Before Caleb Durbin\u2019s 364-foot, go-ahead blast even reached the Monster seats in the bottom of the eighth, Willson Contreras, Anthony Seigler, Andruw Monasterio and Carlos Narvaez were already celebrating on the field, jumping up and down, embracing one another and shouting as they watched the ball soar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt right there like it was the WBC,\u201d said Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras, who played for champion Venezuela in March. \u201cTo be honest, I flashed back to when Willy [Wilyer Abreu] hit that homer against Japan<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Even given the circumstances \u2014 a matchup between the two longest active winning streaks in baseball (the Red Sox at 13 games and the Orioles at seven) \u2014 you don\u2019t typically see reactions like that, or hear comparisons to the World Baseball Classic, for Game 99 on a Monday night in July from a team that was only two games over .500 entering the night.<\/p>\n But that is the magic of this Red Sox run.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is fun,\u201d Contreras said. \u201cWe are playing good baseball. We are pitching. We\u2019re playing defense. We are hitting. We\u2019re taking good at-bats, getting good pitching, and we\u2019re not taking it for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n The energy around this team has completely changed.<\/p>\n Not long ago, boos and chants of \u201csell the team\u201d were a constant soundtrack at Fenway Park, and veterans were openly discussing how poorly the team was playing.<\/p>\n Now, Fenway Park feels different. The excitement has returned, the belief is back, and the Red Sox have created a postseason-like environment in the middle of July.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like the playoffs, going to the World Series, to be honest,\u201d Contreras added on the reaction to Durbin\u2019s home run. \u201cHopefully, it happens. To get there. We\u2019re on the way, but there\u2019s a lot of season left; there are a lot of games to be played. But if we keep playing with the energy that we\u2019re playing with right now, good things are going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n