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Stinky Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Chicago’s Omar Narvaez had three RBIs, while Jacob Amaya and Miguel Vargas each delivered two-run doubles and Davis Martin pitched six-plus strong innings as the host Chicago White Sox routed the Boston Red Sox 11-1 on Friday.

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Chicago snapped an eight-game losing streak while sending Boston to its fourth loss in five games. The White Sox capitalized on five Red Sox errors to score six unearned runs.

A career outing from Martin (1-1) helped propel the White Sox. The right-hander pitched into the seventh inning for the first time in 22 major-league starts while matching his previous best with six strikeouts.

Martin scattered one run and six hits while walking one. He retired nine straight Boston hitters during one stretch.

Red Sox counterpart Sean Newcomb struggled to keep the White Sox off the bases. Amaya lined a two-run double to left with two outs in the second inning to give Chicago a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

There also were two outs when Vargas contributed a two-run double to start a four-run fourth. Luis Robert followed with a run-scoring single, stole second base and scored on Lenyn Sosa’s RBI single.

Newcomb (0-2) spaced six runs and six hits in four innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

Narvaez extended the White Sox advantage to 7-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. He added a two-run single in the seventh.

Boston avoided a shutout in its half of the seventh. A Wilyer Abreu double and Kristian Campbell single chased Martin from the game before Blake Sabol lofted a sacrifice fly against reliever Cam Booser.

Alex Bregman grounded out to third with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Michael A. Taylor collected three hits for Chicago while Brooks Baldwin and Sosa each added two.

White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth, acquired from the Boston organization in the offseason trade that sent left-hander Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox, made his major-league debut and reached base in all four plate appearances. He posted a single and three walks while scoring two runs.

Abreu and Campbell had two hits apiece for the Red Sox.

Martin, Booser, Penn Murfee and Brandon Eisert combined for 11 strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

Runs Scarce for Sox & Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – “Let’s get some runs” is typically the domain of Chicago’s North Side, where it’s a common refrain at Wrigley Field should the Cubs be trailing at the seventh-inning stretch.

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A weekend series between the host Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox could use an infusion of offense, though.

The White Sox have scored three runs in their past three games entering Friday’s series opener. The Red Sox, meanwhile, needed a bit of good fortune to rally for a 4-3 victory in 10 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, avoiding a four-game sweep that saw Boston score four runs in the first three games.

Chicago stumbles back home on an eight-game losing streak that includes an 0-6 trip through Detroit and Cleveland.

The White Sox collected just two extra-base hits while being swept by the Guardians — doubles by Austin Slater on Wednesday and Matt Thaiss on Thursday.

Boston rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the eighth inning of its series finale against the visiting Blue Jays, with Trevor Story delivering a game-ending RBI groundout.

Story said the win will “give us something to build on” and ensure a “happy flight” to Chicago.

“It’s been a tough series here with the Blue Jays, but we’re just looking to dominate at home — and we didn’t do that,” Story said.

Right-hander Davis Martin (0-1, 5.73 ERA) gets the call for the White Sox as he aims to recapture the stuff of his first start this season — not his second.

After spacing two unearned runs and four hits in six innings of a March 30 no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels, Martin sputtered on Saturday in Detroit. He yielded seven runs and nine hits, including two home runs, in five innings.

Martin feels he learned a valuable lesson about pitch sequencing from the loss to the Tigers.

“You saw they were jumping on offspeed early and often,” he said. “As we went on, we started switching it to more of a fastball-heavy approach, moving the sinker around, following it up with four-seams, doubling it up with four-seams. So just seeing that earlier, the better.

“Instead of doing that in the third and fourth innings, doing that in the first two or so. Just reading swings, reading those tendencies early in the game is another part of development.”

Martin defeated the Red Sox in his lone career appearance against them, delivering six innings of one-run, three-hit ball in a victory at Fenway Park last September. He walked one and struck out three while working around three hit batsmen.

Lefty Sean Newcomb (0-1, 5.19) will start for the Red Sox. Pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in a doubleheader on Sunday, he turned in a bounce-back effort from his first outing of the season.

Newcomb took a no-decision, spacing one run and six hits in 4 2/3 innings, with three walks and five strikeouts. In his first game, on March 31, he took the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits over four innings of an 8-5 loss at Baltimore.

Newcomb has pitched to a 0.00 ERA in two career relief appearances against the White Sox covering 2 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Frozen Four: Boston U. in the Finals

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ST. LOUIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jack Hughes and Cole Eiserman scored second-period goals Thursday night as Boston University edged Penn State 3-1 in the second semifinal of the Frozen Four, the finals of NCAA ice hockey.

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The Terriers (24-13-2) advance to the Saturday night championship match to oppose Western Michigan, which got past defending champion Denver 3-2 in double overtime in the first semifinal.

The Nittany Lions, who made their first Frozen Four, finished the season at 22-14-4.

Goalie Mikhail Yegorov made 33 saves for Boston University, including 17 in a third period that saw Penn State generate a steady push with two goals to make up. The Nittany Lions got one just 2:12 into the period via a rebound that Nicholas DeGraves swiped into the net for his fourth marker of the season, but they couldn’t come up with the equalizer despite creating a spate of good chances.

The Terriers wrapped it up when Jack Harvey deposited his 11th goal of the season into an empty net at 19:01, putting BU in their first title game since 2015. The long-time Eastern hockey power, playing in its 25th Frozen Four, hasn’t won a national title since 2009.

Arsenii Sergeev delivered 32 saves for the Nittany Lions but wasn’t able to keep the puck out of his net in the second period. A turnover at the blue line sent Matt Copponi down the left side for a wrister that Sergeev stopped. However, the goalie couldn’t locate the puck, then turned his body in a futile attempt to find it and Hughes poked it in at the goal mouth at 1:35.

Eiserman’s goal came at the end of a classic two-on-one rush. Devin Kaplan won a battle in the corner in Boston University’s end of the ice and hit Cole Hutson with a breakout pass. Hutson fed Eiserman at the right post, and Eiserman slammed the puck past Sergeev.

Neither team scored in a first period that started 80 minutes later than scheduled due to the length of the first game. The Terriers enjoyed an 11-7 advantage in shots.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Hand Out Season Awards

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official New Release) – The Boston Bruins announced the recipients of their 2024-25 season awards for the team. Morgan Geekie has been named the recipient of the Eddie Shore Award, given to the player who shows exceptional hustle and determination, as chosen by the “Legacy Season Ticket Holders.”

David Pastrnak has been chosen the winner of the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy, awarded to the player exemplifying outstanding performance on home ice as determined by the Boston chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Parker Wotherspoon has been selected for the John P. Bucyk Award for providing exceptional off-ice charitable contributions, chosen by John Bucyk.

Eddie Shore Award
Bruins forward Morgan Geekie has been selected by the “Legacy Season Ticket Holders” as the 2024-25 Eddie Shore Award winner for demonstrating exceptional hustle and determination throughout the season. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound forward, has appeared in 74 games with the Bruins this season, recording career highs in goals (30), assists (23) and points (53). Among active Boston skaters, the Strathclair, Manitoba native ranks second in goals, points, even strength goals (26), even strength points (44) and power play goals (4).

Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy
David Pastrnak has been selected as the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy recipient for the 2024-25 season for his outstanding performance on home ice this season. Through 39 games at TD Garden this season, the 6-foot, 200-pound forward has totaled 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points with a plus-17 rating. The Havirov, Czechia native leads the Bruins in goals, assists, points, even strength goals (20), even strength points (42), power play goals (4), power play points (10) and shots (157) in home games this season. This is the second consecutive year and the fourth season that Pastrnak has received the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy (2025, 2024, 2022, 2020).

John P. Bucyk Award
Parker Wotherspoon will receive the John P. Bucyk Award for his contributions in the Boston community this season. Wotherspoon has been involved in several community events including the team’s annual holiday toy shopping, a Halloween visit at Massachusetts General Hospital and various meet and greets. In January 2025, he visited the Richard J. Murphy School to participate in a STEM lesson with a 7th grade classroom. Later in the season, Wotherspoon also participated in a game of goalball with students from the Perkins School for the Blind. The award is named after Bruins legend John P. Bucyk, who is in his 68th season with the organization.

Sox Lose Crochet’s Fenway Debut

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Toronto’s George Springer homered and Easton Lucas pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings to help the visiting Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday in the second game of a four-game series.

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The game was scoreless until Springer hit a solo home run against Garrett Crochet (1-1) in the top of the sixth inning. It was his second home run of the season.

The Blue Jays added three more runs in the sixth, all three unearned as Boston made a pair of two-out throwing errors.

Lucas (2-0) limited Boston to three hits. He struck out eight and walked one.

Crochet, who signed a six-year, $170 million contract extension last week, made his first start at Fenway Park since he joined the Red Sox in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox. He allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, with four walks and five strikeouts.

Bo Bichette collected three hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, who beat Boston 6-2 on Monday. Springer and Tyler Heineman each had two hits.

After David Schneider reached first on an Alex Bregman throwing error and Myles Straw walked, Toronto extended its lead to 2-0 when Heineman hit an infield single and Schneider scored on second baseman Kristian Campbell’s error on the throw to first. Bichette followed with a two-run single to center that drove in Heineman and Straw to make it 4-0.

Boston scored its lone run in the seventh. Romy Gonzalez doubled and scored on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single. The Red Sox got two hits from both Rafaela and Trevor Story.

The Blue Jays added two runs in the eighth. Bichette drove in Straw with a one-out single, then Heineman scored when Anthony Santander grounded out to second with the bases loaded.

Boston struck out 12 times in the loss.

–Field Level Media

Fenway’s $170 Million Dollar Man

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After signing a six-year, $170 million contract extension last week to remain with the Red Sox beyond this season, Garrett Crochet will take the mound in Boston for the first time in his new uniform when he opposes the Toronto Blue Jays tonight.

Crochet (1-0, 1.38 ERA) was named Boston’s Opening Day starter after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox in December, and he pitched twice on the club’s season-opening road trip. After getting a no-decision against the Texas Rangers on March 27, he followed up with a dominant outing on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles.

A day after locking up his long-term deal, the 25-year-old left-hander pitched the first eight innings of a 3-0 win, scattering just four hits and a walk while striking out eight.

“That’s the reason we committed to him,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Crochet’s latest effort snapped a four-game Boston skid. It also kicked off a five-game Red Sox winning streak that ended with a 6-2 setback in the series opener against Toronto on Monday.

Crochet last went eight innings in a start when he was pitching at the University of Tennessee, and said he hadn’t “sniffed it since.”

Now, he is ready to pitch in front of the home fans for the first time in Boston.

“This is something that I felt at home with right away,” Crochet said. “They made an immediate impression on me, and I couldn’t be more excited to be wearing a Red Sox uniform for the next several years.”

Crochet has faced the Blue Jays just three times in his career, including one start, when he threw six scoreless innings on May 21, 2024. Overall against Toronto, he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in eight innings.

The Red Sox could use another spark from Crochet after being held to five hits, including two by Jarren Duran, in the series opener.

Duran was in the news earlier Monday after his mental health struggles, including an attempted suicide, were revealed ahead of Netflix’s documentary on the 2024 Red Sox being released.

“It takes a person with courage and being transparent and genuine to do that. I hope that’s how we see it, right?” Cora said. “He will impact others, and he’s going to save lives with what he did with Netflix.”

Toronto’s trend of strong starting pitching continued with a seven-inning, one-run outing from Jose Berrios, who was moved up a day to the series-opening slot. The Blue Jays’ rotation has covered an American League-leading 61 innings.

As a result of the Berrios move, Easton Lucas (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start on Tuesday. The rookie left-hander tossed five innings of scoreless, one-hit ball against the Washington Nationals in his first major league start on Wednesday.

George Springer went 4-for-4 and had three two-out RBIs to lead Toronto’s 13-hit effort on Monday. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also had multiple hits in his first game after landing a reported 14-year, $500 million extension.

The deal has not been confirmed and a physical remains pending, but it is undoubtedly vital to the future of an organization that has missed on several big free agents in recent offseasons.

“I feel like this is a very exciting day for Blue Jays fans as a whole, to have a guy like Vladdy who will be here for what looks like and sounds like his whole career,” Springer said. “I wholeheartedly believe his name will be hanging up in the stadium one day.”

Toronto manager John Schneider laid out what the big-money deal would mean for the 26-year-old first baseman.

“It’s different. It comes with a lot of … stuff,” he said. “It’s one thing to go out and perform. Expectations come from that, then there are expectations — whether you like it or not — that you’ll have to be a voice, be a face and set an example.”

–Field Level Media

 

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | April 6

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Great memories of Opening Day on April 15 (Photo by T Peter Lyons)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – This weekend’s column is one of my favorites of the entire sports year. Sometimes it’s presented as an hour-by-hour timeline of coverage of NCAA Final Four Saturday, possibly the greatest day of sports anytime and anywhere. This year, with Boston Red Sox Opening Day at Fenway Park just a couple days ago, you’ll be reading a condensed timeline of “A Day in the Life of the Sox Opener,” a 13-9 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Here we go:

11:00am: My usual  T ride to Fenway from Newton only takes about 20 minutes. The 11:00am departure time for a 2:10pm game catches a relatively empty T train except for a few early bird fans, all dressed in their Sox gear.

A cloudy morning is showing promise as the forecast calls for a 67-degree day and blue skies, low wind.

11:30am: A brisk (in speed, not temperature) walk to Gate D where the PR/Gate Attendant has my pass all ready to go. On the short walk over, I sometimes count the Red Sox or visiting team team replica tops and keep a list. The opening day walk saw: Ortiz (4 times), Pedroia (2), Papelbon, Bogaerts, Devers, and a Yaz. For St. Louis, there was one Willie McGee.

Bag scanned and check-in a breeze. It’s off to the press elevators.

11:45am: There were tons of greetings, hand shakes and a few bro-hugs to my “Summer Family,” as I like to call them, ripping a page from Jimmy Fallon’s acting in “Fever Pitch.” It’s great to see everyone after a long winter.

11:50am: I partake of the usual routine of having my pass scanned at the pressbox entrance, a long walk down the hallway adorned with tons of Red Sox history, framed newspaper front pages and a few dedications to scribes departed. That’s always following with a detour to the press lounge, where I grab an ice cold Diet Coke along with the MLB league-wide stats package, Game Notes for the two teams and the daily scoresheet with official line-ups listed.

A few steps up to Row Three and my usual seat is assigned. Opening Day is always a little more crowded but it’s still fine working conditions in a warm pressbox. Soon after, Red Sox PR Man/Press Room Attendant Kevin Doylegrabs the keys to the automated windows and Fenway Park comes alive with sound and perfect temperature for a beautiful day of baseball.

Noon: Upon arrival, my first move to cover a game is to unpack the old MacBook Pro, find all of its cords and plugs, open my Boston College branded pencil case and grab my brand new pack of Opening Day pencils, along with a marker and a pen. All set. It’s time for the official Bob CarpenterBaseball Scorebook – a brand new book has been purchased and one game – the Red Sox MLB opener at Texas is already in the books. It was a practice run, scored off NESN.

I meticulously hand write the batting orders, the defensive assignments, the assigned umpiring crew, date and other small details while looking up the Game Note bios of any player I’m not familiar with – usually rookies.

Scoring the game is a tradition in the family, but my technique was perfected scoring the games of the Holy Trinity Titans back in the ‘70s when I was covering the team for the Trinity Triangle but also acting as a psuedo General Manager, assistant coach/manager, analytics/scout to Mr. Joe Cupolo, the head varsity baseball coach and great guy.

12:30pm: Some time to head down from the fifth floor press level to the field to take in a little batting practice and mingle with the rich and famous, and some of the legion of mindless hacks covering the game. There’s nothing like standing behind the batting cage, watching batting practice on Opening Day of a Major League season, nevermind doing it at the cathedral that is Fenway Park.

Only Fenway and Wrigley Field in Chicago remain as the ballparks situated right smack in a neighborhood. There’s nothing in sports as great as the sounds of the game, the crack of the bat, taking in the visuals of coaches smacking baseballs with a fungo bat for infielder’s still wanting more practice of properly fielding ground balls and getting accustomed to the Fenway Park infield. Players mingle with reporters and some notepads and microphones are pointed in the direction of players making themselves available for a pre-game chat. Nothing said is ever useful.

1:00pm: With everything going according to my own personal schedule, there’s time for a bite to eat and the Red Sox treat the media to the press room dining back up on the fifth floor. The entree is a beef stew with mashed potatoes and broccoli but I opt for some nice mixed salad, a Fenway Frank, and then add a scoop of potatoes and the roasted broccoli florets. Very nice.

There’s more meeting up with friends and acquaintances, a lot of talk and incoming questions about the NBA and college basketball, coming from some who covered the first and second round games in Providence – the game in which St. John’s (my alma mater) lost to Arkansas re-opens a relatively new wound.

1:30pm: The Red Sox media advisory asked all to be in their seats by 1:30pm, but there seems to be about a ten minute delay in the day’s itinerary. No big deal.

1:40pm: The public address announcer welcomes everyone to Fenway Park – the world’s most beloved ballpark – and the pregame ceremonies get underway. The Red Sox do ceremonies as great as any organization – within and out of sports. This year, they are paying tribute to the 1975 Red Sox American League championship team, along with their recently departed pitcher and fan favorite, Luis Tiant, one of the all-time greats of baseball.

The crowd is asked to observe a moment of silence in memory of Tiant, and the big video board shows still photographs of El Tiant with his Red Sox teammates who are all escorted over by the Green Monster where a huge American flag is hanging from the top row to the warning track. The players are incognito under the flag. “Danny Boy” was played softly as quiet background music during the photo tribute. Classy.

There’s on field ceremonies and staging and a wonderful rendition of the USA National Anthem, followed by a fly-over of three jet airplanes, two of them F-35s which can rock the joint at low altitude. I can live without two things in the many pregame rituals of sports. The first? Any type of pyro. I hate it. It’s not fancy or impressive, a real waste of money and only the possibility of something going terribly wrong. The second? Fly-overs. Again, what could possibly go wrong with three airplanes flying in tight formation less than a mile above a ballpark with 36,000 people?
Yaz and Carlton Fisk at the 2025 Opening Day ceremonies at Fenway Park (Photo by Boston Globe)

2:00pm: The 1975 team is introduced and the players, all in their Red Sox home uniform tops, walk into the infield and pitcher’s mound area. Dewey Evans, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Jim Rice, Freddie Lynn, Carlton Fisk and Carl Yastrzemski (aka Yaz) are the headliners.

Lee bee-lines it to the pitching mound where he digs a small hole alongside the rubber for old times sake.

Yaz throws out the ceremonial first pitch, a short toss to Red Sox Manager Alex Cora, as much an honor for AC as it was for Yaz.

The Tiant Family, together, exclaimed “Play Ball,” and the 2025 home season is officially underway.

For a game recap, visit HERE.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: From various polls and media sources, it seems as though OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, aka SGA, has the 2024-25 NBA Most Valuable Player Award sewn-up. No argument here.

TL – NBA MVP VOTE

1). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder

2). Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

3). Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors

4). Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

5). Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Yep, no LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and no Luka Doncic of the Lakers. And, the really tough player to leave out of the Top 5 was Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. I leaned to Mitchell because of the Cleveland Cavaliers Won-Loss record and top spot in the East. If I were picking players to start an Expansion Franchise, I’d go with Giannis, right after Jokic.

TIDBITS & TORPEDO BATS: I’ve heard of Torpedos and the PT-109 Torpedo boat. I’ve heard of the 2021 Cigar of the Year – the 1964 Padron Anniversary Torpedo, and I’ve heard of Rhode Island Torpedo Sloppy Joes, but never – until this baseball season – had I heard of a Torpedo Bat, although they were frequently in play years before.

This baseball season, largely because of the second day of the season up in the Bronx when Yanks’ slugger Aaron Judge hit three of the club’s nine home runs in a 20-9 blow-out, all hit with the Torpedo bats. Since then, the topic has been all the rage.

With that in mind, how about a list of “Torpedos,” the kinds much in need:

  • Torpedo Golf Drivers and Fairway Woods
  • Torpedo Tennis and Badminton Racquets
  • Torpedo Ping Pong Paddles
  • Torpedo Arrows for Archery
  • Torpedo Golf Carts
  • Torpedo Bobsleds (already halfway there)
  • Torpedo Curling Stones
  • Torpedo Lawn Mower and Leaf Mulching Machines
  • Torpedo Snow Blowers
  • Torpedo Beer Cans
  • Torpedo Guitars

BASKETBALL HALL: In case you missed it from a busy Final Four Saturday schedule, the Basketball Hall of Fame named the Class of 2025, elected for enshrinement this September.

NAISMITH BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2025

North American Committee (in alphabetical order): 2008 US Olympic Men’s Basketball Team, Carmelo Anthony [Player], Danny Crawford [Referee], Billy Donovan [Coach], Dwight Howard [Player].

Women’s Committee: Sue Bird [Player], Sylvia Fowles [Player], Maya Moore [Player]

Contributors Committee: Micky Arison

The Class of 2025 will be celebrated during the Enshrinement festivities on September 5-6.

WORLD SERIES PREDICTIONS by STRAT-O-MATIC: Regular readers of this column will recognize the tradition of having our friends at Strat-O-Matic predict the winners of seasons to come. This week, it’s a surprise/upset winner that takes the Commissioner’s Trophy.

With 107 wins, the Los Angeles Dodgers breezed to the top berth in the National League, but LA suffered a fictional five-game defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers, an NL wild card entry in the Division Series to end its season. The Chicago Cuba, 91-game winners took honors in the Central, and they swept NL East winner Atlanta, then dispatched Milwaukee in six games to reach the World Series. Surprisingly, the Chicagolanders swept American League winner Toronto (AL East champion, 92-70) for the World Series title.

The other division winners in Strat-O-Matic’s simulation were Minnesota (92-70) and Seattle (94-68). The wild cards were the New York Yankees (84-78), Houston (84-78) and Kansas City (84-78) in the American and New York (95-67) and San Francisco (88-74) in the NL.

THIS JEST IN: The PGA Tour rejected the most recent $1.5 billion proposed investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund that underwrites LIV Golf, according to published reports by The Guardian in the UK. There is no clear path for the two entities to agree to joint operation, as LIV Golf has a deal-breaker demand to continue to play weekly tournaments around the world. It seems they’re two ships passing in the night, in perpetuity.

CAN’T MAKE IT UP: Former St. John’s guard A.J. Storr might earn the “Golden Sombrero” of college basketball and he’s likely to do so with the “Golden Sombrero” of high school basketball in his back pocket. Storr has entered the CBB transfer portal once again. Here’s a look back at his soon-to-be eight-pack of amateur basketball:

High School

  • 2018-19: Kankakee High
  • 2019-20: Bishop Gorman High
  • 2020-21: AZ Compass Prep
  • 2021-22: IMG Academy

College

  • 2022-23: St. John’s
  • 2023-24: Wisconsin
  • 2024-25: Kansas
  • 2025-26: TBA

Red Sox vs Cards Postponed

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Sox-Cardinals game scheduled for Saturday, April 5, at Fenway Park was postponed due to an extended period of rain throughout the Fenway and Greater Boston area.

Saturday’s game has been rescheduled as the first game of a split doubleheader Sunday, April 6, beginning at 1:35 p.m. Tickets for the Saturday game will be good for admission to the rescheduled contest. Sunday Night Baseball’s regularly scheduled game remains at 7:10 p.m.

Tomorrow’s rescheduled game will be televised on NESN, while the regularly scheduled game will be televised on ESPN. Both games will be broadcast in English on WEEI 93.7 FM and in Spanish on WESX 1230 AM/WCCM 1490 AM.

 

Red Sox: Takin’ Care of Business

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2025 Opening Day at Fenway Park – Sox Win, 13-9

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief at Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The pregame ceremonies were poignant and impressive. The 1975 Boston Red Sox honored their teammate, the late, great Luis Tiant, and the Sox backed it up with a wonderful photo gallery during a moment of silence, except for “Danny Boy” playing in the background.

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Cue the National Anthem, the Air Force flyover and the Tiant family exclaiming, “Play Ball” into an on field microphone to start a beautiful New England spring (67-degrees) day in front of a sold out Fenway Park crowd of 36,462. It was time to play baseball and get down to business.

Newly acquired SP Walker Buehler took the mound and retired the first three batters for the St. Louis Cardinals in order, and looked good doing it. Buehler’s contributions to the Sox regular rotation could be a major factor for the club this season. The former LA Dodgers’ ace  with a career 47-23 record and 3.30 ERA.

Today, it was welcome to Fenway Park.

The Red Sox spotted Buehler a 5-0 lead when lead-off man Jarren Duran singled, stole second base and Rafael Devers walked to begin the bottom of the first. Alex Bregman, Boston’s new third baseman, took advantage of his first at bat for the Red Sox at Fenway and doubled down the left field line, driving in Duran and giving Boston a quick 1-0 lead.

The middle of the Red Sox lineup then went to work. Shortstop Trevor Story hit a 364-foot home run blast to the top of the Green Monster, scoring Devers and Bregman to mark a 4-0 lead.

Boston’s right fielder, Wilyer Abreu, followed with a 392-foot homer, taking Cards’ starter Erick Fedde for back-to-back longballs. It was 5-0, Red Sox.

Once again, it was welcome to Fenway Park, but this time to Buehler’s disadvantage.

St. Louis struck back with a run in third and three runs in the fourth when v eteran third baseman Nolan Arenado doubled, DH Alex Burleson singled and catcher Ivan Herrera homered to right center field (387 feet). An inning later, Cards’ second baseman and No. 3 hitter, Brendan Donovan, hit a 404-foot homer to right center field, making the score Boston 6, St. Louis 5.

It was back to business in the Red Sox half of the fifth inning when the combination of a Bregman lead-off walk, a Tristan Casas double and an Abreu single scored Bregman. Next up was Boston’s rookie second baseman, Kristian Campbell who popped up down the right field line, close to the stands, allowing Casas to tag-up and score on the caught, sacrifice fly ball. A lengthy umpire and MLB review allowed the play to stand and the run to score, and it was 8-5 Boston in the fifth.

St. Louis picked up a run in the top half of the seventh inning when Donovan knocked in left fielder Lars Nootbaar. By that time, Buehler had been lifted for reliever Zack Kelly.

Buehler left the game after five innings pitched, allowing seven hits, five earned runs, while walking only one and striking out four St. Louis batters.

Fedde went only three innings, allowed five hits and six earned runs. He walked four Boston batters and stuck out one.

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In the last half of the seventh, Boston scored three more insurance runs, taking advantage of four singles and a walk to make it 11-6 going into the top of the eighth when Brennan Bernardino relieved Kelly. (RHP Greg Weissert also threw one scoreless inning of relief in the sixth).

Bernardino struck out the side in the top of the eighth, as St. Louis began to wave the white flag of surrender before the traditional “Sweet Caroline” echoed through the Fenway crowd, not a single fan having departed.

The Red Sox listened to their own scouting reports in the bottom of the eighth, as it reported, “you can never have enough runs at Fenway Park,” so Boston loaded up for another pair of runs with doubles by Casas and catcher Carlos Narvaez and a fielder’s choice groundout by Abreu plated two more runs to make it 13-6, Boston, heading into the ninth.

Some sloppy play in the top of the ninth combined with a Wilson Contreras single followed by a Donovan base hit and an errant throw by the Gold Glover Bregman plated three useless runs against Sox reliever Cooper Criswall. 

With the score 13-9, an annoyed Sox manager, Alex Cora, called for ace closer Aroldis Chapman who walked a batter but a bases-loaded game ending double play to end the game.

 

It’s Opening Day at Fenway Park

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk (and on site at Fenway Park)

BOSTON – We’ve endured a long winter, but when a deep and dark December turned to the New Year, we started to count down the days until Pitchers and Catchers reported to Spring Training at Little Fenway, down in Fort Myers, Florida. There were 42 days to tear off the wall calendar, from January 1st to February 12th. It seemed to last a lifetime.

Then, it came. The equipment truck left Jersey Street. The veteran players began to arrive – early. Then it was official. Spring Training opened and soon after – February 17th to be exact – the entire squad was stretching and jogging/ jogging and stretching in the Florida sun.

Soon after there were exhibition games and not so much later came the opening day for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs way over in Toyko, Japan. It was set your alarm for real games. There were more on March 27 when everyone except the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays were throwing out the first pitch of the 2025 season.

Today, it’s Boston turn to host a Major League Baseball game in 2025. The St. Louis Cardinals are in Boston for a three game series and today, at ten after two o’clock, Walker Buehler will throw a baseball as the starting pitcher for the ‘25 Red Sox. A half-inning later, Erick Fedde will take the mound – the cool kids call it ‘the bump’ – and we’ll all see what this hometown baseball team is all about.

The Red Sox limped home yesterday after a seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record, somewhat respectable considering an opening day win was sandwiched with a current two-game winning streak but in between were four losses, three to the tough as nails Texas Rangers and one to the equally talented Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles and the New York Yankees – once again – are probably the two teams in the American League East standing between the Red Sox and postseason play, but it’s a long way until September when the days are shorter, cooler and the scoreboard watching begins.

Opening Day for the Red Sox begins with a number of storylines.

First and most important is the fact there’s a new third baseman and a new designated hitter for the Sox. Alex Bregman, a gold glove defender, is manning the hot corner which forced Boston manager Alex Cora to name longtime third baseman, Rafael Devers, as the club’s DH. Devers was none too happy and his .111 batting average (3 for 27) with 16 strike-outs tells that tale.

Devers did rip a double down the line at Camden Yards to break his slow start and he scored twice in Baltimore, so his horrible start has nowhere to go but up. Bregman, Wilyer Abreu and rookie Christian Campbell are the bright lights for the offense, as of today and, newly acquired and highly rewarded ($) starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (ERA 1.38) might become the ace that Cora needed.

The Sox faithful might’ve been too far ahead with visions of division titles dancing in their heads during Spring Training. The Red Sox finished 81-81 last season, third in the AL East, and they were five games back of a wild card spot. Now, they’re a half-game back of that pace, but it’s far too early to make any real, keen judgements on this club.

Too many questions remain, and they include:

Can Campbell keep up the pace and be a legit contender for AL Rookie of the Year?

Can Crochet win 20 games and strikeout 200+ batters along the way?

Can the likes of Buehler, Tanner Houck, Richard Fitts, and Sean Newcomb morph into a successful starting rotation while Garrett Whitlock, Arnoldis Chapman, Justin Slaten and a few others hold down a promising and improved bullpen?

Cora said Thursday that pitchers Lucas Giolito (hamstring) and Brayan Bello (shoulder) are “not close” to returning as they sit on the club’s 15-day injured list. Reliever Liam Hendricks (elbow injury and also on the IL) has been throwing at a 120-foot distance, a good sign for April 4th. Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy, a fancy name for tendinitis) is also on the IL with an injury that’s bothered him since his third start of 2024.

Today, the Red Sox begin a stretch of 14 of 20 games to be played at Fenway from April 4-24 and add ton that the fact Boston will play 30 of 48 games (from 4/4-5/25) at Fenway, where Bregman should be a “double machine” and Devers will have comfortable confines to raise his batting average and home run count to normal range.

We’ll see today whether Campbell can perform well after a standing ovation from the Fenway faithful greets him upon introductions and for his first home at bat. And, we’ll also watch Abreu batting as he leads the American League in batting average at .471 – not too shabby, eh?

Otherwise, Boston will do what it does best – throw a party at Fenway which will honor the late, great Luis Tiant and his 1975 teammates while ushering in a 63-degree New England spring day.

Play Ball.