Adam Duvall Feels Red Sox’s ‘Momentum’ Before All-Star Break

The Boston Red Sox put together a red-hot run before entering the Major League Baseball All-Star Break on Sunday, defeating the Oakland Athletics to notch their fifth consecutive victory.

With nearly a week until Boston retakes the field for the second half, the Red Sox sit at 48-43 in the American League East, just a game behind the New York Yankees and two behind the Toronto Blue Jays with 71 left on the schedule.

“It feels really good, obviously to end the first half with a win is huge, especially the way we’ve been playing and I think we’re getting some momentum right now and it’s good to take that into the break,” Adam Duvall told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.

Like the team, Duvall has tried to regain some ground after hitting the 60-day injured list eight games into the year. In fact, it’s been the complete opposite from what Duvall opened the year with, recording a .455 batting average in the first eight games of the season.

Since being reactivated in early June, the 34-year-old has undergone an ice-cold streak at the plate, going 13-for-78 to hit .167 with 34 strikeouts entering Sunday’s series finale with the A’s at Fenway Park. But after finishing 1-for-2 with a crucial (and long overdue) home run, Duvall feels the pendulum swinging his way too.

“I felt like I took a big step today, personally, as far as being able to see the ball a little bit better and kind of get the pitches in the zone,” Duvall said. “So personally it felt good.”

The Red Sox have yet to play at their peak, having shown flashes of offensive firepower combined with encouraging signs from their pitching staff, both in the bullpen and rotation. Going 8-1 in their last nine contests, the Red Sox have hit .309 while starters have notched a 2.78 ERA and the bullpen has recorded a 3.65 ERA.

“This is the time where you wanna start playing your best brand of baseball,” Duvall explained. “Coming together as a team, I just feel like we’re gaining some momentum now. We gotta go into the All-Star break, relax, have fun and get back to it because we got some work to do.”