
Red Sox sweep Cubs doubleheader with a comeback and a shutout
Boston erased a 3-0 deficit in the opener, then got Abreu’s eighth-inning double to win the nightcap 2-0.
By Beat Chuck Boston Desk / Published September 26, 2026
The Red Sox won both games of Friday's doubleheader against the Cubs, taking the opener 4-3 and the nightcap 2-0. Boston did not follow the same script twice. It had to overcome an early three-run deficit in Game 1, then waited until the eighth inning for the only runs in Game 2. The two final games each have an individual report with the scoring sequence, box score and official same-game video.
The two results
- Game 1: Wong completes Boston's comeback. The Cubs led 3-0 after two innings. Adley Rutschman's two-run single tied the score in the fifth, and Connor Wong's seventh-inning double brought Roman Anthony home with the winning run.
- Game 2: Abreu breaks a scoreless tie. Brayan Bello and Jedixson Paez combined to hold Chicago scoreless. Wilyer Abreu's two-run double in the bottom of the eighth supplied the entire offense in a 2-0 finish.
The opener rewarded a sustained comeback. Anthony scored three times, including on Rutschman's tying single and Wong's go-ahead double. Boston's pitchers allowed no Cubs run after the second inning. That mattered as much as any one hit: Chicago's first two frames had produced a lead large enough to survive a single Boston rally.
The nightcap was a pitching game until Boston's last full turn at bat. Paez gave the Red Sox five scoreless relief innings after Bello's four, and the Cubs finished with seven hits but no runs. With two on and two out in the eighth, Abreu drove both runners home. Chicago had men in scoring position earlier, but its seven hits never became a run.
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These are two different completed games, with two different turning points. The linked articles carry the details rather than merging either result into a single scoreboard note. Boston's shared outcome is a Friday sweep at Fenway Park.
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