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Problem-laden Patriots Head to Vegas

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Familiar faces with similar problems look to lead their respective teams to victory Sunday when the New England Patriots visit the Raiders.

Let’s start with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who has seen his struggling team average an NFL-worst 11.0 points per game this season. New England (1-4) has been outscored a staggering 72-3 over its last two games and gone 34 consecutive drives without scoring an offensive touchdown.

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Belichick, however, confirmed Wednesday that Mac Jones will remain the team’s starter despite pulling the quarterback in consecutive contests. Jones is just 24-for-43 for 260 yards and four interceptions in that stretch.

“Right now, it’s not looking too good,” Jones said of his team’s troubles. “But we have to flip the switch and start over and figure out ways to go out there and have fun and sling the ball around — guys go make plays and then celebrate with each other, too.

“One of the best things I do is my ability to communicate. Somebody told me that in the locker room and I took it to heart; I need to do a better job of that.”

Jones’ job this weekend could be a bit tougher given his injured wide receiver corps. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Demario Douglas did not participate in Wednesday’s practice while in the NFL’s concussion protocol, leaving DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne as the top options for Jones.

While the Patriots have the NFL’s 26th-ranked total offense (287.4 yards per game) and 26th-ranked rushing offense (83.8), don’t expect Raiders coach Josh McDaniels to take his opponent lightly. After all, he knows Belichick quite well after joining New England in 2001 as a personnel assistant before shuffling over to defensive assistant, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

“I have great respect for their team and their coaching staff and obviously for Bill,” said McDaniels, who is 2-0 in his coaching career against Belichick.

“They’ll be ready to play. They’ve got a lot of things that they do that create issues for you. We’re going to have to, on a short week, get ready for a lot of different things. We have not seen a team that plays like this. There’s a lot of challenges inherently in getting ready for them. I’m sure he’ll have them ready to go.”

Like New England, Las Vegas (2-3) will need to find a way to ignite its sluggish offense. After all, the Raiders are listed as 29th in total offense (281.2) and 32nd — yes, dead last — in rushing (71.4).

Las Vegas mustered 279 total yards and 96 rushing in its 17-13 victory over the Green Bay Packers Monday. The decision snapped a three-game losing skid for the Raiders.

Former Patriots wideout Jakobi Meyers had seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown versus the Packers. He has recorded at least seven receptions in three of the four games he has played this season since signing a three-year, $33 million contract in the offseason.

Speaking of former Patriots, Jimmy Garoppolo completed 22 of 31 passes for 208 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his return to the lineup from a concussion.

Maxx Crosby was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after recording five tackles — including a career-high-tying four for a loss — and a sack versus Green Bay.

Meyers (wrist) was listed as limited in the team’s estimated practice on Wednesday. Fellow wideout Davante Adams (shoulder) and cornerback Nate Hobbs were estimated as failing to participate.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Hire Van Gundy

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BOSTON – The Boston Celtics hired former longtime NBA head coach and recently fired ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy as a senior consultant in their basketball operations group.

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Van Gundy, 61, was let go by ESPN in a cost-cutting move in late June after 16 years with the network. He coached 11 seasons in the NBA, going 430-318 with the New York Knicks (1995-2002) and Houston Rockets (2003-07).

His teams went 44-44 in the playoffs, and he led the Knicks to the Eastern Conference championship in 1999. The San Antonio Spurs defeated New York in five games to win the NBA title.

Celtic coach Joe Mazzulla called the hire “awesome.”

“Any time you get to add like high-character, high-level, professional people, I think it’s a no-brainer and so fortunate enough that he’s here, not just for the coaching staff, but for everybody,” Mazzulla told reporters before practice Saturday.

Van Gundy will split his time between Boston and Maine, home to the Celtics’ G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, MassLive reported.

–Field Level Media

Patriots Beaten Down (Again)

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FOXBORO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Saints veteran QB Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes and the New Orleans’ defense forced three turnovers in a 34-0 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.

Carr passed for 183 yards, Alvin Kamara rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown and Tyrann Mathieu got the rout started by returning an interception of Mac Jones for the game’s first score.

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The Saints (3-2) ended their NFL-worst streak of 10 consecutive games scoring 21 or fewer points.

For the second straight week, Jones had two interceptions and a lost fumble before being replaced by Bailey Zappe in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots (1-4) nearly matched the futility of their 38-3 loss at Dallas a week earlier, the most lopsided defeat in Bill Belichick’s 29 seasons as a head coach. Sunday’s margin was the largest in a home shutout loss in franchise history.

Belichick failed for a second consecutive week to join Don Shula and George Halas as the only NFL head coaches to win 300 games.

New England, which finished with 156 yards and eight first downs, went 1-of-14 on third-down conversions and 0-for-2 on fourth downs.

Jones lost a fumble on the first possession of the third quarter, leading to Blake Grupe’s 54-yard field goal and a 24-0 New Orleans lead at the end of the third quarter.

Pete Werner intercepted Jones at the New England 31, and Carr’s ensuing 6-yard touchdown pass to Foster Moreau made it a 31-0 lead. Grupe’s 53-yard field goal completed the scoring with 5:43 left.

Jones, who had an interception and a fumble returned for touchdowns last week, was intercepted on New England’s second possession Sunday by Mathieu, who returned it 27 yards for a touchdown that gave New Orleans a 7-0 first-quarter lead.

On the second play of the second quarter, Kamara ran 2 yards for the Saints’ first offensive touchdown in 20 possessions, increasing the lead to 14-0.

They made it two touchdown drives in a row when Carr threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave for a 21-0 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

USA Basketball Pursuing Holiday

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COLORADO SPRINGS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Point guard Jrue Holiday was highly coveted by the Boston Celtics, who traded for the All-Star in late September. As it turns out, he’s still being pursued — by Team USA.

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Officials with USA Basketball are attempting to convince Holiday to return for a second straight Olympics for the 2024 Paris Games, it was reported by ESPN this Sunday.. Holiday, 33, helped lead the Americans to a gold medal in 2021, a much more desirous outcome than Team USA’s recent fourth-place finish at the FIBA World Cup.

Overall, the Americans have won four straight golds at the Olympics, but that has been largely achieved via stronger defensive performance, an approach U.S. coach Steve Kerr and men’s managing director Grant Hill continue to favor.

Holiday is one of the better on-ball defenders in the NBA.

Multiple NBA superstars are expected to participate in 2024, per ESPN, including such players as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid.

A five-time All-Defensive selection in the NBA, Holiday was traded to Boston by the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for center Robert Williams, guard Malcolm Brogdon and multiple draft picks.

Portland acquired Holiday as part of the three-team deal that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Holiday helped lead the Bucks to their second-ever NBA championship in 2021 following his acquisition from the New Orleans Pelicans. Over 14 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, New Orleans and Milwaukee, he has averaged 16.4 points and 6.5 assists.

He averaged 19.3 points, 7.4 assists and a career-best 5.1 rebounds in 67 games (65 starts) last season with the Bucks.

–Field Level Media

Big Game for Patriots and Saints

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FOXBORO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The New England Patriots are coming off the most lopsided loss in Bill Belichick‘s 29 seasons as a head coach while the New Orleans Saints are in the midst of one of the worst stretches of offense in the NFL.

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Both teams are seeking significant improvement when they meet Sunday afternoon in Massachusetts.

New England (1-3) lost 38-3 at Dallas last Sunday as quarterback Mac Jones turned the ball over three times, including a pick six and a scoop and score.

“The biggest thing is moving on from it and learning from it,” Jones said. “(I need to) take care of the football, go through my reads. That’s all I can do as the quarterback, and I feel like the guys are doing a good job. So, I just have to get the ball out to them and let them make plays.”

Belichick, who’s in his 24th season as Patriots head coach after five seasons as Cleveland’s head coach, has a chance to achieve a far more positive milestone this week. If New England beats New Orleans, Belichick will join George Halas and Don Shula as the only coaches with 300 career regular-season victories.

“That wasn’t our best game,” Belichick said of last week’s loss. “We’re capable of more than that. We just have to play collectively better complementary team football, and that includes everything – offense, defense, special teams.”

The Patriots rank 30th in scoring and 17th in yards. The Saints are tied for 25th in scoring and are 23rd in yards.

New Orleans has scored 21 or fewer points in 10 consecutive games, the longest such streak in the NFL.

The Saints (2-2) have lost two games in a row and failed to reach the end zone in a 26-9 home loss to Tampa Bay last week.

Derek Carr passed for just 127 yards while playing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder that forced him to miss two days of practice last week.

“I feel much better this week than I did at this time last week,” Carr said after practice Wednesday. “I’ve been through tougher times than this. We’re going to be all right. We’ve got the right kind of people in our room.”

New Orleans ranks 25th in rushing offense even after leading rusher Alvin Kamara returned last week from a three-game suspension. He had 51 yards on 11 carries against the Bucs.

“The sense of urgency is extremely high,” guard James Hurst said. “We’re not playing up to the level that we hoped to at this point in the season.

“It’s extremely frustrating because we know we have the potential to move the ball and score points, but at the same time we’re hopeful because you look around the offense and see players who have proven they can make plays.”

Two Patriots injured against the Cowboys missed practice Wednesday – rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez (shoulder) and pass rusher Matthew Judon (elbow). New England addressed Gonzalez’s absence when it re-acquired former All-Pro cornerback J.C. Jackson in a trade with the Chargers on Wednesday.

Two Saints starters besides Carr were limited Wednesday: cornerback Paulson Adebo, who has missed the past two games because of a hamstring injury, and center Erik McCoy (knee).

– Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 8

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While We’re Young (Ideas) – On Baseball

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – No New York Yankees. No New York Mets. No Boston Red Sox. No San Diego Padres.

But, yes, the Mets, Yankees and Padres, with a combined $876.4 million tab for player salaries this season, all missed the postseason.

The Mets fired GM Billy Eppler and their skipper Buck Showalter while the Red Sox gave the trap-door approach to their head of Baseball Ops and defacto team GM Chaim Bloom. If you add expectations of the LA Angeles to the mix, add to the carnage with Angels Manager Phil Nevin hitting the unemployment line. The SF Giants fired manager Gabe Kapler and the Winter Meetings are two months away.

The 2023 Postseason started slowly with less-than-compelling Wild Card match-ups all ending in a short series (2-0).

The MLB Divisional Playoffs are expected to bring increased interest and batter baseball. In the National League, the Atlanta Braves – baseball’s best – are facing a tough, playoff-tested Philadelphia Phillies team while the winner of the LA Dodgers vs AZ Diamondbacks awaits (think Dodgers).

In the American League, the State of Texas planted two franchises in the divisional playoff bracket – the defending World Series champion Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. They can meet if the Astros dispose of the Minnesota Twins and the Rangers can defeat upstart and entertaining Baltimore.

Regardless of the results this year, the Baltimore Orioles will be “here to stay” in MLB Postseasons to come.

As postseason progresses, an examination of Baseball’s vital signs shows a very healthy patient. Major League Baseball attendance experienced its largest growth in 30 years in 2023, said the league in a regular season-end statement. Total attendance of 70,747,365 was up 9.6 percent over 2022 (64,556,636) and the average attendance of 29,295 was up 9.1 percent.

Seventeen of the 30 MLB teams drew more than 2.5 million fans, matching the most in MLB history, and eight attracted more than 3 million. Eleven weekends drew more than 1.5 million fans, compared to a total of five such weekends over the previous four full seasons (2018-19, 2021-22) combined.

Factoring into the sport’s increased “watchability” waas a decrease in the average length of the games, thanks in large part to pitch clocks. The regular season games of 2023 averaged 2 hours, 39 minutes and 49 seconds, the shortest since 1985 and a decrease of 24 minutes from last season.

Only nine games lasted 3 1/2 hours or longer, down from 390 such games back in 2021.

3×3 champion Vienna (Photo by FIBA)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The USA Basketball Men’s World Cup team settled for a 4th Place finish this summer in Manila with Germany, Serbia and Canada gaining the top three spots. The groomsmen instead of the groom approach continued this weekend in Amsterdam where the USA Basketball 3×3 entry from Miami took 2nd Place behind a squad from Vienna, Austria. … The second-place finish marks Team Miami’s sixth straight Top 4 finish on the World Tour, including their second runner-up finish of the campaign.

In a rematch of their Saturday “pool play” game, Vienna sought revenge vs. Miami in the Tournament Finals, winning the tightly contested battle, 21-19. Jimmer Fredetteput Miami into the lead, 8-7, with a two-pointer with just under seven minutes remaining. Vienna tried to pull away multiple times, but Miami hung-on and grabbed a 19-18 lead with 3:28 remaining after the Americans went on a 6-1 run. Both teams had empty possessions before Vienna scored the game’s final three points. Fredette led Miami with 10 points. Dylan Travis pulled down a team-high five boards. … The Miami 3×3 entry will next compete at the Doha Challenger on Oct 10-11.

NWSL VALUATIONS: Fresh off a newly reported four-year deal for game rights, divvying up coverage between ESPN, CBS, Amazon and Scripps, the sports business publications – Sportico – released valuations for the National Women’s Soccer League. Here are the Top 10:

  1. Angel City FC – – $180 million
  2. San Diego Wave – – $90m
  3. Kansas City Courant – – $75m
  4. Portland Thorns – – $65m
  5. Washington Spirit – – $54
  6. North Carolina Courage $52m
  7. Houston Dash – – $50m
  8. OL Reign – – $49m (Olympique Lyonnais)
  9. NJ/NY Gotham FC – – $48m
  10. Racing Louisville FC – – $47m

Two other clubs, Orlando and Chicago rated at $47 million or less.

The WNBA just awarded a franchise the the Golden State Warriors’ organization at the value of $50 million.

TIDBITS: The Minnesota Twins snapped an 18-game postseason losing streak with a win in their best-of-three Wild Card series vs. Toronto. It marked the longest losing streak in any major North American sports league. Minny’s 3-1 Game 1 win over the Blue Jays, was dominated by a player who was five years old the last time the Twins won a playoff game. Twins DH Royce Lewis drove in all three runs with a two-run home run in the first inning and a solo shot in the third. …

RIVALRY WEEK: Dare you to say that three times and fast! With No. 12 Oklahoma’s 34-30 upset over No. 3 Texas in Saturday’s Red River Rivalry, it’s time to wax philosophic on the greatness of college football, something city-folk in New York don’t understand.

Here’s my non-comprehensive list of the best rivalries in college football:

  1. Army vs. Navy This year to be played in Foxboro, Mass
  2. The Game – Harvard vs. Yale
  3. The Iron Bowl – Auburn vs. Alabama
  4. Michigan vs Ohio State – Usually, it settles the Big 10 championship)
  5. USC vs. Notre Dame – a rivalry based in great games, every year)
  6. Georgia vs. Florida – aka “the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”
  7. Miami vs. Florida State – ‘Canes vs. ‘Noles
  8. California vs. Stanford – Public vs. Private
  9. UCLA vs. USC – West Coast elite, in the Rose Bowl
  10. Lafayette vs. Lehigh – The Rivalry which dates back to 1897

And, don’t forget the Catholics vs the Convicts (ND vs. Miami) of yesteryear.

THINGS TO PONDER ON A SLOW DAY: Back by popular demand are a listing of a few things I think about.

Ready?

  • For years and years we’ve all been shaken by the sound of the Emergency Broadcast System … Repeat after me: “Station XYZ is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test. If this had been an actual emergency, an official message would have followed the tone alert you heard at the start of this message.” … “This concludes the test of the Emergency Broadcast System.” … Okay, I get it. … It’s an important function and it grew from a directive from President John F. Kennedy in the very early ‘60s during the Cold War. … Now! Tell me this? During the damn GLOBAL PANDEMIC of 2019-2020 did you hear one peep from the Emergency Broadcast System? … That said, they tested an upgraded version this week.
  • Why are there three different ways to describe the exact same thing?
  1. In New York, it’s a car ACCIDENT
  2. In Boston, it’s a CRASH
  3. In Texas, it’s a WRECK

There’s “Fender-Benders,” “Pile-Ups,” “Collisions,” and “Smash-Ups.” Can anyone explain the origin of all of these descriptions and tell is why we need so many different ways to tag the same disasterous thing? Maybe we should slow down and drive safely, especially in the local neighborhood where the speed limit states “20 mph,” and not double nickels.

NFL: Patriots vs Saints Preview

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New England Patriots vs New Orleans Saints Preview

Patriots (1-3) vs. Saints (2-2): The sky is seemingly falling in New England. The Patriots’ feeble offense is averaging just 13.8 points per game, third-fewest in the league. Bill Belichick is coming off the worst loss of his head-coaching career — a 38-3 setback against Dallas — and Mac Jones is hitting on just 63.7 percent of his passes with five touchdowns to four interceptions.

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Things won’t get any easier against a New Orleans defense that has held three of four opponents under 20 points. The Saints’ offense is also trending in the right direction, with star running back Alvin Kamara looking to build off a season debut in which he went for 84 yards (51 rushing, 33 receiving) and had 13 catches. Kamara will look to take advantage of a New England front seven without Matt Judon, who is out indefinitely with a lower bicep tendon tear. The Patriots bolstered their secondary, though, trading for cornerback J.C. Jackson in the wake of what will likely be a season-ending shoulder injury for rookie Christian Gonzalez.

Boston College with Comeback Win

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CHESTNUT HILL – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Liam Connor’s 42-yard field goal with 2:11 remaining helped Boston College overcome an early two-score deficit to beat visiting Virginia 27-24 in Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference contest in Boston.

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Thomas Castellanos shook off a pair of first-half interceptions and finished 16-of-26 passing for 183 yards and touchdowns to Joseph Griffin Jr. and Lewis Bond in the third quarter. The scores highlighted the Eagles’ (2-3, 1-2 ACC) 17-point run to erase a 21-7 deficit.

BC outgained the visitors 176-12 in the third, ultimately taking the lead on Bond’s 33-yard touchdown reception at 1:04 of the quarter.

After BC scored on four straight drives, the Cavaliers forced back-to-back fumbles but only managed to tie the game on Will Bettridge’s 44-yard field goal with 7:10 left in regulation.

Bond logged a game-high 104 yards on seven receptions. Pat Garwo accounted for 87 of BC’s 203 total yards and a touchdown on the ground. Castellanos also ran for 78 yards.

Virginia (0-5, 0-2) quarterback Tony Muskett was 22 of 34 for 247 yards and three touchdowns in his first start since suffering a shoulder injury in the season opener against Tennessee. Malik Washington (9 receptions, 97 yards) and Malachi Fields each caught touchdowns for Virginia.

Star BC receiver Ryan O’Keefe was carted off the field after colliding with Virginia cornerback Malcolm Greene early in the fourth quarter.

BC first cut into its deficit when Connor drilled a 42-yard field goal to complete an 11-play, 63-yard drive over the first 5:10 of the third quarter.

After forcing a 3-and-out, BC needed just four plays to score on Griffin’s 4-yard, over-the-shoulder catch with 6:09 left in the third.

Elijah Jones hauled in BC’s first interception of the season on the following series, and Bond’s go-ahead score capped a 9-play, 65-yard drive.

Muskett led a 10-play, 75-yard drive off the opening kickoff, finding Mike Hollins out of the backfield for a 5-yard score 4:35 into the game.

The Cavaliers forced a turnover on downs and intercepted a Castellanos pass on BC’s second and third series, respectively, before doubling their lead on Washington’s 18-yard touchdown with 12:11 left until halftime.

Castellanos got the Eagles moving as a 34-yard strike to Bond along the sideline set up Garwo’s 2-yard rushing score with 47 seconds left in the first half.

Fields hauled in a 39-yard Hail Mary touchdown as the first-half clock expired to give Virginia a 21-7 lead.

–Field Level Media

Orioles Keep Eye on Playoffs

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As Red Sox and Orioles Close Out the Regular Season, Orioles Look Ahead and the Red Sox Look to Rebuild

BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Orioles have had a win mentality all season. They don’t want to back off during the last weekend of the regular season.

The Baltimore Orioles have had a win mentality all season. They don’t want to back off during the last weekend of the regular season.

“I still want to play well,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I want to play to win.”

The Orioles and visiting Boston Red Sox will meet in the third game of their four-game series on Saturday night.

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The Orioles (100-60) had won five in a row before losing 3-0 on Friday, a night after they clinched the American League East title with a 2-0 victory over the Red Sox.

“It was a big night for us (Thursday) night, and we just didn’t play our best baseball (on Friday), and those things happen,” Hyde said. “Hopefully, we’ll rebound and play a better game.”

Boston (77-83) ended a five-game skid on Friday.

“There’s a lot of good things that are happening in that clubhouse,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They’re still playing hard.”

Boston’s offense still has holes. The Red Sox ended a 23-inning scoreless streak when Trevor Story hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning on Friday, but it still was far from an offensive outburst.

The Red Sox aren’t done learning about their personnel, even with just two games left in the season. That’s what was among the takeaways from seeing Nick Pivetta throw seven shutout innings and strike out 10 on Friday.

“It has been fun to watch,” Cora said. “He’s going to work hard in the offseason to keep getting better. He should be one of the guys next year when we talk about it.”

The Orioles have more pressing matters. Though they will have nearly a week off before opening the playoffs at home on Oct. 7, they want to start formalizing a plan, and that could dictate some moves this weekend.

“Nothing’s set in stone right now,” Hyde said. “We’re seeing who we’re playing (in the first postseason series), and we have some time.”

Hyde gave right fielder Anthony Santander the night off Friday, putting Heston Kjerstad in the lineup for his first start in the outfield.

“You’re going to see him play probably two, if not all three, of these games and give him the at-bats,” Hyde said. “I want to give him four or five at-bats a night if I can and see what he’s like against big-league pitching.”

Right-hander Kyle Gibson (15-9, 4.86 ERA), who already has a career-high win total, will be the Orioles’ starting pitcher on Saturday. Baltimore has won three of four September games pitched by Gibson, who is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA in those contests. He faced the Red Sox in the season opener on March 30 and earned a win despite giving up four runs in five-plus innings.

Gibson will make his career-high 33rd start. He is 4-4 with a 3.72 ERA in nine career starts against Boston.

The Red Sox are set to give the ball to right-hander Kutter Crawford (6-8, 4.23), who has gone six consecutive outings without a victory. Boston went 1-5 in those games, while Crawford was 0-2 with a 6.26 ERA. Most recently, he yielded three runs in 5 1/3 innings during a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Crawford surrendered 11 runs across 3 2/3 innings covering two appearances (one start) last year in his only career matchups with the Orioles.

Baltimore is 6-5 in September home games, dropping their season mark at Camden Yards to 48-31. The Orioles will have home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.

–Field Level Media

Rays Hobble Into Fenway for Pair

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Tampa Bay Rays’ chances of an American League East championship are fading as their injury list grows ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Boston, the first of a two-game series against the division rival Red Sox.

With a wild-card spot already in hand, Tampa Bay (95-62) sits 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the East with a week of the regular season to play, but three more players were sidelined for at least part of this past weekend’s series at Toronto.

The Rays lost 9-5 in Sunday’s deciding game of the series – and lost All-Star first baseman Yandy Diaz due to right hamstring tightness in the second inning.

“It’s going to be very difficult (down the stretch),” infielder Isaac Paredes said through a translator. “We’ve lost a lot of key players and position players as well. I think we need to just make sure these young guys are going to do a good job of making up for it.”

Paredes hit his 30th home run of the season during the Sunday loss.

Outfielder Randy Arozarena (right quad tightness) and setup man Robert Stephenson (neck soreness) missed the entire weekend. And that was after center fielder Jose Siri and second baseman Brandon Lowe were among four additions to the injured list in a 12-day span.

“The expectation this year was to win at a high clip and put ourselves in position to get to the postseason,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “(But) if you would have told me in spring training that all of this stuff would have happened – the injuries and everything else – I probably would have been scratching my head a little bit.”

With Aaron Civale “under the weather,” according to Cash, the Tuesday pitching nod goes to fellow right-hander Zach Eflin (15-8, 3.44).

The 29-year-old Eflin struck out double-digit batters in two of his past six starts, including his Thursday outing against the Los Angeles Angels when he fanned 10 across five innings of two-run ball but did not factor into the decision. His two starts prior were victories.

Eflin has made three starts against Boston in his career, logging a 6.43 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 14 innings.

After consecutive one-run losses and not scoring more than three runs in all three weekend games against the Chicago White Sox, Boston (76-80) will counter with Tanner Houck (5-9, 4.92) in its penultimate home game of the season.

The 27-year-old righty allowed two runs in four innings Tuesday at Texas, breaking up a streak of three straight five-inning starts that included six shutout frames against the New York Yankees five days earlier.

Houck, Kutter Crawford and Garrett Whitlock are all essentially auditioning for a spot in the starting rotation to begin next season. Crawford struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings in Sunday’s rain-shortened loss.

“I think it applies to all (three),” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I mean, you can always adjust to the other role. Right now, we don’t know (who will be starters in 2024). … And then at one point, somebody’s going to take over, and if we have to make adjustments, we will.”

Houck is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA in two career starts against Tampa Bay.

The Red Sox have also seen contributions from youngsters in the lineup in September, including the talented, versatile Ceddanne Rafaela and fellow rookie Wilyer Abreu, who hit his second career homer Sunday.

–Field Level Media