-hit night after drop to fifth
Dave Roberts dropped Betts to fifth for the series opener — the lowest he had hit since 2015 — and Betts answered with a season-high four hits: a solo shot in the seventh for his 12th of the year and a two-run homer in the ninth for his 13th. The immediate response was everything the move was designed to produce. But one night does not move the number that matters, and that number is .731 — his OPS through 64 games this season, just below the .732 he posted in 2025, his lowest mark in his first 12 big-league seasons. He had four hits total in his previous 11 games; before that cold stretch, he slashed .375/.408/.653 over 17 games ending July 2. The drop was a manager acknowledging that a great hitter playing shortstop is producing like an average one. Last night was the best-case response. It is also, so far, one night inside a two-week slump inside a three-month season.
Mookie Betts cards on eBay →(paid link)
Cal Raleigh
The take Raleigh GS after Reds IBB bases loaded to face him
Terry Francona walked Dominic Canzone intentionally to load the bases with one out in the seventh, bringing up Cal Raleigh. Canzone had been hitting well against left-handers in limited at-bats; Raleigh was batting .163 with a .573 OPS, hitless in his previous 15 at-bats, with two home runs since coming off the injured list on June 16 and none since July 4. Francona said he would make the same move every time — set up the double play, avoid the hot lefty bat — and the math backed him. Raleigh then drilled a hanging slurve 408 feet into the second deck for his sixth career grand slam, his 10th home run of the season, making it 7-0 in what became an 8-0 shutout. The crowd's read is that Francona blundered. He did not. He made the percentage play against a hitter who has been one of the worst regulars in baseball this year, and the worst possible outcome happened — which is exactly what Francona called it. One swing does not fix a .163 average.
Cal Raleigh cards on eBay →(paid link)
What August decides
Boston's 14-game winning streak is the loudest thing in the sport, and it is also the one most likely to fool you. A club that was 32-46 through June 24 has gone 19-2 since. The streak will end — they always do — and what follows is the actual season: whether Durbin's hot stretch is a floor or a ceiling, whether a roster that looked lost for three months can keep winning when the schedule turns. The moments from last night are sealed. The only question still open is whether Boston's was a streak or a turning point.