BOSTON — Wilyer Abreu has been one of Boston’s most impactful all-around players, but lately the talented right fielder has been stuck in a serious rut.

Over the past few weeks Abreu has seen his offensive production fall off a cliff. Coming into the day he was batting .177 with a .546 OPS and four extra-base hits over his last 17 games since Sept. 3, and during Friday’s doubleheader he started 0 for 7 his first seven trips to the plate.

That kind of slump will put a strain on anyone’s confidence, but after striking out in the bottom of the sixth, Abreu said he was approached by veteran teammate Sonny Gray, who gave him a badly needed pep talk.

“It helped me a lot,” Abreu said. “He’s a vet, he’s got a lot of years here and how to handle those situations, so he give me good advice to feel good with my body, with my athleticism, and trust myself, try to get my confidence back and that was huge.”

The next time up, Abreu reminded everyone at Fenway Park who he really is.

Abreu’s go-ahead two-run double in the bottom of the eighth was the difference in Friday night’s 2-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. The right fielder stepped to the plate with two on and two outs in a scoreless game and crushed an opposite-field line drive high off the Green Monster.

That swing helped the Red Sox seal the doubleheader sweep, and the two clubs will now fly to St. Petersburg to get out ahead of the impending nor’easter to finish the regular season on Sunday at Tropicana Field.

In what was likely his final appearance of the regular season, Brayan Bello capped off his season of turbulence and redemption in style. The right-hander threw four-plus scoreless innings, held the Cubs to four hits and a walk and struck out two while throwing 39 of his 58 pitches for strikes.

Bello wraps up the year with a 4.33 ERA, a deceptively average mark for what was an extraordinarily unique journey. After earning himself a demotion following a disastrous first half that saw him lose his spot in the rotation, Bello finished the season with a 2.11 ERA over 55 1/3 innings in his last 14 appearances since being called back up just prior to the All-Star break.

Following the game Bello said he’s happy and grateful for the way his season ended, adding that the whole year was a big learning experience.

“I learned not to let bad moments dictate how the next one is going to be,” Bello said via interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “Also I learned how to compete in the zone, I feel like in the second half I was able to compete in the zone and beat hitters in the zone, something that I wasn’t able to do in the first half.”

Bello gave way to rookie Jedixson Paez, who was called up between the two games and who has also endured an eventful first year in the majors. The 22-year-old had never pitched above Single-A prior to this season before he was poached by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 Draft, and the right-hander made three uninspiring appearances for the White Sox before he was returned to Boston.

After spending most of the season in the Red Sox minor league system, he was called back up for a spot start on Sept. 1 and got shelled, allowing eight runs in 3 2/3 innings in a loss to the Seattle Mariners. But needing to cover some innings ahead of the club’s upcoming playoff run, Paez came through and gave the Red Sox five scoreless frames in what was by far the best outing of his MLB career so far.

“The first chance he got it didn’t probably go how he wanted and he gets another opportunity and goes out there and spins five scoreless innings and attacks the zone,” said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. “It was awesome.”

Offensively the Red Sox were stymied by Cubs starter David Peterson, who held Boston to three hits and two walks over five shutout innings. The Red Sox had runners reach third base in both the third and fourth innings but couldn’t get the go-ahead runner home.

Boston didn’t fare much better against the Cubs bullpen, but the Red Sox finally got another chance in the bottom of the eighth when Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jahmai Jones each walked to put two men on with two outs.

That brought Abreu to the plate to face left-hander Ryan Rolison, and the outfielder smoked an opposite-field line drive 100.5 mph off the bat high off the Green Monster. Kiner-Falefa and Jones both came around to score, and that was all she wrote.

Paez returned for the top of the ninth despite initially seeming to deal with a cramping issue while warming up, but after a brief visit by the trainer, he stayed in the game and sent the Cubs down 1-2-3 to end the game.

With this weekend’s finale relocated to St. Petersburg, Fla., Friday night marked the final regular season game at Fenway Park this season. The next time the Red Sox are back in Boston, it will either be for Game 3 of the American League Divisional Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, or for the end-of-the-season press conference should the club lose to the Yankees in the Wild Card round again.

Before they even knew when and where their last game would be, Tracy told his players to prepare to spend 11 days on the road, and Abreu said the team is determined to bring playoff baseball back to Fenway Park for the first time since 2021.

“I think the fans deserve it,” Abreu said. “It’s been five years that Boston hasn’t seen any playoff games, so I think we have to give them that opportunity to see playoff games again here at Fenway Park.”

In the meantime, the Red Sox and Cubs will play one more at Tropicana Field on Sunday starting at 3:05 p.m.

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