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Terry Lyons

MLB: Red Sox in the Win Column

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Red Sox Offense Emerged in 11-2 Win Over Tampa

BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox snapped a three-game, season opening losing streak with an 11-2 victory over the visiting Tampa Rays at Fenway Park. Eight of the Boston nine batters recorded at least a hit and six Sox recorded multiple hits which hadn’t happened since August, 2019.

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Boston starting pitcher Nick Pivetta pitched 5.0 innings of scoreless baseball, his ninth career scoreless start. He allowed only two hits and struck-out four. Dating back to last season, Pivetta is now 3-0 with the Red Sox with a 1.20 ERA.

Rays starter Michael Wacha recorded four of his first six outs with strike-outs, including striking out the side to open the 1st inning but then the Red Sox offense came alive in numerous ways:

  • J.D. Martinez recorded his third straight multi-hit game and went 2-for-3, with two walks, a home run and three RBI.
  • Alex Verdugo went 2-for-4 with a 2B and sacrifice fly for two RBI.
  • Xander Bogaerts matched his career-high for hits in a game by going 4-for-5 with a 2B and an RBI.
  • Newcomer Frenchy Cordero gave the Sox a 1-0 lead with his 2B in the 2nd inning and went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
  • Hunter Renfroe hit a sacrifice fly to give Boston a 2-0 lead in the 4th inning, to add to his 2-for-3 performance.
  • Catcher Christian Vazquez led off the 2nd and 4th inning with singles and scored each time in his 2-for-4 outing.
  • Utility man Marwin Gonzalez proved his versatility as he became the first major leaguer since 1900 to start his team’s first four games at four different positions (LF, 2B, 3B and 1B). He went 1-for-3 with a walk and scored twice.

The Red Sox and Rays square-off again tonight at 7:10pm (EDT). Tyler Glasnow will be pitching for the Rays while Martin Perez starts for Boston.

 

MLB: Red Sox Drop First Three Games

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox lost their third consecutive game to begin the season, an 11-3 thrashing by the Baltimore Orioles. It marked the 20th time the Red Sox have lost three consecutive games to begin a season, the first time since 2012. It marked the second time the Sox lost their first three at home, dating back to 1948.

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Baltimore earned their sweep of the Red Sox in a three-game series for the first time since 2017, a series which also came at Fenway Park. The Orioles scored seven runs in the 3rd inning to break the game open and post a 10-0 lead. For the O’, it marked the most runs scored in a single inning against the Red Sox since scoring seven runs in the 5th inning of a 16-3 win on August 25, 2017 at Fenway Park…That was also their most recent time scoring at least 7 runs in an inning on the road.

Centerfielder Cedric Mullins went 5-for-5 with a walk, while hitting three doubles and scoring three times. He set career highs in hits (five), 2B (three), extra base hits (three), and times reaching base safely (six). Mullins is just the fourth Orioles leadoff hitter to reach base safely six times in a game, joining Brady Anderson (6, 1992), Bob Boyd (6, 1958), and Cal Abrams (6, 1954).

For Boston, utility man Marwin Gonzalez (LF, 2B, 3B) and outfielder Alex Verdugo (CF, RF, LF) became the first players in franchise history to start each of the Red Sox’ first three games at three different defensive positions.

 

Jordan Spieth Wins Valero Texas Open

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Spieth Back in Winners’ Circle After 3-Year Drought

SAN ANTONIO – Jordan Spieth earned his 12th PGA Tour title in his 83rd start since winning The 2017 Open Championship, a span of 1,351 days. Spieth joined a list of five players in the last 40 years who reached 12 wins before turning 28 years old: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas

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Spieth became the 92nd player in PGA Tour history to reach 12 wins and moved into a tie for 82nd on the all-time wins list while he improved to 10-for-19 in his PGA TOUR career to win after holding a 54-hole lead/co-lead.

Charley Hoffman finished solo-second for the second consecutive time at the Valero Texas Open, as he finished runner-up to Corey Conners in 2019. Since 2006, Hoffman leads all players at the Valero Texas Open in Top-fives (5), Top-10s (7), Top-25s (12), Cuts Made (15) and score to par (-105).

With a solo-third, Matt Wallace (-14) recorded his career-best result on the PGA TOUR (previous: T3/2019 PGA Championship)

Rickie Fowler (T-17) needed a win to qualify for the Masters Tournamentand will miss a major championship for the first time since the 2010 U.S. Open.

Final Leaderboard at Valero Texas Open 2021:

Jordan Spieth 67-70-67-66—270 (-18)

Charley Hoffman 75-66-65-66—272 (-16)

Matt Wallace 69-68-67-70—274 (-14)

Lucas Glover 73-67-70-66—276 (-12)

Anirban Lahiri 71-69-69-69—278 (-10)

While We’re Young (Ideas) – April 4

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MLB’s Opening Day Brings Excitement, Wonder and Hope

By TERRY LYONS

The late, great Shelby Strother once wrote in a Christmas-New Years sports column, “The Annual Second Chance is near – it’s called New Year’s Eve. It is the window of opportunity where the hopes and fears of all the year (not to mention the mistakes) can be erased.”

You might argue, there is a much better day than New Year’s Eve to do a self examination of the human mind and the life it leads. There is a day when Spring Training is in the rearview mirror and suddenly, everything is for REAL. It all counts. Together with blooming annuals, chirping birds, the NCAA Final Four, and a crowd at Mahoney’s Garden Center, we bring you Opening Day of Major League Baseball.

For most of Baseball, Opening Day was April 1st, April Fools Day which is an indicator for some to be mentioned later in this column of notes. For New Englanders, Opening Day was RAINED OUT at Fenway Park but you can count on Baseball to be there and, indeed, it was on Good Friday.

But as Jimmy Fallon’s character, Ben, said in “Fever Pitch,” you can count on Baseball. “Every April, they’re here. At 1:05 or at 7:05, there is a game. And if it gets rained out, guess what? They make it up to you. Does anyone else in your life do that?”

They made it up on Friday, complete with all the Opening Day splendors of ceremony, bunting, social distancing, 39-degree weather and fly-overs. The Baltimore Orioles were the visiting team and their starting pitcher, John Means of Olathe, Kansas, gave up a lead-off single to Red Sox 2B Kiké Hernandez much to the delight of the 4,452 fans lucky enough to score a ticket for such a special game.

Then, reality set in and – for Red Sox fans – often, “Reality Sucks!”

The kid from Johnson County, Kansas threw darts and a sinking change-up that must’ve fallen-off a cliff in Oz. Means tossed 7.0 innings of one-hit baseball, including his retirement of 18 consecutive Boston batters. When John throws a baseball, he Means business and the Red Sox were shut-out on their Opening Day for the first time since 1976.

Yet, somehow, even Red Sox fans went home happy.

Baseball – with some fans in the stands – was back and people came to the game. Better yet? In Texas on Monday, they’re expecting 40,300 at Globe Life Stadium in Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers play host against a homeless team originally from Toronto. Must be a “give-away day,” right? Just ask the Washington Nationals.

Rangers fans are obviously shouting, “Pandemic Fever be Damned,” and how can you blame them? We’ve all endured a year of a global pandemic, and so many of our global neighbors, some 2,836,220, have passed away while 130,101,770 of our brothers and sisters threw their own sinking change-ups and one-hit the disease, thank God.

Sunshine, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Baseball bring us the excitement, wonder of what the future may bring in the standings of ball and the ladder of life, and hope. Dear, precious hope.

As James Earl Jones, playing Terence Mann in Field of Dreams said so eloquently to Kevin Costner, portraying Ray Kinsella as they discussed the allure of the sport we call our National Pastime:

“People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.”

Yes. People came out to the old ballgame and things were good once again for the day.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Baseball’s Opening Day might be one of the more underrated of GREAT events on our normal, annual sports calendar.

Another is upon us, as well. That being March Madness and the Final Four. The Saturday semifinals of the tournament is on that lofty list of the greatest days in sports. The underrated gem, is the half hour before tip-off of the first game on Saturday. At that point in time, the fans of the four teams in the gym ALL think they have a shot at the National Championship. The excitement and buzz in that half-hour might be the very best 30 minutes in sports.

For the entire weekly Sunday Sports Notes column, you can have it sent to your inbox if you subscribe HERE

PGA Tour: Spieth, Wallace Co-Leaders at Final Round of Valero Texas Open

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Note: Cloudy skies and a high of 71-degrees combined with winds from the E/SE at 10-20 mph yesterday and due to thunderstorms, the start to the third round was delayed 2 hours, 30 minutes and began at 12:13pm (local).

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SAN ANTONIO – After the two and a half hour weather delay, 11-time PGA Tour winner Jordan Spieth and four-time European Tour winner Matt Wallace got down to business and now share the 54-hole lead at 12-under.

Spieth, making his 83rd start since his last win at The Open Championship in 2017, is 9-for-18 in his career to date when he has the 54-hole lead/co-lead. He holds at least a share of the 54-hole lead for the third time this season, the most of any player.

Wallace holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the first time in his PGA Tour career and is in search of his first Tour victory.

Since 2006, Charley Hoffman leads all players at the Valero Texas Open in Top-fives (4), Top-10s (6), Top-25s (11), cuts made (15) and score to par (-99). Hoffman is in lone third place after three rounds.

A purse of $7,700,000 is on the line today with $1,386,000 and 500 FedEx points going to the winner.

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for this week’s Masters Tournament.

Third Round Leaderboard:

Matt Wallace 69-68-67—204 (-12)

Jordan Spieth 67-70-67—204 (-12)

Charley Hoffman 75-66-65—206 (-10)

Cameron Tringale 66-69-73—208 (-8)

Anirban Lahiri 71-69-69—209 (-7)

Hill Named Managing Director of USA Basketball’s Men’s Senior National Team

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Hill to Replace Jerry Colangelo as Head of Men’s Senior National Team After Tokyo Summer Olympics

COLORADO SPRINGS – (SOURCE: OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE) – Olympic gold medalist and 19-year NBA standout Grant Hill has been approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors as the next managing director of the USA Men’s National Team. Hill will succeed current managing director Jerry Colangelo after the Tokyo Olympics.

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“It is a tremendous honor to serve as managing director of USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team. I am looking forward to working with the USA Basketball staff and Board of Directors to lead this program so uniquely positioned for continued growth and for developing and promoting our top talent in events around the world,” said Hill. “As a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, I know the thrill and responsibility it is to represent our country. I am confident USA Basketball will continue to showcase the top talent and highest character players in our country.”

“We are very excited that Grant Hill will join USA Basketball as our USA Men’s National Team managing director. Grant is a proven leader of consequence and character who will continue to help us achieve on our twin goals of winning international competitions and representing our country with honor” said USA Basketball Board of Directors chair and retired General Martin Dempsey. “In making this announcement, I also want to emphasize how much everyone associated with USA Basketball appreciates Jerry Colangelo for everything he did for USA Basketball over the past 15 years.”

Taking control in 2005 of a USA National Team that hadn’t won a major international competition since 2000, Colangelo rebuilt the program from the bottom up. Under Colangelo, the USA men have compiled a remarkable 97-4 overall record and have claimed top honors in six of eight FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions, including Olympic championships in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Hill played for five USA Basketball teams, won two gold medals and one bronze medal and compiled an overall record of 26-1 (.963 winning percentage). He was a member of the gold medalist 1996 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team and the 5-0 1996 USA National Team. Hill as a collegian was a part of the 1992 USA Developmental Team that trained against the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team, the bronze medalist 1991 USA Pan American Games Team and the gold medalist 1990 USA U18 Championship Team.

Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018, Hill’s NBA career covered 19 seasons, and he was a seven-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection. Playing four collegiate seasons at Duke University, he helped lead the Blue Devils to back-to-back NCAA national titles in 1991 and 1992 and to a runner-up finish in 1994.

Moving Day at Valero Texas Open

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SAN ANTONIO – Cameron Tringale tied his career-long birdie streak and holds two-stroke lead over Jordan Spieth and Mike Wallace after 36 holes. Triangle made five consecutive birdies (Nos. 13-17), to tie the longest birdie streak of his PGA Tour career (fourth instance; most recent: R-4/2020 The RSM Classic).

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Tringale is making his 297th start on the Tour since the start of the 2009 season, the most of any player without a win in that span.

Jordan Spieth (T-2) is in the top 10 after 36 holes for the fifth time in his last six stroke-play events on the PGA Tour.

Kevin Stadler (T-4) made the cut for the second time in his last 24 starts on Tour and is striving for his first Top-10 since the 2014 Masters Tournament.

Rickie Fowler’s bogey-free (68) was his first bogey-free score in his last 86 rounds.

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for next week’s Masters Tournament.

First Round Leaderboard:

Cameron Tringale 66-69—135 (-9)

Matt Wallace 69-68—137 (-7)

Jordan Spieth 67-70—137 (-7)

Kevin Stadler 69-70—139 (-5)

Kyle Stanley 71-68—139 (-5)

Erik van Rooyen 71-68—139 (-5)

Brandt Snedeker 72-67—139 (-5)

78 players at 2-over (146) from a field of 141 professionals and three amateurs

Baltimore Means Business vs Red Sox

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BOSTON – Baltimore Orioles ace pitcher John Means threw 7.0 innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball and the Orioles scored two runs in the 6th inning and one in the 8th to earn a 3-0 Opening Day victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The opener was delayed one day because of inclement weather on Thursday, April 1. It was the first time the Boston Red Sox were shut-out on their MLB Opening Day since 1976.

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Means retired 18 consecutive batters with the only blemish being a lead-off single by Boston’s Kiki Hernandez and the Orioles’ 3B Maikel Franco allowing Xander Bogaerts to get on board with a fielding error. Otherwise, it was all command, control and an effective change-ups by Means that baffled Boston batters all afternoon long.

Baltimore earned its victory when Ryan Montcastle doubled in two runs in the 6th inning and an Anthony Santander RBI single to score Cedric Mullins in the 8th inning.

Orioles closer Cesar Valdez relieved Tanner Scott and retired the Red Sox with only a DH J.D. Martinez double in the 9th.

Boston SP Nathan Eovaldi (5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO) made his 2nd straight Opening Day start. He took the loss.

The teams will return to Fenway Park for 1:10pm EDT starts on both Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

Red Sox Opening Day: “Take Two”

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BOSTON – After a rain-out on April Fools Day, the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles will try it again today with clear skies but brisk 39-degree temperatures at 2:10pm EDT at Fenway Park. Boston begins its 121st American League season and the Red Sox are 59-60-1 all-time on Opening Day (excluding G2 of doubleheaders in 1903, 1948, and 1982). This is the 44th time that the Red Sox have opened the regular season at home (25-18), including the 41st at Fenway Park (22-18).

The Sox have won each of their last four Opening Day games at Fenway Park (2009, ’10, ’17, ’20).

Boston’s Opening Day roster features 14 players born in the United States, three from the Dominican Republic, three from Venezuela, two from Puerto Rico, one from Aruba, one born in Canada, one in China, and one in Japan.

The oldest player on the Sox roster for Opening Day roster is Adam Ottavino (35) while the youngest is 24-year-old Darwinzon Hernandez. Other Boston 24-year olds are: Alex Verdugo, Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck, and Rafael Devers.

As planned for yesterday, the long-time tradition of a flyover on Opening Day will be maintained, but with three different aircrafts flying out of three New England states, a first for a Red Sox Opening Day ceremony. This year’s flyover will include an F-15 from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, an F-35 from Vermont’s Air National Guard (the Green Mountain Boys), and a Tanker plane from Pease Air National Guard Base in New Hampshire.

The singing of God Bless America in the middle of the 7th inning will be performed by the Boston Fire Department A Capella Quartet.

The Red Sox will welcome over 100 healthcare heroes to the ballpark for Opening Day. Through a partnership with Dell Technologies, 10,000 tickets will be distributed to healthcare workers throughout the 2021 season.

Red Sox Opening Day, including the ceremony, will be broadcast live on NESN beginning with their pregame show at 12:20 p.m. WEEI’s Opening Day broadcast begins at 1:10 p.m.

Fenway Park gates open two hours before the game for all fans on Opening Day (12:10 p.m.) and 1½ hours for all other regular season games.

 

PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open Round-Up

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Valero Texas Open Opening Round Review & Notebook:

SAN ANTONIO – Camilo Villegas opened with and impressive (64) and holds two-stroke lead. This round marked his second 18-hole lead/co-lead of the season (T-6/The RSM Classic). Villegas holed out for birdie from 38 feet, 3 inches on his last hole of the round (No. 9)

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Jordan Spieth recorded a 5-under (67), his lowest score in 19 rounds at the Valero Texas Open. Spieth has carded under-par scores in the first round of each of his last seven stroke-play events.

Seung-Yul Noh (T-3) entered the week with 18 starts remaining on his Major Medical Extension and must earn 297 FedExCup points.

Cameron Tringale (T-2) at (-6) leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (5.126).

Phil Mickelson recorded a 10 at No. 18, tying the second-highest score on a hole of his PGA Tour career.

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for next week’s Masters Tournament.

First Round Leaderboard:

Camilo Villegas 64 (-8)

Sung Kang 66 (-6)

Cameron Tringale 66 (-6)

Jordan Spieth 67 (-5)

Seung-Yul Noh 67 (-5)

Hideki Matsuyama 67 (-5)