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Archives for May 2021

Sox, E-Rod Get the Best of Baltimore

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BALTIMORE – With the aid of his teammates and retired Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, Boston 1B Bobby Dalbec snapped an 0-for-27 batting slump with a single and a three-run homer, powering the Boston Red Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night at Orioles Park at Camden Yards.

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Sox starter and team ace Eduardo Rodriguez (5-0) allowed one run on seven hits while striking out two batters over five innings to help the Red Sox improve to a the MLB-best record of 20-13. Boston won the last nine games Rodriguez has started against Baltimore, where he originally signed as a free agent in 2010 before he was traded to the Sox for reliever Andrew Miller.

The Red Sox lead the majors in runs (166), batting average (.267), slugging (.444), on-base+slugging (.776), doubles (72), and extra base hits (113). In their last 5 games, the Sox are batting .311 with an .856 (on-base+slugging) with (7.4 runs per game).

Tonight, Boston’s righty, Garrett Richards,  (1-2, 4.40 ERA) will make his third start against the Orioles this season. In the previous two games, he’s 0-1, allowing eight runs and 10 hits with six strikeouts and five walks over seven innings.

PGA Tour: Three Share Wells Fargo Lead

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THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: Wells Fargo Championship

COURSE: Quail Hollow Country Club (Charlotte, NC)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @WellsFargoGolf

OFFICIAL SITE: (Wells Fargo Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

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TV COVERAGE: Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9 – Golf Channel’s TV coverage will air from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over coverage from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage Saturday and Sunday, PGA Live Featured Groups runs from 8:00am to 3:00pm (EDT) with Featured Holes streaming from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Streaming Radio coverage Saturday and Sunday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

How to Watch: (PGATourCom)

Wells Fargo Championship Notes:

The three player tie – at six under (136) – after 36-holes ties the record for most players tied for the lead at the Wells Fargo Championship (also 2007).

In his Wells Fargo Championship debut, Matt Wallace is in position for first career PGA Tour title in 41st start of his career.

Gary Woodland (67-69) – (-6) overcame two bogeys with four birdies to post a 2-under 69 in his ninth Wells Fargo Championship start while Patrick Rodgers (68-68) – (-6) offset two bogeys with three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 seventh to post a second consecutive 3-under at Quail Hollow.

After missing the cut in his last two stroke-play events on the Tour, Rory McIlroy (T-5) is inside the Top 10 after 36 holes and only two strokes behind leaders.

First-round leader Phil Mickelson followed eight birdies in round one with just one in round two, an 11-shot swing between rounds (64-75) – (-3) but only three off the lead.

After leading the Tour’s active streak for most consecutive cuts made (22), Jon Rahm missed the cut in for the first time in nearly a year (329 days).

The cutline came in at (+2).

Aside from Rahm, other notables to miss the cut included Gastonia, NC native Harold Varner III, Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay, Will Zalatoris, Ian Poulter, Tony Finau, and Rickie Fowler.

Wells Fargo Leaderboard After 2nd Round

Matt Wallace 69-67—136 (-6)

Gary Woodland 67-69—136 (-6)

Patrick Rodgers 68-68—136 (-6)

Kramer Hickok 68-69—137 (-5)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Listless Celtics Lose to Bulls

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CHICAGO – Chicago’s combination of Zach LaVine and Coby White each scored 25 points and the Bulls overcame a big effort by Boston’s Kemba Walker and the Bulls soundly defeated the slumping Celtics, 121-99, on Friday night. The game marked the first time this season fans were admitted to Chicago’s United Center, and the Bulls were fueled by their presence. Chicago led by 21 in the third quarter but allowed Boston to draw within eight in the fourth quarter, before putting the game away by scoring 12 straight.

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With the victory, Chicago kept their playoff hopes alive and pulled within three games of Washington and a half-game further away from the Indiana Pacers for the final spots in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

Like their arch-rivals out West in the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston is trying to avoid the play-in tourney, but fell to seventh in the East and trail Miami by a game with the Heat beating Minnesota. The Celtics and Heat meet for an all-important game Sunday in Boston.

Sox Come From Behind to Win Again

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox trailed, 7-5 ,entering the bottom of the 6th inning and were behind, 9-8, entering the bottom of the 8th but infielder Christian Arroyo scored the decisive run in the 8th inning on a fielding error by the Detroit 3rd baseman Jeimer Candelario and Boston OF Alex Verdugo singled in two insurance runs to give Boston a 12-9 victory. It marked an MLB best of 13 come-from-behind victories for the Red Sox this season.

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Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi allowed six runs on seven hits in a season-low 4.1 innings pitched. Relieve Matt Andreise was credited with the win while Detroit’s Alex Lange took the loss in a game that can best be described as “sloppy,” as the teams combined for six errors, three wild pitches, two hit batsmen, a passed ball and a balk.

Boston 3B Rafael Devers went 2-for-5, with three RBI, including an RBI single in the 3rd inning and a go-ahead, two-run single with the bases loaded in the 6th inning. Devers stands 14-for-35 (.400) with Runs in Scoring Position this season and leads MLB since the start of 2019 with 63 game-tying or go-ahead RBI. Ten of Devers’ 23 RBI this season have tied the score of given the Red Sox the lead. Devers did make two fielding errors in the game.

After going 10-6 in their last 16 home games, the Red Sox will next visit Baltimore Friday for the first of four games. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-0) will face righty Matt Harvey (3-1).

 

 

 

PGA Tour: PHIL Was PHEELIN’ IT

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THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: Wells Fargo Championship

COURSE: Quail Hollow Country Club (Charlotte, NC)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @WellsFargoGolf

OFFICIAL SITE: (Wells Fargo Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

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TV COVERAGE: Today: 2:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9 – Golf Channel’s TV coverage will air from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over coverage from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups today from 7:00am to 6:00pm (EDT). On Saturday and Sunday, PGA Live Featured Groups runs from 8:00am to 3:00pm (EDT) with Featured Holes streaming from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Streaming Radio coverage today from 12:00pm Noon to 6:00pm (EDT); then Saturday and Sunday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

How to Watch: (PGATourCom)

Wells Fargo Championship Notes:

Sooner or later, the players, fans, volunteers, administrators and media that together make up the PGA Tour knew the future Golf Hall-of-Famer Phil Mickelson would post a score. That day came Thursday!

Phil Mickelson today holds the opening-round lead at a PGA Tour event for the first time since the 2019 American Express, a span of 840 days. Mickelson’s 7-under (64) marks his lowest score on Tour since the second round of the 2020 Travelers Championship (63).

Mickelson has not finished inside the Top 20 in his 13 starts this season and his T-21 at the Masters Tournament marked Mickelson’s best finish of 2021.

Phil@50: The 44-time PGA Tour winner has yet to win on the Tour since turning 50 on June 16, 2020.

Keegan Bradley (66), and Peter Malnati (67) recorded bogey-free rounds.

On the Other End of the Spectrum: World No. 3 Jon Rahm posted a 5-over (76), ending his streak of eight consecutive par-or-better rounds dating back to his final-round (73) at THE PLAYERS Championship. Rahm currently leads the Tour for consecutive cuts made (22) and has only one missed cut since June 1, 2019 (2020 Charles Schwab Challenge).

Defending champion Max Homa recorded a 6-over (77), his highest score in 10 rounds at the Wells Fargo Championship and his highest score on Tour since a (78) in the first round of the 2020 U.S. Open.

Quail Hollow resident Webb Simpson was forced to withdraw with a neck strain.

Wells Fargo Championship Leaderboard After First Round

Phil Mickelson 64 (-7)

K.H. Lee 66 (-5)

Keegan Bradley 66 (-5)

Six players at 4-under 67

Tigers Upset Sox in 10 Innings

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BOSTON – Boston starter Martin Perez tossed a season high 5.2 innings for the second time, allowed six hits, three runs, (only two earned, walked two and struck-out six but it was not enough to get the Red Sox a victory as the Detroit Tigers upset the Sox 6-5 at Fenway Park Wednesday night. The series with Detroit is now tied 1-1.

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The Tigers snapped their season-long seven-game losing streak and are now 2-0 in extra-inning games this season and 3-1 in extras since the start of 2020. Detroit 3B Jeimer Candelario went 3-foro-5, including his three-run home run in the 10th off Boston’s highly-touted reliever Garrett Whitlock.

Detroit’s pitcher Casey Mize  threw 6.0 innings, allowed a season-low three hits, but a career-high three walks over a career-high-tying 95 pitches. He held the Red Sox hitless through three frames. Mize allowed his only run to score in the 2nd inning, after starting the inning with two walks. His game-changing efforts came when he worked around a bases-loaded jam in the 6th.

Sox DH J.D. Martinez hit his 10th homer of the season. He is tied with Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. for the major league lead in home runs and leads the majors in RBI (29) and total bases (78), while leading the American League in extra-base hits with 20.

After Boston allowed three runs in the top of the 10th, they rallied for two runs in the home half of the inning but fell short.

Whitlock (0-1) took the loss for Boston.

PGA Tour: Wells Fargo Preview

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THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: Wells Fargo Championship

COURSE: Quail Hollow Country Club (Charlotte, NC)

ARCHITECT: George Cobb

YARDS/PAR: 7,521 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $8,100,000/$1,458,000

DEFENDING Champion (March 2019) – Max Homa – (2019 Leaderboard)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @WellsFargoGolf

OFFICIAL SITE: (Wells Fargo Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

TV COVERAGE: Today and Friday, May 7: 2:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9 – Golf Channel’s TV coverage will air from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over coverage from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups today and on Friday from 7:00am to 6:00pm (EDT). On Saturday and Sunday, PGA Live Featured Groups runs from 8:00am to 3:00pm (EDT) with Featured Holes streaming from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Streaming Radio coverage today and Friday from 12:00pm Noon to 6:00pm (EDT); then Saturday and Sunday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

PGA Tour Brunch Coverage – Wells Fargo Championship

The Wells Fargo Championship was last contested in 2019 as last year’s tournament was cancelled for obvious reasons. Back in ‘19, Max Homa became the fifth player to claim his first PGA Tour victory at the Wells Fargo Championship joining Anthony Kim (2008), Rory McIlroy (2010), Rickie Fowler (2012) and Derek Ernst (2013).

There’s a strong field ready to compete as 10 players in the Top 15 in the World Golf Ranking are playing Quail Hollow and they include, Justin Thomas (2), Jon Rahm (3), Xander Schauffele (4), and Bryson DeChambeau (5) of the Top 5. Patrick Reed (7), Webb Simpson (9), Viktor Hovland (11), Patrick Cantlay (12), Tony Finau (13), and former Wells Fargo champion Rory McIlroy (15) round-out the impressive competitors.

World Golf Hall of Fame member Phil Mickelson will make his 17th consecutive start today. He holds a tournament-record Ten Top-10 finishes, eight of which were inside the Top 5. Mickelson first missed the cut here in 2019.

World No. 12 Patrick Cantlay is making his first start at the Wells Fargo Championship. Cantlay is in search of his fourth career Tour title and second of the season (2020 ZOZO Champ).

Much of Tuesday and Wednesday was spent with the Super League for Golf ruminating in the gallery of Quail Hollow. Please see the news clips below for additional information and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s strict edict on current PGA Tour card holders who might choose to stray to the Saudi-backed, Jupiter, Florida-based Super League.

Tournament Tee Times begin today at 6:50am (EDT) through 2:22pm (EDT).

Weather: Today’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and 62-degrees with 9 mph winds with only a 10% chance of rain. Friday and Saturday should be mostly sunny, 58-64-degrees, with a 10% chance of rain Friday and 0% on Saturday. Long-term forecast for Sunday is for partly cloudy skies, 74-degrees and 14 mph winds.

PGATourBrunch will be posting before 6:50am (EDT) early tee times Friday.

Next Week: AT&T Byron Nelson (McKinney, Texas)

Field Updates:

Charles Howell III (out) / Grayson Murray (in)

Davis Love III (out) / D.J. Trahan (in)

Jim Herman (out) / Sebastian Cappelen (in)

Camilo Villegas (out) / Justin Suh (in)

Brendon Todd (out) / J.J. Spaun (in)

PGA Tour: Wells Fargo Champ; 1st Look

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Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of the Wells Fargo Championship

CHARLOTTE – The Wells Fargo Championship and its substantial prize purse always draws a strong field. This year the field includes four of Top-5 players in Official World Golf Ranking: Justin Thomas (2), Jon Rahm (3), Xander Schauffele(4), and Bryson DeChambeau (5).

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Defending champion Max Homa is coming off his T-6 at last week’s Valspar Championship. Homa must note, no player has successfully defended his title at Wells Fargo.

The tournament’s 2010 and 2015 winner, Rory McIlroy, will make his first start since the Masters when he missed the cut.

A native of nearby Gastonia, North Carolina, Harold Varner III will make his sixth Wells Fargo Championship appearance. Varner III claimed his career-best T-2 at last month’s RBC Heritage at Hilton Head.

The PGA Tour announced Tuesday that 12-1 shot Brandon Todd withdrew from the tournament after a COVID+ test. He was replaced by J.J. Spaun.

The Wells Fargo Championship is the 32nd of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. Due to COVID-19, the Wells Fargo Championship was not contested in 2020.

Tournament Tee Times begin Thursday at 6:50am (EDT) through 2:22pm (EDT).

Weather: Thursday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and 62-degrees with 9 mph winds and only a 10% chance of rain. Friday and Saturday should be mostly sunny, 58-64-degrees, with a 10% chance of rain Friday and 0% on Saturday. Long-term forecast for Sunday is for partly cloudy skies, 74-degrees and 14 mph winds.

PGATourBrunch will be posting before 6:50am (EDT) early tee times Thursday and Friday.

Next Week: AT&T Byron Nelson (McKinney, Texas)

Field Updates:

Charles Howell III (out) / Grayson Murray (in)

Davis Love III (out) / D.J. Trahan (in)

Jim Herman (out) / Sebastian Cappelen (in)

Camilo Villegas (out) / Justin Suh (in)

Brendon Todd (out) / J.J. Spaun (in)

TO SUBSCRIBE: You can get the FULL PGA Tour Brunch e-News delivered to your Inbox by signing-up HERE

Red Sox Drub Tigers, 11-7

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BOSTON – Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta went 5.0 innings, allowing six hits, and only three runs, as he tossed at least 5.0 innings for the fifth time in six starts this season, to lead Boston to an 11-7 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Pivetta struck-out eight and walked only two batters and is 4-0 with a 3.23 ERA (11 ER/30.2 IP) on the young season. Pivetta leads the Sox starters in ERA, opponent AVG (.200), and strikeouts (33).

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The Boston offense returned in a big way and are 9-3 when scoring first and 15-1 when scoring four or more runs. Red Sox hitters clocked 10 homers over their last four games, after hitting only one HR in their previous five games. The outburts tonight vs. Detroit was the third time this season Boston hit four or more HRs in a game (also 4/11 at Baltimore (6) and 4/30 at Texas (4).

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-5, with two runs scored and a pair of RBI as he hit a two-run homer in the 2nd inning. It was his third HR in his last four games and sixth in his last 13 games.

Outfielder Hunter Renfroe went 3-for-4, with a pair of runs scored and RBI. He hit an RBI single in the 1st inning and a solo HR in the 5th inning which was his 100th career HR, and his second in his last three games. Renfroe as 12 RBI in his last 17 games…Is 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with 2 HR and 5 RBI in his last three games.

The Sox are 9-5 in their last 14 games at Fenway Park.

Boston’s Matt Barnes converted his first career five-out save, and just his second of at least four outs (1.1 IP on 5/7/19 at BAL) as he entered in the 8th inning. Barnes is seven-for-seven in saves vs opportunities this season as he earned Manager Alex Cora’s confidence as the team’s full-time closer.

IVY League to Return to Fall Sports

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PRINCETON – IVY League football will be back in action this Fall, barring any unforeseen and major setbacks from the variants of the COVID-19 virus which halted IVY League sports in March, 2020.

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The IVY League school Presidents issued a joint statement today, addressing likely “in-person” learning and the resumption of all Fall sports.

“At each of our campuses, we are busily planning for the fall semester. As is prudent given all the uncertainty around the course of this pandemic, we are each planning for a range of possible scenarios. But given the current steady decline of Covid-19 infections in this country, and the broad availability and uptake of vaccinations, we are optimistic that our campuses will be back to something close to normal by this fall, including in-person learning with students in residence. And this includes our expectation for the resumption of regular competitive schedules for Ivy League athletics across all sports beginning in fall 2021.

“We know that this has been a challenging year for Ivy League student-athletes – as it has for our entire campuses, our country and the world at large – and we very much look forward to a return to spirited athletics competition and to the Ivy League rivalries that make our conference so special. Barring unanticipated circumstances, such as a dramatic increase in infection rates from a variant in the virus, we look forward to welcoming our teams back to intercollegiate competition this fall,” read the statement (which did not have typos).