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Crochet to the Rescue

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox will turn the ball over to the ace of 2025, starter Garrett Crochet, with another series victory on the line when they meet the visiting Seattle Mariners this afternoon.

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Crochet (2-1, 1.13 ERA) has performed like the top-of-the-line pitcher that Boston envisioned, allowing a total of two earned runs in his past four starts and just two extra-base hits all season.

“When you have guys like that, I’ve been saying all along, they stop losing streaks and they continue the winning streaks,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “That’s what he did (on Saturday).”

In that contest, Crochet pitched the first six innings of a 4-3, 10-inning win for the host Red Sox against his former team, the Chicago White Sox. He struck out seven. It was Boston’s fourth straight win at the time.

Despite his impressive stats, the 25-year-old southpaw has not been fully comfortable.

“It feels good, but I feel like I’m getting away with murder. It’s only a matter of time before I get caught,” Crochet said. “I feel like the way that I’m throwing the ball isn’t up to my (standard). It’s only a matter of time before I get burned, and I’d like to avoid that. This is not the standard that I hold myself to. I expect to have my best stuff every time out.”

Crochet’s two previous career starts against Seattle both came last season, and he went 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA. On June 13, he struck out a career-high 13 but came away with a no-decision. Counting two relief appearances earlier in his career against the Mariners, Crochet is 0-1 with a 3.97 ERA in 11 1/3 innings vs. Seattle.

Crochet looks to get the Red Sox back on the track following an 8-5 loss on Wednesday. Triston Casas hit a three-run home run for the second straight game, but Boston was held to seven hits and committed two more errors, giving the Red Sox a majors-worst 27 for the season.

The Mariners have gone 10-4 since a 3-7 start to the season, including bouncing back from an 8-3 loss in the series opener on Tuesday to force a rubber game. They have yet to lose consecutive games since the rough start.

Seattle’s bottom third of the batting order, Ben Williamson, Leo Rivas and J.P. Crawford, torched Boston for seven hits and five RBIs. Crawford belted a three-run homer that put the Mariners ahead 4-0 in the fourth inning.

Crawford is 9-for-24 over his last six games, with nine of his 10 RBIs for the season coming in that span.

“At-bats up and down the lineup were excellent,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.

Wilson will give the ball Thursday to Bryan Woo (2-1, 3.12 ERA). The right-hander has put together seven solid innings in back-to-back starts, but he took the loss to the host Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.

Woo, who has not faced Boston previously, gave up seven hits and three runs to the Blue Jays. His best outing of the season came on April 12, when he allowed a run on six hits and struck out seven Texas Rangers in Seattle.

“It seems like both times he’s been able to get through seven is a time when we really needed him to do that, and that’s a huge lift for your bullpen when he’s able to do that,” Wilson said. “He just has that ability with that fastball. He can get some quick innings from contact.”

Woo will also look to follow up a strong Wednesday outing from Emerson Hancock, who struck out seven in six innings of two-run ball.

Bottom of Mariners’ Line-Up Sinks Sox

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BOSTON – Ben Williamson, Leo Rivas and J.P. Crawford combined for seven of the team’s 13 hits while forming the bottom third of the lineup, leading the visiting Seattle Mariners past the Boston Red Sox 8-5 on Wednesday night.

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The No. 9-hitting Crawford delivered the biggest blow with a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Seattle extended its lead with two more runs in both the sixth and seventh, then withstood a late comeback attempt from the home team.

Williamson was 3-for-5 with an RBI and run scored, while Rivas scored twice on a 2-for-3 night.

Seattle’s Emerson Hancock (1-1) struck out seven while allowing two runs on five hits across six innings.

Triston Casas belted a three-run homer in the eighth to make things interesting for Boston. Jarren Duran and Alex Bregman each had multiple hits for the Red Sox, who had won six of seven.

The Mariners tagged Boston’s Sean Newcomb (0-3) for a two-out run in the first as Mitch Garver scored Julio Rodriguez on a single up the middle. Newcomb escaped trouble an inning later, working around a no-outs jam that saw the bottom third of Seattle’s order load the bases on back-to-back singles and a walk. The southpaw got Dylan Moore to line into a double play before striking out Rodriguez to end the threat.

After Newcomb struck out the side to strand a runner in the third, the visitors extended their lead on Crawford’s three-run homer to right-center in the fourth. Like in the second, Williamson and Rivas set the table with knocks.

The Red Sox scored single runs in the fourth and fifth. The first one came on Romy Gonzalez’s two-out, opposite-field single that scored Trevor Story, and Rafael Devers drove in the other run with an RBI groundout.

Three of the first four Mariners singled off Josh Winckowski in the seventh, with Williamson and Crawford each driving in runs.

After the Casas homer took the game to the final margin, Andres Munoz pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his eighth save.

Newcomb struck out eight in five innings.

–Field Level Media

NFL Draft: The Top 100

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GREEN BAY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Below is a ranking of the top 100 prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft reflecting consensus opinion of Field Level Media evaluators.

Rank Pos Full Name School
1. DE Abdul Carter, Penn State
2. RB Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
3. CB-WR Travis Hunter, Colorado
4. QB Cameron Ward, Miami
5. DT Mason Graham, Michigan

6. OLB Jalon Walker, Georgia
7. TE Tyler Warren, Penn State
8. CB Will Johnson, Michigan
9. DE Mykel Williams, Georgia
10. OG Armand Membou, Missouri

11. ILB Jihaad Campbell, Alabama
12. WR Matthew Golden, Texas
13. CB Jahdae Barron, Texas
14. DT Kenneth Grant, Michigan
15. WR Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona

16. OT Josh Conerly Jr., Oregon
17. DE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
18. TE Colston Loveland, Michigan
19. WR Luther Burden III, Missouri
20. OT Will Campbell, LSU

21. S Malaki Starks, Georgia
22. OT Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas
23. OT Josh Simmons, Ohio State
24. DE Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
25. DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon

26. S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
27. DT Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
28. CB Shavon Revel Jr., East Carolina
29. QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado
30. OT Marcus Mbow, Purdue

31. OG Grey Zabel, North Dakota State
32. OG Tyler Booker, Alabama
33. DT T.J. Sanders, South Carolina
34. OLB Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College
35. QB Jalen Milroe, Alabama

36. DE Jordan Burch, Oregon
37. DT Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
38. S Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
39. OT Aireontae Ersery, Minnesota
40. CB Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame

41. OT Emery Jones Jr., LSU
42. DE JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
43. WR Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State
44. CB Trey Amos, Ole Miss
45. DE Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M

46. DE Landon Jackson, Arkansas
47. CB Jacob Parrish, Kansas State
48. DT Deone Walker, Kentucky
49. RB Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
50. OT Cameron Williams, Texas

51. S Kevin Winston Jr., Penn State
52. WR Isaiah Bond, Texas
53. CB Azareye’h Thomas, Florida State
54. WR Kyle Williams, Washington State
55. DT Alfred Collins, Texas

56. DE Jared Ivey, Ole Miss
57. CB Darien Porter, Iowa State
58. TE Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green
59. DT Joshua Farmer, Florida State
60. RB Kaleb Johnson, Iowa

61. RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
62. WR Jayden Higgins, Iowa State
63. CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky
64. QB Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
65. RB Devin Neal, Kansas

66. WR Elic Ayomanor, Stanford
67. OT Wyatt Milum, West Virginia
68. DT Yahya Black, Iowa
69. RB Kalel Mullings, Michigan
70. WR Jaylin Noel, Iowa State

71. TE Mason Taylor, LSU
72. C Jared Wilson, Georgia
73. DE Kyle Kennard, South Carolina
74. C Joshua Gray, Oregon State
75. OT Charles Grant, William & Mary

76. DE Jack Sawyer, Ohio State
77. OT Anthony Belton, North Carolina State
78. ILB Carson Schwesinger, UCLA
79. WR Savion Williams, TCU
80. OLB Barrett Carter, Clemson

81. DT Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech
82. OT Myles Hinton, Michigan
83. OG Tate Ratledge, Georgia
84. OT Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, Oregon State
85. C Drew Kendall, Boston College

86. DE Bradyn Swinson, LSU
87. WR Jalen Royals, Utah State
88. WR Tre Harris, Ole Miss
89. OG Donovan Jackson, Ohio State
90. OG Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona

91. WR Xavier Restrepo, Miami
92. ILB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma
93. S Lathan Ransom, Ohio State
94. DT Omarr Norman-Lott, Tennessee
95. DT Ty Robinson, Nebraska

96. DE Sai’vion Jones, LSU
97. S Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
98. WR Tai Felton, Maryland
99. CB Tommi Hill, Nebraska
100. ILB Nick Martin, Oklahoma State

–Field Level Media

Pritchard is NBA’s Best 6th Man

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Celtics guard Payton Pritchard continued a long time Celtics tradition on Tuesday when Boston’s sharpshooting guard was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. The Celtics weere the NBA team that coined the phrase back in the 1950s.

Pritchard received 454 total points in balloting, including 82 out of 100 first-place votes from a global media panel.

The Detroit Pistons’ Malik Beasley was second at 279 points and 13 first-place votes. The third finalist, Ty Jerome of the Cleveland Cavaliers, had 91 points and two first-place nods.

Pritchard, in his fifth NBA season all spent with the Celtics, averaged career highs of 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 80 games, coming off the bench in all but three. He was the defending NBA champions’ fifth-leading scorer in the regular season.

His 1,079 total points off the bench were the most of any reserve in the NBA this season.

Pritchard shot 40.7 percent on 3-pointers, making a career-high 255 of them (3.2 per game). He made 246 of those as a reserve, the most in NBA history.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Prep for Game 2; Tatum Doubtful

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – As the Boston Celtics prepare for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Orlando Magic, they will have to do so with the likelihood that star Jayson Tatum will not suit up on Wednesday.

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The All-Star small forward landed awkwardly on his right wrist early in the fourth quarter following a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. After remaining on the floor momentarily, Tatum remained in the game and finished with 17 points in 40 minutes of action.

Despite Boston coach Joe Mazzulla initially indicating that Tatum would be day-to-day, the Celtics on Wednesday listed Tatum as doubtful for Wednesday’s Game 2 with a right distal radius bone bruise.

Tatum told reporters that his X-ray came back negative and assured fans that he was feeling better.

“I just landed on it,” Tatum said. “It was throbbing for a second, then kind of went away.”

The leading scoring for the Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals, Tatum was looking to lead Boston to a repeat title to become the first team to go back-to-back since Golden State in 2017-18.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Rollin’ at the Fens

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox are finally rolling, and they hope their first baseman might be trending in that direction, too.

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Boston will be seeking its seventh victory in eight games Wednesday in the middle contest of a three-game series against the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Triston Casas hit a three-run homer to highlight Boston’s 8-3 victory on Tuesday in the series opener. The 25-year-old first baseman entered the game hitting .158 with a .229 on-base percentage, a .237 slugging percentage, one home run and four RBIs in 21 games.

Casas delivered the home run in the seventh inning against reliever Trent Thornton, extending the Red Sox’s lead to 7-3.

“I hit the first (pitch) foul, and that typically means bad luck after that,” Casas said. “I was able to get another pitch a little more in my zone and elevate it to a part of the field that I wanted to. It was a good swing. I’m gonna look to try and carry that into (Wednesday).”

Seattle, which is seeking its fifth straight series victory, went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position during the loss.

Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock (0-1, 12.71 ERA) is scheduled to make his third start of the season on Wednesday. It will be his first career appearance against the Red Sox.

Hancock was sent to Triple-A Tacoma one day after he failed to make it out of the first inning during his March 31 start against the Detroit Tigers. He was recalled on Thursday, and his start that day against the Cincinnati Reds was encouraging. Hancock gave up a two-run home run in the first inning, but didn’t allow a run after that and struck out four in his five-inning outing.

“It was just a really good bounce-back for him,” Seattle pitching coach Pete Woodworth said, according to MLB.com. “The Detroit start was tough because he threw the ball well and they hit — the first three guys hit — and then they got really lucky and, unfortunately, it happened very quick and he threw a bunch of pitches, so we had to move on. And then we had to make a (roster) move to provide coverage for the next series.”

Sean Newcomb (0-2, 3.63 ERA) is listed as Boston’s probable starter. The left-hander is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two career appearances against the Mariners, both of which were in relief.

The home run Casas hit on Tuesday allowed Boston to keep the back end of its bullpen fresh entering the Wednesday matchup. Left-hander Aroldis Chapman has a team-high four saves, but righty Justin Slaten has retired the last 21 batters he has faced. Slaten picked up his third save by pitching a scoreless ninth inning during Boston’s 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

Slaten’s 4.00 ERA is a bit misleading since he allowed four runs without recording an out in Baltimore on March 31. In his other nine outings this year, he has allowed no runs, one hit and no walks.

“He’s healthy,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “That’s the most important thing. Last year, he was a little bit banged up and he wasn’t honest with us. He wanted to keep grinding. We paid the price.

“Just keep him fresh. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish. Usage-wise, it’s been solid with him, but also a lot of off days. If we continue to do that, those guys (Slaten and Chapman) are going to be pitching at 98-100 (mph), and that’s bad news for the opposition.”

–Field Level Media

Kenyans Sweep Boston Marathon

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – Kenya’s John Korir lost his footing at the start of the Boston Marathon on Monday morning but recovered to sprint into history, following in the footsteps of his older brother on the same track.

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Korir won the Boston Marathon in 2:04:45, 13 years after his older brother, Wesley, won in 2012. They shared an embrace at the finish line after John Korir, who also won the Chicago Marathon in October 2024, built a lead of more than a minute. His finish is the second-fastest in Boston Marathon history.

Kenyans swept the 129th running of the Boston Marathon. Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record to finish in 2:17:22, 19 seconds clear of Kenyan second-place finisher Hellen Obiri.

John Korir was clipped by a runner coming out of the starting gates and landed hard on his stomach. He lost his name and number bib but the 28-year-old was on his feet quickly and barely broke stride for the next two hours.

In a sprint for second place in the men’s race, Tanzanian Alphonce Simbu crossed in 2:05:04, just ahead of Kenyan Cybrian Kotut.

Conner Mantz finished as top American male in Boston, finishing fourth with a personal-best of 2:05:08. Jess McClain claimed top American female honors and finished seventh by overtaking fellow U.S. runner Annie Frisbie in the final five kilometers of the race.

Buzunesh Deba held the women’s race record for the past 11 years before Lokedi smashed the mark by more than two minutes, 30 seconds on Monday.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Were Early to Work

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Walker Buehler allowed one run and struck out nine in seven innings to help the Boston Red Sox defeat the visiting Chicago White Sox 4-2 on Monday in a late-morning start on Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts.

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Buehler (3-1) allowed four hits, walked three and threw 100 pitches (63 strikes). Two of the four hits Buehler allowed came in the first inning, when he gave up his only run. Justin Slaten pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his third save.

Rob Refsnyder hit a home run for Boston, his first. Trevor Story had three hits for the Red Sox, while Kristian Campbell added two hits, including a two-run single.

The White Sox received a solo home run from Andrew Benintendi, who collected two of the team’s five hits. A Brooks Baldwin double in the second inning was Chicago’s only other extra-base hit.

Boston won three of the four games in series, while the loss dropped Chicago’s road record to 1-9.

White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon (0-3) surrendered four runs on six hits in six innings with four walks and four strikeouts.

Nick Maton led off the game with a single, moved to third on an Andrew Benintendi single and scored to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead on Edgar Quero’s groundout.

After Refsnyder’s solo home run tied the game in the second, the Red Sox took a 4-1 lead by scoring three times in the third. Jarren Duran doubled and scored on Trevor Story’s single to make it 2-1 before Campbell delivered a bases-loaded single that extended Boston’s lead to 4-1.

Benintendi, who began his MLB career with the Red Sox, capped the scoring when he homered against Aroldis Chapman in the eighth. It was his fourth homer of the year and just the sixth the left-handed Chapman has allowed to a left-handed hitter in his career.

Red Sox Wrap-Up Series This AM

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox will aim for a four-game series win against the Chicago White Sox when they host their traditional Patriots’ Day game on Monday morning.

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Boston won 10-3 and 4-3 in the first two games of the set, the latter coming in 10 innings. But the club wants to bounce back from an 8-4 loss Sunday in which it was shut out over the final seven frames — and got three of its runs on Wilyer Abreu’s first-inning homer — while allowing six over the final three.

“It’s baseball, that’s the way I see it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They’re got good arms, just like everybody else, and you’ve got to play 27 outs.”

Boston has been on the wrong end of three of Chicago’s five wins this season.

Similarly, it has been an uneven start to the Red Sox career of Walker Buehler (2-1, 5.23 ERA), but he enters Monday following back-to-back solid outings, including a win at Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

In that outing, Buehler held the Rays to two runs on three hits across the first five innings of a 7-4 victory.

Sunday marks Buehler’s first career start against the White Sox, and the Boston newcomer knows that he has plenty of offensive firepower supporting him despite being held to just six hits on Sunday.

“I think we have five, six, seven guys that can have a day like (Alex Bregman) did (in my last start) and win us a game,” Buehler said. “That’s kind of what you’re looking for — that depth. Not depth in terms of, like, ‘Oh, they could get a hit today,’ but depth of guys that can take over a game.”

Rookie second baseman Kristian Campbell has quickly become a key part of that attack, going 2-for-4 with his fifth double. He’s reached base in 20 out of 21 games.

Chicago will be looking to start new streaks on Monday, having snapped a six-game skid and an 0-8 start on the road Sunday in the come-from-behind victory.

Andrew Vaughn had the biggest hit on Sunday, going 2-for-5 with a two-run homer in the eighth inning.

“These guys have been working so hard,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “We talked about it, the game — sometimes it doesn’t reward you and you have to just keep going. And that’s the mindset these guys have. That’s something everyone in the building is embracing, and it’s nice for it to pay off (on Sunday).”

After Massachusetts natives Shane Smith and Sean Burke took the ball in the two weekend games for Chicago, Jonathan Cannon (0-2, 4.42) will get a fifth crack at his first win of the season Monday. It will be the first start against Boston of his young career, though he threw three scoreless innings of relief in a win over the Red Sox last year.

The 24-year-old took a no-decision Wednesday despite striking out four and allowing just three hits over 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Athletics.

“He did a good job attacking the zone,” Venable said of Cannon in his last start. “He was able to put guys away and end at-bats. The little trouble he got into, he was able to work through.”

It was Cannon’s second scoreless start this season. Sandwiched in between, though, were two losses in which he allowed nine combined runs.

Just over a year ago, Cannon made his MLB debut. There has been plenty for Cannon to learn in the time since.

“The learning curve in (the majors) has been great,” Cannon said. “It’s been a lot at once … but just trying to take the blows and get better every outing.”

–Field Level Media

 

Justin Thomas Takes RBC Heritage

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HILTON HEAD – Justin Thomas defeated Andrew Novak with a birdie-3 on the first playoff hole (No. 18) to take the 17th playoff in RBC Heritage history and first since 2023 (Matt Fitzpatrick def. Jordan Spieth).

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It was the fifth playoff on TOUR this season and second consecutive: The others? Sony Open in Hawaii, Mexico Open at Vidanta World, The PLAYERS Championship, and Masters Tournament.

Career Playoff Records:

  • Justin Thomas: 5-2
  • Andrew Novak: 0-1

Thomas earned his 16th PGA TOUR victory in his 250th start at age of 31 years, 11 months, 22 days. It was his 59th PGA TOUR start since his last victory at the 2022 PGA Championship (span of 1,064 days).

RBC Heritage | Final Leaderboard

P1 Justin Thomas 61 69 69 68 267 (-17)

P2 Andrew Novak 68 65 66 68 267 (-17)

T3 Daniel Berger 70 67 68 65 270 (-14)

T3 Mackenzie Hughes 68 66 69 67 270 (-14)

T3 Brian Harman 66 69 66 69 270 (-14)

T3 Maverick McNealy 70 65 65 70 270 (-14)

Final Leaderboard: (link)