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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.

 

Celtics Don’t Cook at Home

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics will try to avoid losing back-to-back games at home for the first time this season when they face the visiting Phoenix Suns tonight. After going unbeaten during a six-game road trip, Boston suffered a 124-103 home loss to Miami on Wednesday. Boston (56-20) has lost back-to-back games twice this season, but the first loss came on the road on both occasions.

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The Celtics have a 32-7 record on the road, but are 24-13 at home.

“We were on the road for 10, 12 days,” Jaylen Brown said. “Not an excuse or anything, but those first games back — that’s always a tough one just from a calibration standpoint. We’ve been in three, four different time zones, three different time zones. You’ve been away from home. You just get home and kind of get settled, and then you have to play a basketball game.

“It’s not an excuse. Of course we don’t make excuses. But first game back off a long road trip is always tough.”

Brown, who has been playing with a bone bruise in his right knee, scored a team-high 24 points in the loss to Miami. Following the game, Brown said he was playing through some pain.

“I’ve had to come to grips that every night I’m not going to feel my normal self, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t make plays and things like that,” he said. “So it’s just something that we are working through. (Wednesday) was a good step forward. I got some stuff lined up with the medical staff in order to be and feel better come playoffs. But as for now, just mentally working through not feeling great, but still able to find ways to be effective.”

Brown is listed as questionable for Friday’s game.

Boston’s Jrue Holiday (shoulder), Al Horford (toe) and Kristaps Porzingis (return from illness reconditioning) weren’t available to play in Wednesday’s loss. None were listed on Thursday’s injury report.

Phoenix (35-41) enters Friday’s matchup on a four-game losing streak. The Suns are 11th in the Western Conference standings — one game behind Sacramento — and need to move up one spot to qualify for the play-in tournament.

The Suns also need to get healthy. Kevin Durant is nursing a sprained ankle and isn’t expected back in the lineup until Tuesday’s home game against Golden State at the earliest. Durant is averaging 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 62 games this season.

Bradley Beal has also missed the last eight games with a left hamstring strain. Beal has played in 48 games this season and is averaging 17.3 points per contest.

“We still can make a run,” Beal said. “Obviously we’ve got to be healthy, get healthy, be available. The playoffs, anything can happen, man, but we’re a talented team and believe in what we can do. We’ve just got to give ourselves that opportunity.”

Beal didn’t play when Boston earned a 132-102 victory at Phoenix on March 26. Jayson Tatum didn’t suit up for Boston because of a sprained ankle. Tatum is fifth in the NBA in scoring (27.0 ppg).

Porzingis (30) was Boston’s leading scorer in the win. Phoenix received a team-high 30 points from Durant.

–Field Level Media

Bregman Breaks Out the Bats

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) –  Boston’s Alex Bregman, Kristian Campbell and Triston Casas slugged two-run home runs and the Red Sox strung together back-to-back victories for the first time this season, defeating the host Baltimore Orioles 8-4 on Thursday afternoon in the finale of a three-game series.

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Bregman, who added a run-scoring double in the ninth, finished with three hits.

Cedric Mullins homered for the Orioles, who dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Zack Kelly (1-0), the first of four relievers, was the winning pitcher with one inning of relief for the Red Sox. Boston starter Tanner Houck went four innings, giving up three runs on five hits with six strikeouts.

Baltimore starter Charlie Morton (0-2) took the loss, working five innings and allowing five runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts. He reached a double-figure strikeout total for the first time since August 2023, when he was pitching for the Atlanta Braves.

Morton struck out the side in the fifth, including two batters who had earlier homered off him. By then, much of the damage had been done.

Bregman smacked his first home run with the Red Sox in the first inning. Campbell connected for his second homer of the year in the second.

Baltimore trailed 4-2 through three innings, using Mullins’ second-inning homer and Jordan Westburg’s run-scoring single in the third. The blast from Mullins marked the first homer in three home games for the Orioles this season. Baltimore had gone three straight games without a home run.

After Jarren Duran’s sacrifice fly for Boston in the fourth was matched by Urias’ RBI single in the bottom of the inning, neither offense struck until Casas smacked his first home run this season in the seventh off reliever Keegan Akin for a 7-3 lead.

Campbell and Casas each had two hits and teammates Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu each scored two runs.

–Field Level Media

Ovechkin Nets #891 vs Bruins

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career goal to move within four of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record, helping the Washington Capitals defeat the host Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night.

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Washington scored twice in both the first and third periods en route to breaking a three-game skid (0-2-1). Goals from Nic Dowd and Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Boston came back to tie before Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson scored in the third.

David Pastrnak scored twice, Morgan Geekie had two assists and Vinni Lettieri also found the net for Boston, which has lost nine straight (0-8-1).

With Washington up 1-0, Ovechkin scored on the power play with 4:17 left in the first. John Carlson’s initial shot from the high slot took a deflection off the skate of Strome in front and right to Ovechkin, who settled the puck and scored it into an open side of the net.

 

Devers Gets Red Sox on Track

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BALTIMORE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox worked through a few glitches in the opening week of the season, but there should be some good mindsets going into their Thursday afternoon game.

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The Red Sox, after snapping a four-game losing streak, will oppose the host Baltimore Orioles in the decisive contest of a three-game series.

Boston designated hitter Rafael Devers said there was no reason for alarm even after he began the season 0-for-19 through Tuesday. He went 0-for-2 to start the Wednesday game at Baltimore, then hit a run-scoring double in the fifth inning and added a single in the eighth during Boston’s 3-0 win.

“I knew it was going to come,” Devers said. “I also received a lot of texts from people worried about me, but I was OK.”

The breakout excited his teammates.

“It makes me happy seeing that reaction,” Dever said. “Because that makes me see they’re paying attention to my at-bat and they’re supporting me.”

Boston’s Trevor Story homered for the game’s first run, his first RBI of the season. He finished 3-for-4 to raise his average from .133 to .263.

“We know the type of players we have and the type of team we are,” Devers said. “We knew everything was going to change.”

Story said there are signs emerging that Boston possesses “a really deep lineup.”

The Orioles didn’t have an extra-base hit on Wednesday, just four singles and two walks. Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet tossed the first eight innings, and Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth.

“We just had a tough time putting pressure on them,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.

It’s possible that the Orioles could have a significantly different lineup for the series finale. On Wednesday night, shortstop Gunnar Henderson (right intercostal strain) played his fourth game on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk, going 0-for-3 at Charlotte to leave him 5-for-19 (.263) with two homers and four RBIs.

There was a possibility he would be on Baltimore’s lineup card Thursday afternoon.

The Orioles should have Jackson Holliday back in the lineup after he had Wednesday night off. Hyde said the 21-year-old infielder might sit out against certain left-handers.

Boston will give the ball to Tanner Houck (0-1, 6.35 ERA) on Thursday. The right-hander worked 5 2/3 innings and allowed four runs — including a pair of homers — in his season debut at Texas on Friday.

Houck’s career record against the Orioles is 4-3 with a 3.50 ERA in nine outings, including five starts.

Baltimore right-hander Charlie Morton (0-1, 10.80 ERA) will try to bounce back from a rough opening outing in Toronto, where he lasted 3 1/3 innings in his Orioles debut on Friday.

Morton is 8-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 15 career starts against the Red Sox. He has struck out 88 Boston batters in 83 1/3 innings. The eight wins against the Red Sox are the second most he has against any team.

Baltimore has alternated wins and losses across its first six games of the season. The Orioles have scored 29 runs in their three victories, so they are capable of a big breakout despite the sluggish offense they displayed on Wednesday.

“Show up (Thursday) and win the series,” said Zach Eflin, who took the loss on Wednesday after yielding three runs in six innings.

The Thursday contest is the last of seven consecutive road games to begin the season for the Red Sox, who play their home opener on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

–Field Level Media

Celtics, Tatum Defeat the Heat

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MIAMI – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 28 points, leading the visiting Boston Celtics to a 103-91 win over the slumping Miami Heat on Friday night. Boston (48-19) also got 25 points from Jrue Holiday, who made 10 of 15 shots, including shooting 5-of-8 on 3-pointers.

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Derrick White was key for the Celtics as he scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Through three quarters, he was 0-for-6 on 3-pointers. But he made 3-of-5 from deep in the fourth quarter.

The Heat (29-37), who are 9-25 versus teams with a record of .500 or more, have lost a season-high six straight games. A 10-2 run early in the fourth quarter keyed by a White trey gave the Celtics breathing room and they cruised from there.

Boston, which is 16-4 over its past 20 games, made 19 3-pointers to just 13 for Miami.

Andrew Wiggins led Miami with 23 points, and the Heat got 19 points and a game-high six assists from Tyler Herro.

Boston’s Jaylen Brown, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, sat out the game due to a right-knee injury. Boston replaced the 6-6 Brown with 7-1 Luke Kornet in the starting lineup.

Miami switched up its starting lineup, too, but not due to injury. The Heat started Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Duncan Robinson in place of Kel’el Ware and Davion Mitchell … but to no avail.

To open the game, Boston made its first five shots to take a 14-6 lead. The first four of those shots were 3-pointers.

Miami, though, hung in there, trailing just 30-23 by the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Heat tied the score 37-37 on a 3-pointer by Mitchell. After a Celtics miss, Miami took its first lead of the game, 39-37, on a Pelle Larsson cutting dunk with 5:34 left in the half.

Miami held Boston to 25.0 percent shooting in the second quarter as the teams went into halftime tied, 50-50. Miami shot 61.1 percent in the second quarter, including a 12-4 edge in paint points.

Holiday led all first-half scorers with 16 points. Wiggins had 14 points for Miami.

Miami led by as many as five points in the third, but the Celtics recovered to take a 78-77 lead into the fourth.

Boston then started the fourth with its 10-2 run, and Miami never got back on top.

–Field Level Media

Ullmark Sticks It to Bruins

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OTTAWA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -Two goals and an assist from Drake Batherson led the Ottawa Senators to a 6-3 win over the visiting Boston Bruins. Ottawa opened a 4-1 lead after one period and never looked back, ensuring its fifth straight win and a seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1).

Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto each added a goal and an assist, Tyler Kleven and Claude Giroux also scored, and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves for the Senators.

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Ullmark stopped eight Boston shots in the third period.

Casey Mittelstadt, David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov each scored for Boston, which was looking to win its third straight for just the second time this season.

The goals by deadline acquisitions Mittelstadt and Khusnutdinov were their first as Bruins.

Boston’s Jeremy Swayman allowed four goals on 15 shots before Joonas Korpisalo relieved him with 15 saves on 16 shots after the first period.

Ottawa landed the first six shots and validated its dominant start with a 2-0 lead. Pinto scored first on a turnaround shot from the right circle just 3:44 into the proceedings.

The Senators doubled their lead at 9:09 when Nikolas Matinpalo wrapped the puck around the boards to Kleven, who fired a one-timer from high on the left.

Mittelstadt made it 2-1 at the 10:57 mark. After a hard forecheck forced a turnover, Vinni Lettieri sent a backhand pass across the crease to his fellow Minnesota native, who beat Ullmark with a wrist shot.

Then, two goals in a 22-second span put the hosts back in full control at 4-1. Batherson moved the buffer back to two at 16:21, finishing a tic-tac-toe passing sequence with Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle on the power play.

A Swayman misplay helped keep Ottawa’s offense in the zone, and Greig netted the second quick-fire goal after Pinto’s point shot created an open net-front rebound.

Pastrnak struck first in the middle period, deflecting John Beecher’s wrist shot from the point from near the crease at 6:59.

Batherson reestablished the three-goal difference again at 11:01, potting the rebound of a Thomas Chabot point shot that Dylan Cozens tipped. The Bruins responded just 2:54 later, as Khusnutdinov took Elias Lindholm’s feed down the slot for a wrist shot goal.

Ullmark made a highlight-reel save with 1:29 left in the second, diving across to snatch Mason Lohrei’s one-timer after Jakub Lauko threaded a cross-ice pass. A Nikita Zadorov post in the final minute also kept Ottawa’s lead at 5-3 after two periods.

Giroux’s empty-netter with 1:16 left in regulation iced the game.

–Field Level Media