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Orioles Get the Best of Red Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Baltimore outfielder Ryan O’Hearn went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run while Dean Kremer pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings as the Baltimore Orioles earned their second straight win over the Boston Red Sox with a 5-1 decision on Sunday afternoon.

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The Orioles scored a single run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take the lead for good, with O’Hearn following up Dylan Carlson’s fifth-inning solo shot for Baltimore’s second homer in as many innings in the sixth.

Kremer (4-5) struck out four and scattered seven hits in his start.

Jarren Duran was 4-for-5 from the top of the lineup for Boston, which left nine runners on base. Carlos Narvaez, rookie Marcelo Mayer and Abraham Toro each had two hits.

After stranding two in the first inning and grounding into a 4-6-3 double play to end the second, Baltimore scratched across an opening run after Gunnar Henderson drew a leadoff walk against Boston starter Walker Buehler (4-2) in the fourth.

Henderson then went first-to-third on O’Hearn’s ground ball single to right before crossing the plate for a 1-0 lead on a Ramon Urias sacrifice fly to center.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox could not convert on several opportunities to get on the scoreboard, leaving two on base after Duran’s leadoff singles in both the first and third innings. In the fourth, Toro dropped a one-out double down the right-field line but was stranded on third.

Baltimore extended its lead using the long ball, making it 2-0 when Carlson hit a solo shot toward the right-field pole in the fifth for his first homer of the season.

After Greg Weissert recorded the first out in relief of Buehler in the sixth, O’Hearn carried another fly out to right-center and into the bullpen for a 3-0 Baltimore lead.

Two relay throwing errors on O’Hearn’s double to the right-center wall allowed Baltimore to tally twice in the eighth.

Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela’s throw hit O’Hearn standing on second base and kicked away on the infield, bringing Henderson in to score. Mayer then picked up the ball and sailed a throw over third to help O’Hearn circle the bases.

Mayer — who was playing in his second career MLB game — doubled and scored on a Toro RBI single to center in the home half of the ninth to avoid the shutout.

Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was taken out of the game after being hit in the mask by a foul ball off the bat of Boston’s Rafael Devers in the third inning.

–Field Level Media

Sox Turn to Buehler’s Day

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After splitting a pair of one-run decisions on a busy Saturday at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox will look to close their four-game weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles with a Sunday afternoon victory.

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In between Boston’s 6-5 win in 10 innings and 2-1 loss, top organizational prospect Marcelo Mayer was recalled to make his MLB debut in the nightcap. Mayer’s promotion came after fellow infielder Alex Bregman was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain.

“It’s significant,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bregman’s injury. “But like I said before, if we really believe we’re good, we have to keep going and keep playing good baseball and keep winning games.”

Mayer’s 0-for-4 debut with three strikeouts came in a game in which the Red Sox managed only five hits and lost by a run for the 13th time this season.

Rafael Devers had the walk-off hit in Boston’s Saturday win, and Abraham Toro homered in both games.

Following Lucas Giolito’s seven shutout innings in the Saturday nightcap, the Red Sox will look for more of the same from right-hander Walker Buehler (4-1, 4.00 ERA) today.

Buehler had his Tuesday outing against the New York Mets end after 2 1/3 no-hit innings Tuesday, as he and Cora were ejected for arguing a missed strike call. The outing was Buehler’s first since April 26 following a stint on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder bursitis.

“It’s one of those things that you’re very conflicted in how you feel, very convicted in what I felt and saw,” Buehler said of the incident. “But at the same time, this is a team game and something I let get out of hand, and personally, that’s the disappointing part of it.”

Buehler will make his third career start against the Orioles, having gone 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings against them. His outing last August with the Los Angeles Dodgers (four runs, two earned in 4 2/3 innings) was his first head-to-head since 2019.

Baltimore has split its last four games after an eight-game skid during which manager Brandon Hyde was dismissed. The Orioles’ latest win was its fifth by one run this season, thanks to the trio of Trevor Rogers, Andrew Kittredge and Seranthony Dominguez carrying a shutout into the ninth inning.

Rogers, who was injured and in the minors until earlier this month, started in what began the day as a to-be-determined starter’s spot.

“It was a great night,” Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “We’ll see where this goes. There’s a lot of moving pieces right now. If there are more opportunities for (Rogers), hopefully he can continue to do what he did (on Saturday).”

Injury also has impacted Kittredge, who was reinstated following a left knee debridement on Wednesday and has thrown two scoreless outings since.

“I know that this stretch hasn’t gone the way we want it to and it’s an uphill battle from here, but we have so much talent in here,” Kittredge said. “I think that we’re fully capable of turning this around, and I think, hopefully, it’s just a mindset change from the group, and so far, it doesn’t really seem like there’s not a lot of belief in here that we can’t do it.”

The Orioles on Sunday will start right-hander Dean Kremer (3-5, 5.50 ERA), who has won just one start this month after back-to-back outings giving up four earned runs. He allowed nine hits but struck out six in 5 1/3 innings in a Monday no-decision against the Milwaukee Brewers. Baltimore lost 5-4.

Kremer has a 2-4 record and 5.64 ERA in nine career starts against the Red Sox. He brought the Orioles seven innings deep in his lone start in 2024 against them, though, allowing just two runs (one earned) on five hits on Sept. 11.

–Field Level Media

Devers Delivers in 10th

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Rafael Devers hit a game-ending single with one out in the 10th inning and the host Red Sox outlasted the Baltimore Orioles for a 6-5 victory on Saturday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader.

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Devers gave the Red Sox their fifth win in seven games when he made the Orioles pay for pitching to him with automatic runner Ceddanne Rafaela on second.

After Gregory Soto (0-2) retired Jarren Duran, the Orioles pitched to the slugger with first base open and the designated hitter improved to 6-for-11 off the left-hander when he chopped a fastball to center field to easily score Rafaela.

It was Devers’ second game-winning hit in Boston’s 10-game home stand, blasting a game-ending homer last week to beat the Atlanta Braves.

The Red Sox used six relievers, including Greg Weissert (2-1), who pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 10th after Aroldis Chapman did the same in the ninth.

Boston followed up its 19-5 rout on Friday by rallying from an early two-run deficit and a 5-2 hole in the fifth.

Duran and Wilyer Abreu homered in the first off Zach Eflin after the Orioles took a 2-0 lead on a double by Ramon Urias. Abreu’s home run followed a brief delay to clean up the field during some rainy conditions.

The Orioles scored three in the fifth off Hunter Dobbins and Sean Newcomb. Heston Kjerstad scored on a groundout by Jackson Holiday before Gunnar Henderson blasted a double off the bottom of the Green Monster. Adley Rutschman then scored on a wild pitch.

Boston answered quickly again as Abraham Toro homered into the right field seats to make it 5-3 in the home half of the fifth.

An inning later, Devers doubled and scored on an error by Henderson when the shortstop’s throw on the forceout attempt went by Holiday’s glove and into center field. Boston evened the score on the next batter as Nick Sogard drove in Abreu on a fielder’s choice.

Dobbins allowed four runs on five hits in four-plus innings. The right-hander struck out seven, walked one and exited after allowing hits to the first two hitters in the fifth.

Eflin allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits in five-plus innings. The right-hander struck out one and gave up three home runs, upping his total to seven homers allowed in his past two starts.

Baltimore and Boston will play again Saturday with an expected first pitch at 6:35 p.m. local time.

–Field Level Media

Sox Promote Marcelo

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BOSTON – He’s beginning his career in Major League Baseball with the first name recognition at Fenway Park. Like a Brazilian soccer star, highly-touted Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer left Triple A baseball and is now in Boston, forever to be known as, just, “Marcelo.”

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The 22-year old infielder is likely to replace third baseman Alex Bregman, who left Friday’s game against Baltimore with an injured quad. He was not in today’s lineup and manager Alex Cora resigned himself to the likelihood that Bregman would have to be placed on the injured list with a severe right “quad” strain.

“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but yes,” Cora said, confirming the injury which the Sox hoped was simply a tweak, not a strain, never mind a severe strain.

Now, the focus turns to the Red Sox youth movement.

Mayer was the fourth overall selection in the 2021 MLB draft. While he has struggled with injuries, Mayer has excelled through 43 games for Triple-A Worcester this season, hitting .271 and owning an .818 OPS while blasting nine home runs.

He is regarded as an excellent defender, with the vast majority of his minor league career spent at shortstop. Mayer played 29 games at short, nine at second base and four at third this year for Worcester.

Bregman was enjoying an outstanding first year in Boston, batting .299 with a .938 OPS in 51 games. Bregman, who signed a three-year, $120 million dollar deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2025 season, leads all American League third basemen in slugging percentage (.553), on-base percentage (.385), RBI (35), home runs (11) and doubles (17).

Bregman suffered the quad injury after rounding first base on a single to left field in the bottom of the fifth inning and was immediately replaced by Abraham Toro.

Mayer is the No. 8 prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com. He suffered a lower back strain at Double-A Portland last season and only played in 77 games, hitting .307 with eight home runs.

In addition to playing at third base in Boston, Mayer could see action at second as Kristian Campbell is a possible fill-in for the injured Triston Casas at first.

–Field Level Media

Sox Win One for Alex

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – If you blink, you might miss Jarren Duran making his impact on a game. A night after sparking a 3-1, series-opening victory with extra-base hits in each of the first two innings, the left fielder will look to help the Boston Red Sox post an interleague series victory over the visiting New York Mets on Tuesday night.

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Duran’s first-inning leadoff double and a second-inning RBI triple — his sixth triple of the season and 20th since the start of 2024, both figures tied for the major league lead — extended his hitting streak to six games and helped set the Boston offense in motion as he so often does.

“When he starts having games like that, we win a lot of ballgames,” said Red Sox bench coach Ramon Vazquez, who served as interim manager while Alex Cora attended his daughter’s Boston College graduation. “It’s a game-changer for us. It was good to see him go out there being aggressive today.”

Though it has not been officially announced, Boston’s rotation is expected to get a boost with Walker Buehler (4-1, 4.28 ERA) returning from the 15-day injured list to make the Tuesday start. He hasn’t pitched for the Red Sox since April 26 due to bursitis in his right (pitching) shoulder.

Buehler, who tuned up during a three-inning simulated game on Thursday, won his last three starts before the injury and allowed three runs or fewer in four straight.

“It was fine from the moment they took the needle out (after administering an anti-inflammatory shot,” Buehler said before the Red Sox faced the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. “I don’t think if it was late in the year that we would necessarily have done the exact same things. But (it’s) just too early in the year to kind of try and push it.”

Buehler is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA in five career starts against the Mets, with the most recent coming in 2022.

Buehler will be looking to reverse a recent trend. Over the past five games, Boston’s relievers have allowed just six runs in 19 2/3 innings (2.75 ERA) compared to starters’ 21 runs in 25 innings (7.56 ERA) over the past five games.

Following a Subway Series weekend against the rival New York Yankees, the Mets took their fourth loss in a five-game span on Monday, with Kodai Senga allowing more than two earned runs for the first time in nine starts this season.

A 1-for-8 showing with runners in scoring position did in the Mets.

“We’re gonna have ups and downs,” Mets outfielder Juan Soto said. “We just have to keep our chin up and keep moving forward. It’s a game of failure. Sometimes you’re gonna fail and you just gotta keep moving forward. It doesn’t matter what.”

The top six batters in the New York order had just two combined hits: one from both Soto and Pete Alonso, both off the Green Monster in left field. Soto didn’t run out his fly ball, forcing him to settle for a single, while Alonso was caught trying to stretch his hit into a double.

“If those guys go, we’re gonna go,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, who added that he was unhappy about Soto’s lack of hustle.

New York’s scheduled Tuesday starter, Clay Holmes (5-2, 3.14 ERA), is no stranger to facing Boston after closing games for the Yankees over the past three seasons. Holmes is 4-1 with four saves and a 3.54 ERA in 20 career appearances against the Red Sox, but Tuesday will be his first start vs. the Red Sox.

Holmes had earned three consecutive victories before a six-inning Wednesday start in which he allowed four runs on seven hits — including two home runs — against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was his first defeat since his March 27 season debut against the Houston Astros.

–Field Level Media

Slumping Sox Face NY Mets

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Alex Cora won’t manage the Red Sox tonight when they open a three-game series against the visiting New York Mets. Cora will take the night off so he can attend his daughter Camila’s graduation from Boston College. Bench coach Ramon Vazquez will serve as the team’s manager.

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“It’s going to be a very special day, one that I’m not going to miss,” Cora said. “And I will 100 percent miss the game for that. And I’ll do that any given day because it’s going to be a special day for us.”

Boston will enter the series with losses in five of their last six games. The Red Sox have lost 11 of their last 17.

“We’ve got to finish innings, we’ve got to finish at-bats, we’ve got to get better,” Cora said following Sunday’s 10-4 loss to Atlanta. “Does it feel like we’re way off? No, but it’s another loss in the column.”

The Mets have the lowest team ERA in the majors (2.86), and are scheduled to start right-hander Kodai Senga (4-2, 1.02 ERA) Monday. Senga didn’t factor in the decision in his only career appearance against the Red Sox. He allowed three runs (two earned) in 3 1/3 innings in that start, a 5-4 New York road victory on July 21, 2023.

Rookie Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 3.90) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Red Sox. The right-hander has never pitched against the Mets.

New York hasn’t scored more than three runs in any of its last five games and has been limited to nine runs during that five-game stretch. The Mets were held to three hits in Sunday night’s 8-2 loss to the Yankees.

The Mets also made two infield errors in Sunday’s loss, the second of which was a throwing error by Pete Alonso that allowed the Yankees to take a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning. Third baseman Mark Vientos also made an error in the first.

“On and off,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said when asked about his team’s infield defense. “I feel like we’ve gone through stretches where we’ve been pretty sharp, but there’s also been a few games where we’re not finishing plays or, you know, we’re not completing them. And even some of the routine plays. We saw today in the first inning. We can’t make a play there leading off an inning and, before we know it, we’re down two.

“This is something that we gotta get better and we will because we got good defenders there,” Mendoza added.

Rookie Kristian Campbell was not in Boston’s lineup Sunday. After a hot start, Campbell is 4-for-51 with one home run in his last 12 games. He’s played second base and the outfield this season but recently began working out at first base.

“It feels like sometimes he’s in between the breaking ball and the fastball,” Cora said. “Just a kid that went off the first month of the season and people are gonna start making adjustments. So now it’s our time to make the adjustment. And for some people, especially as the young kid, like he’s gonna take longer than others, but I truly believe that the quality of the at-bat is still there.”

–Field Level Media

Fenway’s Bravest

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Servicce Report) – Perhaps a game-winning homer was just what the doctor ordered for the Boston Red Sox? Maybe it was the come-from-behind aspect that could fuel a slip-sliding ballclub?

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After erasing a 6-2 deficit over the final three innings to emerge victorious on a Rafael Devers’ game-winning home run on Saturday night, the Red Sox look to continue the momentum when they play a Sunday afternoon rubber game against the visiting Atlanta Braves.

The recent  American League Player of the Week, Devers’ first career clinching homer capped the Saturday comeback and a personal 3-for-4 effort for a player who started the season in a slump and a funk. Boston’s longtime third baseman-turned-designated hitter has a .411 average in 15 games this month and has reached base in 19 of his last 20 games.

“We all know who (Devers) is. He’s always the same guy,” Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran told Fox postgame. “He could be 0-for-5 or 5-for-5 and he looks the exact same. I think people just need to trust him because we know what he can do.”

Prior to Saturday, Boston had been on a four-game skid and lost eight straight one-run games.

“We needed that one,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I’m glad we got rewarded (on Saturday) but, hopefully, we can avoid these games and get a lead, add to it. It’s a lot of innings for the bullpen. You pay the price.”

Brown May Need Knee Surgery

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Four days after Boston’s All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum underwent surgery on a torn right Achilles tendon, ESPN reported that fellow Celtics star Jaylen Brown has a partially torn right meniscus and might also require surgery.

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Per the report, the 28-year-old Brown, who averaged 22.1 points and 7.1 rebounds in 36.5 minutes per game during the playoffs, played the last month of the regular season and the postseason with the injury. Brown will undergo tests this week to determine whether he needs surgery.

Brown had undergone pain injections in his right knee beginning in March, ESPN previously had reported. The four-time All-Star sat out the last three games of the regular season but played in every game in the postseason.

“I don’t make excuses,” he told reporters after Friday’s season-ending road loss to the New York Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. “Obviously, it’s tough the way we went out like tonight, but the way we finished the year, personally, the way I finished the year, persevering through some physical stuff that I was battling through, I’m proud of our group.”

The Celtics lost Tatum late in the Game 4 loss to the Knicks, while Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t at 100 percent this spring due to an undisclosed illness.

Finishing his ninth season, Brown – the No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft – appeared in 63 games and averaged 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and a career-high 4.5 assists over 34.3 minutes. For his career, Brown has posted averages of 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 30.6 minutes in 603 games (496 starts).

Boston’s Braves

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) -Boston DH Rafael Devers’ leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning capped the Red Sox come back from five runs down to beat the visiting Atlanta Braves 7-6 on Saturday night at Fenway Park.

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After Boston’s Aroldis Chapman (3-2) worked around two baserunners to strike out the side in the top half of the ninth, Devers — who finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored — clubbed a 2-1 curveball into the right-center field bullpen off Pierce Johnson (1-1) for his first career game-winning homer.

The third baseman turned designated hitter, Devers finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored as the Red Sox won the second of a three-game series.

Boston had scored twice and tallied three hits in both the seventh and eighth innings to whittle down from a 6-2 deficit. Jarren Duran finished with four RBIs, including two on a game-tying single to right with two outs in the eighth.

In the seventh, Ceddanne Rafaela’s leadoff double down the left-field line began a stretch of three Boston hits in four batters to cut its deficit to 6-4. Devers’ opposite-field single and Alex Bregman’s wall-ball double plated runs.

Consecutive one-out hits by Abraham Toro (double) and Carlos Narvaez (single) set up Duran’s game-tying knock an inning later.

Earliers, Atlanta’s Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna hit back-to-back homers in the first and Drake Baldwin added a two-run shot in the third for a 5-0 advantage for Atlanta, which was held scoreless after the fourth against four relief pitchers.

The Braves wasted little time getting to Boston starter Lucas Giolito as Austin Riley drew a one-out walk and scored on Olson’s two-run homer out to the bullpen in center in the first inning. Ozuna made it back-to-back jacks and a 3-0 Atlanta lead in the next at-bat, depositing a line-drive solo shot to deep left and completely out of the ballpark.

Another one-out walk helped Atlanta extend its lead to 5-0 in the third. After Ozuna drew a free pass, Baldwin hit a towering two-run homer inside Pesky’s Pole in right that was upheld on review.

Braves starter Grant Holmes set aside the first seven Red Sox he faced before a one-out walk to Narvaez in the third. Duran’s two-run homer to straightaway center got Boston on the board two batters later.

The Atlanta starter limited the hosts’ damage to two third-inning runs, inducing an inning-ending fly ball after allowing a Devers double and walking Bregman.

In the fourth, the Braves got a run back on Riley’s two-out single that dropped into shallow left. Eli White hit a leadoff single and stole second to help set up the RBI opportunity and a 6-2 lead.

–Field Level Media

No Repeat, Just Surrender

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – No Boston Celtics team has repeated as NBA champions since the great Bill Russell led the immortal Celtics clubs of 1968-69. On sure thing: the 2024-25 Celtics are not immortal, they proved to be human. Human with flaws. Humans subject to injury and fatigue.

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New York’s incredible guard Jalen Brunson and team mainstay OG Anunoby each scored 23 points as the Knicks reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000 by steamrolling the visiting Boston Celtics 119-81 on Friday in Game 6 of their semifinal series at a raucous Madison Square Garden.

Knicks forward Mikal Bridges had 22 points and All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 12 rebounds for third-seeded New York, which led by as many as 41 points. The Knicks wrapped up the best-of-seven series with the largest winning playoff margin in the OG franchise history.

In doing so, the Knicks proved they just might be championship material, but the upstart Indiana Pacers stand in their way. The Eastern Conference Finals begin Wednesday in New York.

NY’s Josh Hart contributed 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to record New York’s first postseason triple-double since the legendary Walt Frazier accomplished the feat in 1972. Frazier and his teammate, Bill Bradley, were in attendance  for the Game 6 victory.

Defending NBA champion Boston was led by Jaylen Brown, who had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists before fouling out late in the third quarter. The Celtics were again short-handed after losing star Jayson Tatum to a ruptured right Achilles during Game 4 on Monday.

New York shot 46.2 percent from the field, including 16 of 46 (34.8 percent) from 3-point range. The Knicks held a 55-36 rebounding advantage.

Payton Pritchard scored 11 points and Al Horford added 10 for Boston, which shot 36 percent and was 12 of 41 (29.3 percent) from 3-point range.

The score was tied at 16 before the Knicks began pulling away.

New York led 26-20 at the end of the first quarter and then opened the second with a 16-4 surge to open up an 18-point lead midway through the period.

After Boston’s Luke Kornet interrupted the burst with a three-point play, the Knicks rattled off 16 of the next 21 points to take a 58-32 lead on a putback dunk by Miles “Deuce” McBride with 1:31 left.

McBride buried a 3-pointer as time expired in the half for a 64-37 lead at the break. That marked New York’s largest halftime advantage at the break since leading the Los Angeles Lakers 69-42 in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals, won by the Knicks.

The contest was effectively over when Brown fouled out with 2:50 left in the third quarter and Boston down by 33. Anunoby poured it on with consecutive 3-pointers to end a 10-0 push as the margin went above 40 at 92-51 with 1:51 remaining in the third.

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By that time, Knicks fans were taking over the blocks surrounding Madison Square Garden, rejoicing in the fact it’s been a quarter Century since the Knicks advanced to the NBA ECF or NBA Finals (1999 loss to Spurs). It’s been 52 years since the Knicks won an NBA title and Bradley and Frazier are the only remaining starters from that great Knickerbockers team, as center Willis Reed, forward Dave DeBusschere passed away long ago, and shooting guard Dick Barnett just died this month.

Maybe the ghosts of Madison Square Garden have caught up to the famous ghosts of Boston Garden?

Only time will tell.

–Field Level Media