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Archives for August 2025

Cease and Desist

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SAN DIEGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Dylan Cease took a shutout into the seventh inning Sunday, while Luis Arraez delivered a two-run double to lead the San Diego Padres to a 6-2 win over the visiting Boston Red Sox.

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In winning consecutive starts for the first time this year, Cease (5-10) permitted just four hits and two runs, walking two and striking out seven. It marked the first time since July 18 that Cease had pitched past the fifth inning.

Brayan Bello (8-6) absorbed the loss as he allowed five runs off six hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings, whiffing seven. All the runs came with two outs, including the pair Arraez knocked in to initiate scoring in the bottom of the third.

Bello was an out from facing the minimum through three innings when Freddy Fermin lined a two-out single into center. After Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit by a pitch, Arraez drilled a pitch to left-center, just out of the reach of center fielder Jarren Duran, to score both runners.

Tatis made it 3-0 in the fifth by grounding an RBI single to left, just out of the reach of diving shortstop Trevor Story. It scored Jake Cronenworth, who blooped a one-out double down the left field line.

Xander Bogaerts upped the margin to 4-0 in the sixth by looping a run-scoring single to left to plate Manny Machado, who singled with one out and then stole second with two outs. Bello and reliever Chris Murphy combined to issue three straight walks, with Cronenworth cashing in Bogaerts on his free pass.

Boston scored its runs in the seventh after loading the bases with no outs. Romy Gonzalez’s potential double-play grounder was booted by Bogaerts to make it 5-2. The Red Sox re-filled the sacks with no outs, but relievers Jason Adam and Adrian Morejon combined to strike out the side.

Ryan O’Hearn capped the Padres’ scoring in the seventh with a sacrifice fly that chased home Tatis.

Arraez, Tatis and Fermin each collected two hits. Tatis reached base four times.

–Field Level Media

Rose Takes FedEx St. Jude

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MEMPHIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – England’s Justin Rose birdied four of the last five holes of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind to force a playoff and birdied the third playoff hole to capture the first leg of the PGA Tour’s season-ending, three-tournament playoffs.

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Rose’s magical finish in regulation – birdies at 14, 15, 16 and 17 — allowed the 45-year-old veteran to pass 54-hole leader Tommy Fleetwood and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and join J.J. Spaun, the reigning U.S. Open champion, in the playoff.

Spaun birdied two of his final three holes in regulation to join Rose in the playoff. Rose and Spaun both had birdie putts on the first playoff hole lip out forcing a return trip to No. 18. On their second tries, they converted birdie putts with Spaun’s coming from 30 feet.

The hole location on 18 was changed for the third playoff hole and Rose dropped his birdie putt from 12 feet. Spaun’s seven-foot attempt for birdie slid left of the cup.

“That was an amazing last 90 minutes,” Rose said. “I never stopped believing.”

The Top 50 in the FedEx Cup points standings advance to the second round of the playoffs, the BMW Championship, which will be held at Caves Valley Golf Club at Owings Mills, Maryland beginning Thursday.

Rose began his charge shortly after a bogey at the par-4 12th hole to move up the leaderboard.

Rose didn’t play any practice rounds before the start of the St. Jude and he skipped the Wednesday pro-am because of illness, but the absences didn’t affect his play.

Rose had a chance to win on the 72nd hole, but his 13-foot birdie putt slid past the hole forcing the playoff with the 34-year-old Spaun. He had the exact same putt on the first playoff hole.

Fleetwood once again was denied the opportunity to win for the first time in 15 years on the PGA Tour. Entering the final round with a one-stroke lead, he was unable to hold a two-stroke lead with three holes to play. He had a par-bogey-par finish.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” Fleetwood said. “I was next to somebody (Rose) who played unbelievable golf down the stretch.”

– Field Level Media

Fleetwood Leads at FedEx St. Jude

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MEMPHIS – England’s Tommy Fleetwood struggled early and lost his lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championships before recovering on the back nine Saturday to remain atop the leaderboard after three rounds of the opening leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

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Fleetwood shot 1-under 69 and is at 14-under 196 after the third round at TPC Southwind. He will carry a one-stroke advantage into Sunday’s final round over England’s Justin Rose and a two-shot lead over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

Rose posted a 67 and finished with birdies on holes 16 and 18, which sandwiched a bogey at the 17th. Fleetwood bogeyed the final hole after missing the fairway on his drive, his only missed fairway of the round. Fleetwood had a three-shot lead after 17 holes.

Fleetwood, 34, is seeking his first win on the PGA Tour. Rose, 45, is attempting to become the first player in his 40s to win on Tour this season.

Scheffler closed with birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 to post a 5-under 65, tied for the best round of the day, and is at 12-under 198.

U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun made the biggest move Saturday. He matched Scheffler’s 65 to advance from a tie for 11th to a tie for fourth at 11-under 199. Andrew Novak is also at 199 after making back-to-back pars to end his round.

Rickie Fowler shot a 66 to put himself in position to qualify for the second round of the playoffs. He’s tied for sixth at 9-under 201 and just inside the top 50 in the Cup standings.

Those who finish in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings after Sunday’s round will advance to next week’s BMW Championship — the second of the PGA Tour’s three playoff tournaments — in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Fleetwood has had five top-five finishes this season, including a runner-up showing at the Travelers Championship in June.

Rose was runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the Masters and had two top-20 finishes — sixth at the Scottish Open and 16th at The Open — last month.

– Field Level Media

Red Sox Dread Extra Innings

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SAN DIEGO – (Wire Service Report) – Ramon Laureano’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday night lifted the San Diego Padres to a 5-4 win over the visiting Boston Red Sox.

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Xander Bogaerts was placed on second to start the inning and reliever Garrett Whitlock (5-2) issued an intentional walk to Ryan O’Hearn. Laureano chopped the first pitch over the head of third baseman Alex Bregman and Bogaerts easily beat Roman Anthony’s throw home.

Jason Adam (7-3) stranded a pair of runners in the top of the 10th, inducing an inning-ending fielder’s choice grounder from Ceddanne Rafaela to earn the win.

Boston forced extra innings when Anthony slashed a ground-rule double to left-center off MLB saves leader Robert Suarez in the ninth that scored Rafaela. He legged out an infield hit to start the inning and swiped second.

San Diego went ahead in the fifth with two runs when Boston starter Lucas Giolito lost the strike zone, issuing four straight two-out walks after a leadoff single by Fernando Tatis Jr. Free passes to O’Hearn and Laureano drove in the tying and go-ahead runs.

Giolito allowed five hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings, walking six and striking out one. San Diego starter Michael King lasted two-plus innings and 57 pitches, permitting two runs on four hits and two walks with a strikeout.

Making his first start since May 18 after a thoracic nerve issue sidelined him for nearly three months, King trailed 1-0 by the game’s third batter. Bregman lined the first of his two doubles and scored on Jarren Duran’s single to center.

Bogaerts evened the score in the second with his 10th homer, a liner into the seats in left that traveled an estimated 358 feet. The Red Sox regained the lead in the third with two runs as reliever Wandy Peralta balked home Bregman, who led off with his second double, and Masataka Yoshida’s fielder’s choice grounder scored Trevor Story.

The Padres got a run back in their half of the third as Bogaerts looped a two-out RBI single to center, scoring Luis Arraez.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Pound Padres

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SAN DIEGO – (Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida belted two-run homers and Walker Buehler tossed six scoreless innings as the visiting Red Sox stopped the San Diego Padres 10-2 on Friday night.

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Buehler (7-6) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four in arguably his best outing of the year. The former Los Angeles Dodger improved his career mark against San Diego to 7-1 with a 1.67 ERA in 13 starts.

Nick Pivetta (11-4) took his first home loss of the year, permitting five hits and five runs in six innings while walking three and fanning three.

It was the eighth win in nine games for Boston, which scored double-digit runs for an major-league-high 18th time this year. The Red Sox got started with four runs in the fourth, thanks to a lapse in control by Pivetta.

After Alex Bregman led off with a single, the Red Sox’s first hit, Pivetta walked Jarren Duran and Trevor Story. Yoshida’s sacrifice fly cashed in Bregman, and a throwing error by Pivetta on a pickoff attempt at first scored Duran. Abreu capped the inning with his 21st homer, a two-run shot over the wall in right-center.

Bregman’s groundout to third in the fifth inning scored Connor Wong for a 5-0 advantage. Wong broke the game open in the eighth by lining a bases-clearing double into the left field corner off reliever Sean Reynolds after three straight walks filled the sacks.

The Padres avoided a shutout with two runs in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Chris Murphy via an RBI fielder’s-choice grounder from Ramon Laureano and Jake Cronenworth’s run-scoring single.

Yoshida capped the scoring in the ninth by lining his second homer of the year to right with Story aboard after a leadoff walk. Boston’s patient hitters worked eight walks, five issued by Reynolds.

oshida, Wong and Roman Anthony each collected two of the Red Sox’s 10 hits. Cronenworth and Luis Arraez bagged two hits apiece for San Diego.

The Padres stranded 12 runners and managed only one hit in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Take On New Look Padres

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SAN DIEGO – (Wire Service Report) – Newcomers have already made a significant impact for San Diego, and they’ll aim to continue that trend as the Padres open a three-game home series against the Boston Red Sox.

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Ramon Laureano has hit like a sledgehammer in his first week with the Padres, while Freddy Fermin has given them more offense from the catching position than they’ve had most of the year.

Mason Miller has made his presence felt on an already-deep San Diego bullpen, and Nestor Cortes gave them a decent start on Wednesday night.

Then Ryan O’Hearn, who came over with Laureano from Baltimore a week ago, made his first significant contribution to his new team with a ninth-inning homer that tied Wednesday night’s game in Arizona. The Padres added another run in the ninth to pull out a 3-2 win.

Prior to drilling his first homer off a left-handed pitcher this year, O’Hearn had just a single to show for his first 12 at-bats with San Diego. The American League’s starting designated hitter in the All-Star Game last month needed something good to happen.

“Just got to keep going, keep getting comfortable, keep grinding out at-bats and hopefully continue to contribute,” O’Hearn said. “To do something finally felt good.”

The Padres come into the series with nine wins in 11 games and have crawled within two games of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

They have also jumped over the New York Mets for the second wild-card spot and have drawn within 2 1/2 games of the Chicago Cubs for the first wild card, which opens the postseason at home.

San Diego will try to keep the momentum going behind Nick Pivetta (11-3, 2.73 ERA). He last pitched on Aug. 1, allowing just one hit and one run in seven innings of a 4-1 win over St. Louis. Pivetta, who walked none and fanned five that night, has permitted just one run in 13 innings in two previous starts against Boston, where he pitched the last 4 1/2 seasons.

The Red Sox will counter with Walker Buehler (6-6, 5.74 ERA), who was no-decisioned on Saturday in his team’s 7-3 victory over Houston. Buehler gave up nine hits and three runs in 4 1/3 innings, walking three and whiffing none — the first time this season he failed to record a strikeout. He’s 6-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 12 career starts against the Padres.

Boston manager Alex Cora said Buehler is better than he’s pitched this year. The former Dodger mainstay has permitted at least three earned runs in nine of his last 11 outings.

“This guy is too important for us,” Cora said. “He knows he’s better than this and we know he’s better than this.”

Buehler’s uneven performance has been one of the few problems lately for the Red Sox, who won seven straight games prior to Wednesday night’s 7-3 home loss to Kansas City.

Boston trails Toronto by four games in the American League East and owns the top wild-card spot by one game over Seattle.

The Red Sox’s trade of Rafael Devers to San Francisco in June, which was widely criticized by national media, has turned out to be addition by subtraction. Boston is 27-16 since the deal and is scoring more runs than it did with Devers while playing better defense.

San Diego won two of three games in last year’s series at Fenway Park.

–Field Level Media

C’s Mazzulla Signed to Multi-year Contract Extension

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Head coach Joe Mazzulla has signed a multi-year contract extension with the Boston Celtics.

The team announced his signing on Friday but did not reveal either the length of the deal or its monetary value.

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Mazzulla, 37, has compiled a 182-64 regular-season record and a 33-17 playoff mark in three seasons with Boston. The Celtics won the NBA title in 2024.

He was the youngest head coach to win the NBA Finals since the 1968-69 season, when Bill Russell, then 35, led the Celtics to the NBA championship as a player-coach.

“He understands the job and has a passion for the Celtics that is only rivaled by our most die-hard fans,” said Brad Stevens, the team’s president of basketball operations. “He’s worked hard and accomplished amazing things in his first three years as a head coach — including averaging over 60 wins per season and winning the 2024 NBA Championship. Joe is a gifted leader who brings a consistent commitment to learning, improving and maximizing each day we get to compete for the Boston Celtics.”

Fleetwood On Top as Storm Holds FedEx

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MEMPHIS – (Wire Service Report) – England’s Tommy Fleetwood, seeking his elusive first win on the PGA Tour, followed a first-round 63 with a second-round 64 Friday to take the lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the opening tournament of the season-ending FedEx Cup playoffs.

Play was suspended in the afternoon with 21 golfers on the course at TPC Southwind as heavy rains flooded the area. Second-round play will resume Saturday morning before the third round begins off two tees in threesomes.

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Fleetwood’s 13-under 127 total was four strokes better than Collin Morikawa and Akshay Bhatia. Morikawa’s 5-under 65 Friday included holing out from the fairway on the par-4 ninth for an eagle. Bhatia, the first-round leader after an 8-under 62, managed a 69 that included 15 pars.

England’s Justin Rose also was tied for second at 9 under with two holes remaining when the rains hit. Kurt Kitayama posted a 7-under 63 to finish at 8-under 132.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who opened with a 67, had a roller-coaster round that included four bogeys and eight birdies, but finished at 4-under 66 and stands at 7 under. Scheffler was visibly frustrated throughout the round, from attempting to kick his club after an errant drive to talking to himself after a poor approach.

A win by the 34-year-old Fleetwood would give the tour back-to-back first-time champions. Cameron Young won last weekend’s Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event.

“Maybe this weekend is the weekend,” Fleetwood said. “We’ll see.”

Fleetwood, in his 15th year as a pro, entered the second round one stroke behind Bhatia. Fleetwood quickly overtook him by recording birdies in bunches. They came at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 on the front side and at Nos. 13, 14, 15 and 16 on the back nine, building a five-stroke cushion at the time. His only bogey came on No. 18 after his drive found a fairway bunker and his approach missed the green.

From early in the first round through the 17th hole of the second round, Fleetwood played a 30-hole stretch bogey-free with 14 birdies.

“When you shoot two good scores, it’s easy to say everything has been going well, but I think for the most part I’ve been very good off the tee, put myself in position to have a go at the course,” Fleetwood said. “My iron play has been good and solid, and I’ve rolled the ball well. The greens are really true.”

Fleetwood has won seven times on the European Tour, his last victory coming in the 2024 Dubai Invitational. He has come close multiple times on the PGA Tour. Among his three top-10 finishes in 2025 is a tie for second at the Travelers Championship in June.

[Read more…] about Fleetwood On Top as Storm Holds FedEx

Roman Pockets “A Whole Lotta Lira”

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – When in Rome, spend on the Romans. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony and the Sox organization are finalizing an eight-year, $130 million contract extension, according to multiple media accounts all reporting on Wednesday.

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The deal is pending a physical, includes a club option and will keep Anthony in Boston through the 2034 season. Anthony was nursing a sore back in the past two days, but not a serious injury.

Anthony, 21, created a buzz before he suited up with the Red Sox by launching a 497-foot grand slam for Triple-A Worcester on June 7. Called up to Boston two days after that blast, Anthony is batting .283 with two homers, 15 doubles and 19 RBIs in 46 games with the Red Sox. He has hit safely in each of his last eight games, however he has been idle since Sunday due to the back tightness issue.

Anthony was selected by the Red Sox in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

–Field Level Media

Big Innings Fuel Red Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) The Boston Red Sox will attempt to extend their winning streak to seven games when they face the visiting Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.

Boston opened the three-game series with an 8-5 victory on Monday. The Red Sox scored five runs in the first inning after scoring six times in the fourth of a 6-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

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“We’re not chasing as much, we’re not striking out,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “We’re putting the ball in play. We’re running the bases extremely well, too. … We’ve been really good the past three weeks baserunning-wise, and that puts pressure on the opposition.”

Boston particularly has been tough at home. The Monday victory gave the Red Sox 13 wins in their past 14 games at Fenway Park.

“When we’re rolling, this place is another weapon for us, so it’s just been awesome to see the fans get behind us and help us with this push,” said Boston’s Jarren Duran, who hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Royals starter Bailey Falter.

“I think we just have to keep our heads down and keep working, because I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing all year and it’s showing.”

After Kansas City scored four runs in the eighth to make it an 8-5 game, Nick Loftin ran through his coach’s third base stop sign and was thrown out at the plate for the final out of the inning. Had Loftin stayed at third, the Royals would have had the bases loaded with Vinnie Pasquantino at the plate. Pasquantino homered earlier in the frame.

“I talked to him in the dugout,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said of Loftin. “You gotta understand the game situation at that point. He’s trying to be aggressive. He probably got a little carried away knowing there were two outs.

“Normally you would take chances with two outs, but when you’re down by three and you’re getting the go-ahead run to the plate right there, you gotta stay at third. It’s a mental mistake and he won’t make that again.”

Boston won’t have outfielder Roman Anthony in the lineup on Tuesday. Anthony was a late scratch Monday due to back tightness, and Cora said he planned to rest the rookie on Tuesday.

“Everything felt normal all day and I felt something as I was stretching on the line,” Anthony said. “Just figured we’d be cautious with it and was super uncomfortable. I relayed that quickly, and we decided we were going to shut it down.

“I’ll get with the training staff and figure that out, but I’m already definitely trending in the right direction and feeling better than it was earlier.”

The Red Sox appear to be in a good position to build on their winning streak since left-hander Garrett Crochet (12-4, 2.23 ERA) — Boston’s ace — is scheduled to start on Tuesday.

Crochet is 1-1 with a 1.62 ERA in eight career appearances (two starts) against the Royals. He won at Kansas City on May 10 after throwing seven innings of one-run ball and striking out nine.

Rookie right-hander Ryan Bergert (1-0, 2.78) is scheduled to make his Royals debut. Bergert, who was acquired from the San Diego Padres just before the trade deadline last week, will be making his first career appearance against Boston.

Bergert made 11 appearances (seven starts) for the Padres this season, and he recorded 34 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media