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NFL Sunday Night Football Preview

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New England Patriots (2-2) at Buffalo Bills (4-0)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET
FanDuel odds: Bills -8.5, Total 49.5

Series Rewind: Buffalo has won eight of the past 11 meetings after New England won 35 of the previous 39 matchups.

Inside Edge intel: The Bills have a streak of eight consecutive games over 100 rushing yards.

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Buffalo is one of two 4-0 teams and has racked up 133 points, second-highest in the league behind the Detroit Lions (137). The Bills are vying for their first 5-0 start since 1991, a season in which they reached the Super Bowl. Buffalo also is seeking its 15th consecutive regular-season homefield victory as the club continues to enjoy one of top atmospheres in the sport. New England receiver Stefon Diggs remembers how it works in Orchard Park after spending four seasons – making the Pro Bowl each time – with the Bills. This will be his first trip in as a visiting player since he was traded to the Houston Texans following the 2023 campaign. Diggs had six catches for 101 yards in last week’s 42-13 thumping of the Carolina Panthers. That also marked the first time New England reached the 40-point mark since 2021. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye is developing well and has completed 74 percent of his passes for 988 yards, seven touchdown and two interceptions. He also has rushed for two scores. Reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen of the Bills has thrown for 964 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception while also rushing for three scores. James Cook is the NFL’s second-leading rusher with 401 yards and has a league-best five rushing touchdowns. New England allowed an opening-drive touchdown in three of its first four games.

Yankees Outduel Red Sox

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BRONX – Rookie starting pitcher Cam Schlittler struck out 12 in eight innings during a stellar postseason debut as the New York Yankees eliminated the Boston Red Sox with a 4-0 victory in Game 3 of the American League wild-card series on Thursday night.

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The Yankees, who won the final two games of the best-of-three set, advance to the AL Division Series to face the Blue Jays. Game 1 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Saturday in Toronto.

New York capitalized on shaky Boston defense in a four-run fourth inning. That was more than enough for Schlittler (1-0), who allowed five hits and no walks while throwing consistently in the upper 90s. The 24-year-old right-hander fired 75 of his career-high 107 pitches for strikes.

“I was locked in,” said Schlittler, a Massachusetts native. “I knew exactly what I needed to do and go out there, especially against my hometown team. As I told Andy (Pettitte) yesterday, I wasn’t going to let them beat me. I was just overconfident in that fact. Making sure I wasn’t getting too carried away with it.”

Schlittler joined Roger Clemens (15 in 2000), Gerrit Cole (13 in 2020) and Orlando Hernandez (12 in 2000) as the fourth player in Yankees history with at least 12 strikeouts in a postseason game. He is the only rookie in that group.

Red Sox, Yanks Turn to Rookie SPs

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BRONX – New York’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. was not in the lineup Tuesday because the New York Yankees were facing Boston Red Sox ace left-hander Garrett Crochet.

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While Chisholm appeared to not be thrilled with manager Aaron Boone’s decision, he and the rest of the Yankees were elated with the second baseman’s impact on Wednesday.

Chisholm and the Yankees will attempt to eliminate the Red Sox on Thursday when the longtime rivals play a winner-advance, loser-go-home Game 3 of their American League wild-card series.

New York rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler, a Boston-area native, will start against his hometown team. Rookie left-hander Connelly Early will start for the Red Sox, and Chisholm definitely will be in the lineup.

The winner will advance to the best-of-five AL Division Series, with Game 1 against the host Toronto Blue Jays scheduled for Saturday.

“I feel like every game is a must-win,” Chisholm said. “… We always put everything out there on the line, especially the playoffs. … There’s no space. You don’t want to give any team an edge.”

Chisholm’s imprints were all over the late innings as the Yankees avoided elimination with a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.

In the seventh inning, Chisholm knocked down a ground ball by pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida to hold him to an infield single, prevent a run from scoring. The game stayed tied when Fernando Cruz escaped a bases-loaded jam.

In the eighth, Chisholm walked with two outs after seeing seven pitches from Garrett Whitlock. He scored from first on a headfirst slide when Austin Wells singled down the right field line.

“He loves to play,” Boone said of Chisholm. “He feels a responsibility to us, his teammates. And, you know, he and I have always been good. Despite what you may think happened (Tuesday), like, yeah, he’s a gamer, and, you know, he likes the stage.”

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The Red Sox never led on Wednesday, though they tied the game twice thanks to Trevor Story, who hit well against the Yankees during the regular season. Story belted a two-run single in the third inning, and he added a solo homer in the sixth after the Yankees went ahead on a single by Aaron Judge.

Boston also was aggressive with its pitching staff, pulling Brayan Bello in the third inning after he allowed a two-run homer to Ben Rice in the first. The right-hander was out after 28 pitches.

“I thought it was a great ballgame,” Whitlock said. “I thought both sides played really well. I think you saw that with (in Games 1 and 2). And so hopefully we can put together a good game (Thursday) and go from there.”

After Crochet pitched 7 2/3 innings and Aroldis Chapman got the final four outs on Tuesday, Boston deployed six relievers (Justin Wilson, Justin Slaten, Steven Matz, Zack Kelly, Whitlock and Payton Tolle) on Wednesday.

“We were doing everything possible to get to the top of the ninth with a tie game,” Cora said after Whitlock threw a season-high 47 pitches.

Schlittler, who played at Northeastern University, which is a half-mile from Fenway Park, earned the start after a stellar two-plus months in the rotation. He finished 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts after making his debut July 9.

“He gave us a shot in the arm when he became another stabilizing force in our rotation,” Boone said Tuesday afternoon. “He will handle it well regardless of result or whatever, like I don’t think it will be too big for him, and he will be ready to roll.”

The 24-year-old struck out nine and pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday in his latest start.

Schlittler did not face the Red Sox in the regular season but said he faced Boston in an exhibition game when he was at Northeastern.

“Obviously I am a lot different player than I was then,” Schlittler said. “So didn’t really expect to be in this situation back then, but now I am definitely happy I am.”

Early was Boston’s fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft, and he went 1-2 with 2.33 ERA in four starts to open his major league career this year. He is filling in on Thursday for Lucas Giolito, who likely will miss the postseason due to elbow pain.

Early has yet to face the Yankees. He last pitched on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers, when he allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, throwing 86 pitches.

“It comes down to this game, and I’m excited to get out there,” Early said. “I’ve stuck to all my preparation and feel pretty good, so I’m ready to go out there and do it.”

–Field Level Media

Yankees Take Game 2

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BRONX – (Wire Service Report) – New York’s Austin Wells hit a tie-breaking single with two outs in the eighth inning and the hometown Yankees avoided elimination with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their American League wild-card series on Wednesday night.

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Game 3 of the best-of-three set will be played Thursday in New York and the winner will advance to face the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Division Series on Saturday.

Trevor Story drove in three runs off New York starter Carlos Rodon. He hit a two-run single in the third and blasted a game-tying homer to open the sixth.

Guardians 6, Tigers 1

CLEVELAND – (Wire Service Report) – The Guardians’ Brayan Rocchio belted a go-ahead solo homer and Bo Naylor had a three-run shot as part of a five-run eighth inning, giving Cleveland a victory over Detroit in Game 2 of their American League wild-card series.

Rocchio’s 379-foot shot to right field occurred after Troy Melton (0-1) retired C.J. Kayfus to start the eighth, giving Cleveland a 2-1 advantage. Steven Kwan followed with a double and was driven in by Daniel Schneeman.

The Central Division champion Guardians forced a winner-take-all Game 3 at home Thursday, when they will attempt to become the first team to advance after losing Game 1 since the current wild-card format became permanent in 2022. The Tigers left 15 on base and went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Padres 3, Cubs 0

CHICAGO – (Wire Service Report) – San Diego’s Manny Machado belted a two-run homer in the fifth inning, helping visiting San Diego square their National League wild-card series against Chicago at one win apiece.

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Fernando Tatis Jr. scored on a sacrifice fly from Jackson Merrill in the first inning. Luis Arraez contributed two of the seven hits for the Padres. Adrian Morejon (1-0) relieved starter Dylan Cease in the fourth inning and did not allow a hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Opener Andrew Kittredge (0-1) gave up the first inning run and Shota Imanaga pitched the next four innings, allowing Machado’s blast. San Diego pitching allowed only four hits; Seiya Suzuki accounted for the lone extra-base hit, a two-out double in the fourth.

–Field Level Media

High Priced Pitchers Square Off

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BRONX – (Wire Service Report) – Max Fried and Garrett Crochet lived up to expectations in sparkling debut seasons as No. 1 starters for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Now it gets real.

Crochet (Red Sox) and Fried (Yankees) delivered after being acquired in the offseason to become staff aces at the center of baseball’s most historic rivalry, and the left-handers find themselves front and center as Game 1 starters in the American League wild-card series starting Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

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The AL East archrivals fight it out in the wild-card round for the first time and best-of-three series winner advances to the division series.

Celtics Open Camp; No Tatum in ’25-26

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Celtics star Jayson Tatum said he’s not feeling any pressure to push his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“No pressure from (Celtics president of basketball operations) Brad (Stevens), (coach) Joe (Mazzulla), the team or the organization,” Tatum said Monday at the Celtics’ media day. “The most important thing is that I’m 100 percent.”

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Tatum suffered the injury in May in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Boston lost the series to the New York Knicks.

While Tatum downplayed any urgency he or the team may feel to get him back on the court, he did discuss his difficult recovery process.

“I think the toughest part was at the beginning and kind of being in disbelief. For me, I had to accept it,” he said. “I started to see a turning point, but then you’re on crutches, and you’re on a scooter, you’re in a boot. And then you can drop one crutch and then you can drop both crutches … That made me feel a little bit more normal.”

Tatum is expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season. The Celtics were overhauled in the offseason amid lower expectations without their superstar. Veteran starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were traded without much in the way of established NBA talent added.

“We have a lot of guys that are unproven,” Stevens said. “They’re younger and maybe not quite as experienced and maybe not quite as full of NBA wisdom.”

The Celtics are just 15 months removed from winning the 2023-24 championship. They’ll rely heavily on the leadership of players from that title team like Payton Pritchard, Derrick White and perennial All-Star Jaylen Brown.

“We have a chance for other guys to step up,” Brown said. “Empowering other guys, trusting your teammates more and trying to accelerate guys’ learning curve and play some good basketball. I think that’s what people want to see.”

–Field Level Media

Sox Beat Tigers: Will They Be Back?

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers sealing the Tigers’ fate as the No. 6 seed in the American League Postseason while the Sox will hold the No. 5 and play at the Bronx against their longtime rival, the New York Yankees. The Toronto Blue Jays took the American League East title.

Boston now plays New York on Tuesday, Sept. 30, Wednesday, Oct 1 and, if necessary, Thursday, October 2. The winner of the Boston vs. New York wild card will face the No. 1 seed Blue Jays.

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To close out the season today, Boston spot starter José De León pitched a career-high 6 2/3 innings in his first outing in two years. Red Sox DH Masataka Yoshida and second baseman David Hamilton homered to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 victory. The Tigers’ loss gave the AL Central title to the Cleveland Guardians.

After each team wrapped up a playoff berth during the final series of the regular season – the Red Sox on Friday and the Tigers on Saturday – they both sent out lineups for the regular-season finale that allowed some regulars to rest. That included Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman.

De León, called up from Triple-A so the Red Sox could line up their starters for the AL Wild Card series, allowed three runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out eight. Greg Weissert pitched the ninth for his fourth save. Detroit starter Chris Paddock suffered his 12th loss against five victories on the 2025 season.

Detroit lost 13 of their final 16 and 22 of their last 31 regular season games to allow Cleveland to grab the Central title. Coincidentally, Detroit will travel to Cleveland for their best-of-three game Wild Card series, with the winner to play the Seattle Mariners.

 

 

Patriots Take Care of Carolina Biz

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FOXBORO – (Wire Service Report) – Marcus Jones sparked New England with a pair of huge punt returns, including one for a touchdown, and Patriots’ quarterback Drake Maye accounted for three touchdowns as New England beat the visiting Carolina Panthers, 42-13, on a busy sports Sunday afternoon in Massachusetts.

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Jones set a franchise record with 167 punt return yards on three attempts. Maye threw two touchdowns and added a rushing score against his hometown team.

New England (2-2) didn’t record its second victory last year until Oct. 27.

Maye was 14 for 17 for 203 yards. Hunter Henry and Mack Hollins caught his scoring passes. Stefon Diggs gained 101 receiving yards on six catches.

Trailing 42-6 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Panthers (1-3) were in danger of suffering the most lopsided loss in team history (43 points vs. the Raiders in 2000).

After driving for points on the game’s opening possession, Carolina didn’t score again until backup Andy Dalton’s 2-yard fourth-down pass to Mitchell Evans on the first play following the two-minute warning. Quarterback Bryce Young was 18 for 30 for 150 yards and a touchdown.

Jones returned a punt 87 yards for New England’s first points with 5:34 left in the first quarter. The Patriots also scored on their next three possessions, expanding their lead to 28-6 at halftime.

Maye, on the first snap of the second quarter, and TreVeyon Henderson both scored on 5-yard runs, while Antonio Gibson got into the end zone from 1 yard out.

That last TD drive of the first half covered only 14 yards after Jones’s 61-yard punt return.

To begin the game, the Panthers moved 76 yards, scoring on Young’s 7-yard pass to Tommy Tremble.

The Panthers have trailed by at least 17 points at halftime in all three of their losses.

Carolina’s Ryan Fitzgerald, whose extra-point kick bounced off the upright, missed on a 55-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter.

Maye threw 31 yards to Henry to open the second-half scoring.

The Panthers lost receiver David Moore to an injury on the first play from scrimmage.

–Field Level Media

RYDER BUB-KIS

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OLD BETHPAGE – (Wire Service Report) – Team Europe is all but assured to win the 45th Ryder Cup after Saturday’s one-sided show at Bethpage Black, leaving more spotlight on the home fans’ interactions with Rory McIlroy.

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The Europeans and captain Luke Donald hold a commanding 11 1/2-4 1/2 lead over the United States team ahead of Sunday’s 12 singles matches. They need 2 1/2 points from those matches to retain the Cup and three points to win outright.

On Saturday morning, Europe became the first visiting team in Ryder Cup history to win the first three sessions when it took morning foursomes 3-1. McIlroy and company made it four straight sessions with another 3-1 edge in the afternoon fourball.

Team Europe seemed to make every putt it needed, which the statistics bore out. According to the website Data Golf, Europe is a whopping 9.55 strokes better than the U.S. on the greens this week, including 4.39 strokes gained during Saturday’s fourballs alone.

“These guys are 12 very able guys that know how to prepare and get ready. Certainly I’m not going to take credit for that,” captain Luke Donald said. “That is more about their grit and their determination to hole those putts more than anything.”

They did so in the face of raucous American fans who tried their best to counter European songs with more pointed barbs.

McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Shane Lowry of Ireland defeated Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, 2 up, in the face of constant jeering that prompted extra security guards and around 10 state troopers to join the match at the turn.

The crowd chanted “(Expletive) you, Rory” at the first tee and elsewhere on the course. Another popular chant was “U.S. Open, U.S. Open,” a reference to McIlroy squandering leads there in 2023 and 2024.

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On the 16th hole of his foursomes match, McIlroy yelled at fans to “shut the (expletive) up” when fans heckled while he was addressing his ball. He proceeded to stuff his approach shot to 3 feet, setting up Tommy Fleetwood’s clinching putt in a 3-and-2 win over Harris English and Collin Morikawa.

“Look, in between shots, say whatever you want to me. That’s totally fine,” McIlroy said after that win. “But just let us — you gave us the respect to let us hit shots, and give us the same chance that the Americans have, I guess.”

At the ninth green of the fourball match, Thomas signaled to the U.S. fans to be quiet for McIlroy. Word trickled out to the fans on social media that their heckling was becoming the focus of the day. “Don’t say anything naughty about Rory,” one American fan said sarcastically.

McIlroy released some emotion with a yell at the par-3 14th, where he rolled in his first birdie of the afternoon to put Europe 1 up.

At the par-3 17th, Thomas spun his tee shot to 13 inches of the cup and Europe conceded the birdie. McIlroy was loudly heckled up to the moment he hit his birdie try, which slid past. But Lowry sank his birdie to halve the hole, and the pair of friends finished the job at No. 18.

“When you play an away Ryder Cup, it’s really, really challenging,” McIlroy said. “It’s not for me to say. You know, people can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.”

It also got feisty in the second match, in which Fleetwood and countryman Justin Rose prevailed 3 and 2 over the Americans’ stars, Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau.

Fleetwood and DeChambeau got in a shouting match as they walked to the 16th tee, with Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott also involved. The spat began on the previous green.

“I was waiting to putt,” Rose said. “The (Americans) were obviously working on their read … so I sort of waited a few seconds and then I felt like they came up again and I was sort of — I questioned whether — I was like, ‘It’s my putt, right?’ Or however I said it.”

“Maybe I didn’t say it as politely as I could have said it in the moment, but by no means was there any disrespect or anything like that, but obviously it was taken the wrong way.”

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DeChambeau didn’t address the confrontation afterwards.

Outplayed and outmaneuvered all weekend, Keegan Bradley and the Americans would need to make history to pull off a comeback. The largest Saturday margin overcome in Ryder Cup history was 10-6 — by the U.S. in 1999, and by Europe in 2012.

A home-team winning streak is also in jeopardy; Europe’s last Ryder Cup win in the U.S. came in 2012 at Medinah.

“I think anytime at a Ryder Cup, the captain is to blame or to be celebrated,” Bradley said. “So we all have to do a better job, but most importantly I have to do a better job as a captain, and you know, who knows, I feel like the guys have played pretty well. The Europeans have just played, like, way better.

“Sometimes that happens, but we’ve still got another day. Who knows? You never know. We can go out there and win. What do we got to win, 10? Wild stuff happens in sports all the time.”

J.J. Spaun prevented a shutout when he birdied Nos. 17 and 18 to turn a 1-down deficit into a 1-up win alongside Xander Schauffele over Spaniard Jon Rahm and Austrian Sepp Straka.

The last match also arrived at No. 18 all square, and Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton hit identical approaches within 3 feet of the cup, Hatton’s ball kissing Fitzpatrick’s. Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns couldn’t make birdie, handing Europe a 1-up victory.

Hatton was a late substitute for Norway’s Viktor Hovland, who aggravated a neck injury during morning foursomes and is questionable to play Sunday.

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World No. 1 Scheffler has had a nightmare week, becoming the first player since the Ryder Cup format changed in 1979 to go 0-4 in the opening four sessions of the event. He will face McIlroy in singles on Sunday.

-Field Level Media

Red Sox Clinch AL Wild Card

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Break out the swimming masks and the snorkel gear. Pop the bottles of Korbel. The Boston Red Sox will be playing postseason baseball in 2025.

On June 6th, the Red Sox lost a 9-6 game to the New York Yankees and fell to 30-35 and 10.5 games out of first place. On September 26, the Red Sox fell behind the Detroit Tigers, 3-0, in the 4th inning. It looked as though they’d need a win on Saturday or Sunday, the final day of the Major League Baseball regular season, to secure the Wild Card berth that hung like a slow curve ball, only because the Houston Astros dropped six of their last 10 games.

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That put the Red Sox in control of their own destiny as the Friday night lights shined upon Fenway and a season-ending three game set against the Tigers began.

Detroit had spent all but six days of the season tied or in sole possession of first place in the American League Central Division. The club went 59-34 in their first 93 games of the season which took them to July 8. They’ve gone 27-40 ever since, including the fact they’ve dropped 12 of their last 14 games and 21 of their last 29 games.

That opened the door for the red hot Cleveland Guardians to grab honors atop the Central as Toronto and New York battle it out for honors atop the AL East. Seattle holds first place and had already cliched a bye along side of the East division champ. All the others, minus Houston will play with a deck filled with wild cards.

Boston earned the postseason berth when centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela cracked a ball off the center field wall, just over the outstretched glove of Tigers centerfielder Parker Meadows. One more inch, and we’d be reading and writing about Saturday.

Boston will see Postseason play for the first time since 2021, not all that long ago. But, Friday night’s big win in front of a sold out crowd of 37.052 at Fenway marked the first time since at least 1920 that the club earned a playoff berth via a walk-off RBI, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

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Instead, Boston’s Romy Gonzalez rounded the bases to score, giving the Red Sox a 4-3 “walk-off” victory. The hit marked Rafaela’s third walk-off RBI of the 2025 season and the 12th walk-off RBI for the Red Sox this season. Gonzalez had singled to start the one-out rally in the bottom of the ninth.

Boston scored single runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th inning to earn the victory.

Masataka Yoshida continued his hot-hitting ways as the team’s designated hitter. He went three-for-four with an RBI single in the 4th inning and a run scored in the 7th. Left fielder Jarren Duran slapped an RBI single in the 8th inning, scoring Nate Eaton who had pinch-run for Carlos Narvaez who singled and allowed Boston to tie the game at 3-3.

Boston spotted Detroit a three-run lead in fourth inning of this September night. Starting pitcher Kyle Harrison had held Detroit scoreless for three innings, striking out six Tigers batters. But he allowed five consecutive batters to reach base in the 4th inning, via four hits and a walk. Harrison gave way to Justin Slaten and he retired three of the four batters he faced to put the fire out.

Sox manager Alex Cora used six pitchers in relief of Harrison. Closer Aroldis Chapman (5-3) earned the victory after blanking Detroit in the top of the 9th inning, striking out the final two batters he faced.

Detroit’s reliever, Tommy Kahnle (1-5) took the loss, the fifth walk-off loss of the season coughed up by the Tigers. Detroit is now 6-16 (.272) in the month of September as they fight off the law of averages and steep competition in the postseason, most likely as the 6th seed and final Wild Card berth in the AL.

Boston has won seven of their last 11 games, and 13 of their last 23. The club went (6-5) in their Fenway Green uniforms, but each of the six victories came in “walk-off” fashion.

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You just might wonder if they’ll wear them on the road in the Wild Card round of the Postseason?