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Red Sox, Crochet Prevail vs LA

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Garrett Crochet allowed two solo home runs in the top of the first, but then pitched five shutout innings to help the Boston Red Sox defeat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 Saturday night.

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Crochet (12-4) limited the Dodgers to two runs on eight hits in six innings. He struck out 10 and walked two.

It was the fifth time this season Crochet has recorded 10 or more strikeouts and allowed no more than two earned runs in at least six innings.

Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez each homered against Crochet. Ohtani opened the game by hitting his 38th home run of the season. Two batters later Hernandez hit his 16th home run, which was his second in as many games.

Alex Bregman and Jarren Duran each collected three hits for the Red Sox, who also received two hits from Roman Anthony. Duran had two triples and a double.

Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit by scoring three runs in the second. The key hit in the inning was Duran’s two-run triple.

Hyeseong Kim collected two of the Dodgers’ nine hits.

Mookie Betts was not in the Dodgers starting lineup, but did pinch hit with two outs and a runner on first in the ninth. He struck out looking against Aroldis Chapman for the game’s final out. Chapman earned his 18th save.

Betts did not play in Los Angeles’ 5-2 victory on Friday night because he was in Tennessee taking care of a personal matter.

Los Angeles starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw exited the mound with two outs in the fifth. He gave up four runs on six hits, walked two and struck out two.

The Dodgers grabbed a 2-0 lead on the first-inning home runs from Ohtani and Hernandez, but Boston took the lead by scoring three runs in the second. After Duran tied the game with his two-run triple, Abraham Toro drove in Duran on a sacrifice fly to center field.

Boston added to its lead in the fifth. Bregman reached on a two-out single and scored on Anthony’s double to make it 4-2.

–Field Level Media

Teoscar Winning Performance

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -LA’s Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run home run to help the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

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After Freddie Freeman singled to open the eighth inning, Hernandez homered against Boston reliever Jorge Alcala to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2. It was his 15th home run of the season. Hernandez drove in three of Los Angeles’ five runs.

Freeman, Will Smith and Andy Pages each collected two hits in the victory, but Shohei Ohtani failed to homer for the sixth straight game. Ohtani went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Emmet Sheehan (2-1) pitched the first five innings for Los Angeles. He surrendered two runs on three hits, struck out five and walked two. The Dodgers’ bullpen provided four scoreless innings, including a scoreless ninth from Ben Casparius.

The Red Sox had runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth, but Casparius retired Rob Refsnyder on a grounder to second to end the game. It was his first major league save.

Boston starting pitcher Brayan Bello (6-5) was pulled with one out in the sixth. He gave up three runs on six hits, struck out five and walked two.

The Red Sox were limited to five hits: doubles by Connor Wong, Alex Bregman and Trevor Story, and singles by Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida.

The Dodgers grabbed a 3-0 lead by scoring a run in the second and two in the third. Pages made it 1-0 when he scored from third on Tommy Edman’s infield single. It was 2-0 after Ohtani scored when Hernandez drew a bases-loaded walk, and Smith scored on a Pages sacrifice fly to give Los Angeles a 3-0 advantage.

The Red Sox sliced their deficit to 3-2 by scoring twice in the bottom of the third. Wong doubled and scored on a Duran single, and then Bregman drove in Duran with a double.

The teams meet again this evening and Sunday afternoon for the three-game set before the Dodgers travel to Cincinnati and the Red Sox hit the road again for a trip to the Twin Cities.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox: “Big Series” vs LA Dodgers

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Los Angeles Dodgers may be without a key piece of their lineup Friday when they begin a nine-game road trip by opening a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

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Following Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said shortstop Mookie Betts could miss Friday’s game while he takes care of a personal matter.

“There might be some things going on that he might not be around, that he’s got to deal with personally,” Roberts said. “Everything is OK with him, but yeah, we’ll see.”

Betts spent the first six seasons of his career in Boston and was the American League MVP in 2018, when he led the Red Sox to a World Series victory over the Dodgers. Betts was traded to the Dodgers in 2020 for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. He’s been an All-Star and earned MVP votes in four of his first five years with Los Angeles.

Betts started a ninth-inning rally in Wednesday’s win with a two-out infield single. After Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked and Esteury Ruiz worked a walk to load the bases, Freddie Freeman hit a game-ending two-run single.

The Dodgers are 2-4 since the All-Star break after going 2-7 before it.

“We needed that one,” said Freeman, who was hitting .210 in July before collecting two hits Wednesday. “That was a huge win for us. Huge series win.”

Boston will likely be short-handed for the weekend series as well, since third baseman Marcelo Mayer left Wednesday’s 9-8 victory over Philadelphia in the fifth inning and was wearing a brace on his right wrist following the game. Mayer said he expects to have an MRI soon.

“I just felt a little tight grab in my wrist when I took a swing in my second at-bat,” Mayer said. “I knew I really couldn’t do anything after that, so I just called it (a day).”

Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning of Wednesday’s win after being called for catcher’s interference against the Phillies on Monday and Tuesday. The Phillies prevailed 3-2 Monday when the interference call came with no outs and the bases loaded in the 10th inning.

“You gotta move forward,” Narvaez said. “You gotta stay on the attack mode.”

Like the Dodgers, the Red Sox are 2-4 since the All-Star break.

Friday’s pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers in Boston’s Brayan Bello (6-4, 3.23 ERA) and Los Angeles’ Emmet Sheehan (1-1. 4.41 ERA).

Bello allowed three runs on five hits in six innings during his only career appearance against the Dodgers last season. Sheehan, who pitched at nearby Boston College, has never faced the Red Sox.

Ohtani enters Friday’s matchup with a home run in each of his last five games. The MLB record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, held by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993).

“I do know that if he has the same approach that he’s had, that Green Monster is very short, so any fly ball that he hits will be a homer,” Roberts said of Ohtani, who has a pair of long home runs toward left field this week. “So he’s just got to continue to have that same approach when we go to Boston, and then we’ll see what happens.”

–Field Level Media

Nightmare in Philly

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PHILADELPHIA – (Wire Service Report) – Philadelphia’s SP Cristopher Sanchez has emerged as a model of consistency for the Phillies.

After a sizzling finish to the first half of the season, Sanchez takes the mound Tuesday when the Phillies host the Boston Red Sox.

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Sanchez was not chosen for the National League All-Star team despite allowing two runs or fewer in each of his past nine starts. His steadiness in July has been particularly notable, as he has allowed three runs in 21 1/3 innings this month, good for a 1.27 ERA.

“I’m just so proud of (Sanchez) from where he started and where he’s at right now,” manager Rob Thomson said after the lefty gave up one run in 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres in his most recent start on July 13. “Not just stuff, but command, poise and composure.”

The Phillies showed plenty of poise in the 10th inning on Monday, as they plated the winning run without putting a ball in play. Two walks, a wild pitch and a catcher’s-interference call proved to be the decisive formula for Philadelphia against erratic Red Sox reliever Jordan Hicks.

Phillies reliever Max Lazar kept his composure in the top of the 10th inning, striking out a pair of Boston hitters (and getting the other to ground out) to keep the game tied, setting up the winning rally.

“He’s been great. I trust him,” Thomson said of Lazar, who emerged with his first major league win. “He’s been really good. And he’s got ice in his veins, too. He’s really cool out there.”

Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler allowed two runs and struck out 10 over six innings. Bryce Harper doubled twice and scored a run for the Phillies, who had lost six of their previous nine games.

“You’ve got to win that game. You’ve got to win the series,” Wheeler said. “And hopefully Sanchy can get us that win (Tuesday) to win the series.”

Jarren Duran homered for the Red Sox to open the game against Wheeler, but the visitors managed only one run the rest of the way. The team left eight runners on base and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Roman Anthony struck out four times in five at-bats, while Duran, Marcelo Mayer, Carlos Narvaez and Wilyer Abreu all struck out twice.

“We had our chances, we didn’t cash in,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “But shoot, that guy (Wheeler), he’s one of the best — if not the best — in the big leagues.”

On Tuesday, the Red Sox will give the ball to Richard Fitts (1-3, 4.28), who will be making his ninth start of the season. He pitched well in his last appearance, a 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on July 7, when he gave up three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings.

It was the first major league win for Fitts, who said that he planned to frame the lineup card.

“Good velocity, mixing up the off-speed pitches,” said Cora, adding that Fitts has “been good for us — really good. He gives us a chance to win almost every time.”

Fitts will be opposing the Phillies for the first time. Sanchez is 1-0 with a 6.43 ERA in two career starts appearances (one start) vs. Boston.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Roll Into Philly

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PHILADELPHIA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston SP Walker Buehler’s season has been quite a grind, but at least he ended the first half with a pair of solid outings.

The veteran right-hander aims to build off those performances Monday when the Boston Red Sox visit the Philadelphia Phillies for the first of three games.

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Buehler (6-6, 6.12 ERA) was an All-Star, a Cy Young Award contender and World Series champion during a long stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers. But he has struggled this season upon signing a one-year, $21 million deal with the Red Sox.

After posting an 11.07 ERA during a difficult June, Buehler has authored a pair of respectable outings this month. He gave up two earned runs in five innings in a win over the Washington Nationals on July 5 and then yielded three runs in six frames in a no-decision against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 10.

“It’s nice to go through a week of prep, the five days or whatever, and not feel like I should just retire,” Buehler said after facing Tampa Bay. “I don’t think I’m going to retire anytime soon, but you get into some really dark places and that’s what happens.”

Buehler will be opposed Monday by Philadelphia ace and fellow righty Zack Wheeler (9-3, 2.36), who is one of the leading candidates for the NL Cy Young Award. He was extremely consistent during the first half of the season, although he is coming off one of his worst outings of the campaign.

Wheeler allowed four runs and six hits over six innings in a 5-4 loss to the San Diego Padres on July 12. He went on to voluntarily skip the All-Star Game in order to rest up for the second half of the season.

“Baseball is hard, and some days you’re gonna have days like today, and it stinks,” Wheeler said. “But it is baseball at the end of the day, and you’re in the big leagues, so you’ll get hit around a little bit sometimes. And it’s part of it.”

Wheeler has made three career starts against Boston, going 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA. Buehler, meanwhile, is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA in four lifetime games (three starts) against Philadelphia.

The Phillies are coming off a series loss against the Los Angeles Angels. The teams split their first two games over the weekend before Philadelphia absorbed an 8-2 defeat on Sunday.

Otto Kemp hit a home run for the Phillies, but the team only managed six hits overall in the series finale.

“I think we just had a lot of weak contact,” the rookie utilityman said.

Boston came out of the All-Star break with a pair of losses against the Cubs in Chicago, but the team recovered to post a 6-1 triumph on Sunday afternoon.

Wilyer Abreu hit a pair of home runs Sunday after going 1-for-12 with six strikeouts over his previous five games.

“He’s got a compact swing,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose team closed the first half of the season on a 10-game winning streak. “There’s a few things he’s still working on, trying to get better. But we’ll take him every day in the outfield.”

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | July 20

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – With Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game played this past Tuesday night, there were all kinds of discussions and arguments behind-the-scenes of the game. The rosters were scrutinized and the drop-outs were criticized. There was quite a bit of negative skepticism on the fact 23-year-old Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski made the National League all-Star roster after being in the Big Leagues for just a month.

On the other side of the coin, fans were thrilled to see the All-Star players back in their team uniforms, as opposed to some contrived “AL” and “NL uniforms. (the exact opposite was the case for the NBA). Upon the 6-6 tie in the game after nine full innings, there was the first-ever tie breaking “Swing Off” to determine the result of the game.

When Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber stole the show and sealed the NL victory with back-to-back-to-back home runs, everyone went home happy. It was quite exciting.

If the presentation of the stunning, silver Stanley Cup is the most celebrated moment in all of sports, then the “I Stand Up to Cancer” moment is certainly the most poignant. At the conclusion of the 4th inning at this week’s MLB All-Star Game, the FOX TV audience returned from a commercial break with 42,702 fans and all the players and coaches, umpires and media – everyone – yes, everyone in the building holding a sign of which they penciled-in the name of a person close to them that was battling of, sadly, already lost to cancer. It’s a silent, emotional moment in time, supported by SU2C and Mastercard, and it’s taken place at every MLB All-Star Game and World Series since 2009.

It’s a simple process as Braves staff and MLB volunteers placed pre-printed SU2C placards behind every seat in Truist Park for fans to write-in the name of the person they wanted to support. Each one of the cards was pre-inscribed with the simple message “I Stand Up For,” while a section underneath was left blank for a name.

MLB.com noted, National League manager Dave Roberts honored longtime baseball writer Scott Miller, who passed away just a few weeks ago from pancreatic cancer. American League manager Aaron Boone’s placard read, “Jake.” Braves pitcher Chris Sale wrote “Dad” on his sign, while Reds star Elly De La Cruz honored “La Familia” and “Los Enfermos.”

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge honored “Uncle Frank,” and FOX commentator and Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer David Ortiz wrote, “Mi Viejo – Leo Ortiz.” Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber’s placard read, simply, “Everyone!” And Brewers All-Star Freddy Peralta honored Mr. Baseball – the late, great Bob Uecker, who passed away from cancer in January.

While all the college and pro sports do a tremendous job supporting very important causes – for example, the local home team, the Boston Red Sox efforts for The JIMMY Fund – there is no moment at any time of the year in sports which just stops you COLD. Every single person in that All-Star crowd had a direct connection with one or more people who have been stricken or died from cancer.

There will be some $50,000,000 raised by MLB and its 30 clubs and it’ll be targeted for clinical trials and other research efforts. In about two weeks, the Pan Mass Challenge will attempt to top last year’s record-breaking number of raising $75,000,000 over the Aug 2-3 weekend and that dollar figure was added to the bottom line of the Pan Mass bicycle ride vs Cancer to reach an extraordinary $1.047 billion in lifetime fundraising since Pan Mass Challenge’s founding in 1980.

That money goes directly to research efforts at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute here in Boston. If you’d like to donate, Click HERE.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: This week, two of the world’s greatest players opined on what drives them, what they do to compete at such a high level, but the real message was that they stay in the present and that helps. It’s called perspective and the PGA Tour’s Scottie Scheffler and the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark shared some of their innermost thoughts on keeping it real.

Scheffler: “I don’t look at wins and losses or stuff like that,” he said at a pre-tournament press availability for The Open at Royal Portrush. “I don’t sit down at the beginning of the year and say I want to win “x” number of times; I want to win this many majors; I want to win this many tournament events. That’s not something I do. That’s not something that works for me.

“I have some dreams and aspirations that I’m always striving towards, but at the end of the day, I try to stay present. I try to practice hard each and every day. I feel like for me, when I start looking too far into the future, I think I’m a bit of a procrastinator. That’s how I was in school.

“If I want to look at my career and say I want to win, let’s say, five majors, I think sometimes when you’re a human, you just have that invincibility where you’re just like, I’m going to play professional golf my whole life; this stage is never going to end.

“Ultimately, it’s not, and I’m only going to be doing this for a finite amount of time. What works best for me is just to stay present, continue to put in the work, which I would argue that’s the most fun part for me. I love being able to practice, and that’s what I enjoy doing, and just try to get the most out of myself each day.

“I think the rankings are — being No. 1 in the world is a great accomplishment, I think, as a golfer. As a professional, to be ranked as the best in the world, I think, is a huge career accomplishment. I don’t think it should be taken lightly. But you don’t become No. 1 in the world by thinking about rankings. You don’t stay No. 1 in the world thinking about rankings. Each tournament is its own challenge.

“It’s funny, it’s like, look at this week for example. What’s the best-case scenario? I win this golf tournament, and then I’m going to show up in Memphis, and it’s like, okay, listen, you won two majors this year; what are you going to do this week? That’s the question you’re going to get asked.

“If I come in second this week or if I finish dead last, no matter what happens, we’re always on to the next week. That’s one of the beautiful things about golf, and it’s also one of the frustrating things because you can have such great accomplishments, but the show goes on. That’s just how it is.

“It’s great to win tournaments. It’s a lot of fun. Sometimes the feeling only lasts about two minutes, it seems like, when you’re celebrating, and then it’s like, okay, now you’ve got to go do all this other stuff, which is great, but sometimes the feeling of winning only lasts a few seconds. It’s pretty exciting and fun, but it just doesn’t last that long.

“I think I said something after the Byron this year about like it feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling.

“To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home, I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf to have an opportunity to win that tournament. You win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sister’s there, it’s such an amazing moment. Then it’s like, okay, what are we going to eat for dinner? Life goes on.”

“Is it great to be able to win tournaments and to accomplish the things I have in the game of golf? Yeah, it brings tears to my eyes just to think about because I’ve literally worked my entire life to be good at this sport. To have that kind of sense of accomplishment, I think, is a pretty cool feeling. To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I’m not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I’m not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world because what’s the point? This is not a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.

“There’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they’re like what’s the point? I really do believe that because what is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad?

“That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.

“I’m kind of sicko,” he admitted. “I love putting in the work. I love getting to practice. I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point.

I don’t know if I’m making any sense or not. Am I not? It’s just one of those deals. I love the challenge. I love being able to play this game for a living. It’s one of the greatest joys of my life, but does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart?

“Absolutely not.”

“I love playing golf. I love being able to compete. I love living out my dreams. I love being a father. I love being able to take care of my son. I love being able to provide for my family out here playing golf.

“Every day when I wake up early to go put in the work, my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard. When I get home, I try and thank her every day for taking care of our son. That’s why I talk about family being my priority because it really is.

“This is not the be all, end all. This is not the most important thing in my life. That’s why I wrestle with, why is this so important to me? Because I’d much rather be a great father than I would be a great golfer. At the end of the day, that’s what’s more important to me.”

ON CLARK: (As told to Boston-based reporter Gethin Coolbaugh when the WNBA Connecticut Sun hosted Caitlan Clark and the Indiana Fever at Boston’s TD Garden).

“I feel like, over the course, of whether it’s been my professional career or college career, you kind of take it as it goes and you learn from it as things come,” Clark said. “I feel like the attention – whatever that is, I don’t want to say that I get used to it, but to an extent, you do. You just accept that’s how it’s going to be.

“People are going to criticize you. People are going to praise you, no matter what it is when you play on this level and you have this type of spotlight whether it’s me, whether it’s any professional athlete that’s at the top of their game.

“That’s just how it’s going to be, so I think you kind of build on what you want to get better at. I think that’s probably the greatest challenge at times, is, everyone else has expectations. at the end of the day, there’s no higher expectations than what I have of myself and I feel like that can be lost at times.

“So I think just giving yourself a bit of grace and just having a lot of fun out there, too, is what I try to remind myself.”

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Respected sports writer Christine Brennan has been making the rounds to promote her new book, “On Her Game.” While being interviewed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Brennan expounds a belief that “the WNBA wasn’t ready for Caitlin Clark.” … In numerous interviews, Brennan has stated the same stock statement, criticising the WNBA organization for falling short. “I think it’s because they had always gotten short shrift from the national media, the male-dominated mainstream media,” Brennan said. “It was an unfathomable thought, that someone could break through wearing the jersey of a WNBA team and become the biggest name in sports. I think it was beyond comprehension for WNBA officials, and therefore they didn’t prepare. They didn’t help their players understand the magnitude of the moment. “But how can you not know when you’re looking at what was going on around the country in Big Ten arenas and others. And you look at the TV ratings. When the NCAA women’s final beats the men by 4 million (viewers) in 2024, how on earth could you not see this and say something extraordinary is coming to the WNBA?”

In the CNN interview, Brennan cited interviews with WNBA officials and others in the sports industry to support her claim. One thing this column can guarantee is that no one who worked for former NBA Commissioner David Stern nor employees of current NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would be unprepared for ANYTHING. Starting long before he became the NBA’s fourth Commissioner, Stern drilled it into the NBA culture to stay well ahead of the curve, to read everything and anything that might intersect with sports and the NBA, to spot issues long before they would ever surface, to know the players, the prospects, the international prospects, the standings in Lithuania – you name it, Stern wanted the information and the intel on EVERYTHING. Being caught short was never an option.

Now, I can not speak on behalf of the current WNBA vibes and Brennan cited WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert by name, charging the leader of the women’s league with failing to prepare.

Anyone worth a pair of the late Bill Walton’s basketball shoes and his coach, John Wooden’s “pyramid of success,” knows that “Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.”

Of course, Wooden is often credited with the quote but it was used as far back as 1919 by The Reverend H. K. Williams. Regardless, it is very difficult for a former NBA employee to even fathom that the league didn’t see the storm of an opportunity like Caitlin Clark coming, long before Clark broke Pete Maravich’s record for all-time scoring in NCAA basketball (men or women – 3,667 points) back in March of 2024.

HAPPY: 85th to CBS’ Verne Lundquist … Fans of the Twitter (X) account @Funhouse (aka @BackAftaThis) might celebrate Saturday’s David Wright Day a little bit differently than others as they remember a called to Mike Francessa at WFAN. When there’s time to listen to the whole strand of comedy acts, go fot it, but today you can settle for a dream of hearing, “Mike, when the Mets honor David Wright Day, do you think they’ll do something special for Ed Charles and Felix Millán?”

 

Sox: Two Game Losing Streak

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Cubs starter Shota Imanaga threw seven scoreless innings, Michael Busch and Kyle Tucker slugged back-to-back home runs in the first, and the Chicago Cubs blanked the visiting Boston, 6-0.  It was the second straight loss for the Red Sox after winning 10 consecutive games before the MLB All-Star break.

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Imanaga (7-3) allowed just five hits, while striking out five and walking one, helping the Cubs take the weekend series and win their fourth straight game. Matt Shaw, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ each added solo homers for Chicago, which now holds the majors’ best record (59-39).

Boston starter Brayan Bello (6-4) allowed three runs on six hits in the loss, striking out four and walking one. Masataka Yoshida and Abraham Toro each tallied a pair of hits for Boston, which dropped its second straight game after posting a 10-game winning streak to end the first half.

The Cubs struck quickly in the bottom of the first, as leadoff batter Busch sent the first pitch he saw over the wall for his 20th of the season. Tucker followed up with his 18th of the year to give Chicago an early 2-0 edge.

After Dansby Swanson walked and Nico Hoerner singled to begin the second, Vidal Brujan drove in the Cubs’ third run with a sacrifice fly to left.

Boston threatened to mount a two-out rally in the top of the seventh, as Yoshida singled to right and Toro reached on an infield single, while Yoshida advanced to third on Imanaga’s throwing error. From there it took just one pitch for the Chicago lefty to escape the jam, as Connor Wong was retired on a fly out to second.

Chris Murphy replaced Bello in the seventh, striking out Reese McGuire before allowing rookie Shaw’s third homer of the year with one out.

In relief of Imanaga, Brad Keller struck out the side in the top of the eighth.

Chicago tacked on against Murphy in the bottom of the eighth, as Crow-Armstrong and Happ clubbed consecutive solo home runs to push the Cubs’ lead to 6-0.

–Field Level Media

One Streak Ends Another

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CHICAGO – (Wire Service Report) – After beginning the second half of the season with an interleague victory, the Chicago Cubs will look to push their winning streak to four games on Saturday night against the visiting Boston Red Sox.

Seiya Suzuki — coming off an All-Star snub — propelled the Cubs to a 4-1 win on Friday with a three-run homer in the first inning. Suzuki now leads the National League with 80 RBIs, paired with his team-leading 26 home runs and .555 slugging percentage.

The Cubs’ win ended a 10-game wining streak of the Red Sox.

“Seiya is having a tremendous offensive season,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “You put men on base in front of him and good things seem to happen this year. We’ll keep trying to do that.

“Those guys at the top of the order are all swinging it good and it makes it tough to get through. You have to get through those guys four, five times a night and that’s what makes us a good offense.”

To Counsell’s point, Chicago’s 516 runs and 143 homers each rank second in the NL, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On the mound, Shota Imanaga (6-3, 2.65 ERA) will look to prolong his stellar campaign for the Cubs on Saturday. A left hamstring strain placed the lefty on the injured list for nearly two months, but Imanaga has gone 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA in four starts since returning.

He allowed just one run in seven innings in Chicago’s first-half finale against the New York Yankees, a 4-1 Cubs’ win. In his lone career start against the Red Sox, Imanaga surrendered just one run in 6 1/3 innings in a 7-1 win in April 2024.

With the series-opening loss on Friday, Boston shelved its 10-game winning streak come to a close – the longest for the franchise since a 10-game stretch in 2018.

On a day the Red Sox produced little offense, a baserunning mistake by Abraham Toro proved crucial in the club’s first loss since July 2. With Boston trailing by two runs in the fifth, Toro was doubled out at second base by All-Star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to stunt a Red Sox rally.

“That fifth inning, we had a rally going and I’ve got to put the blame on me,” Toro said. “Being thrown out in a double play kills rallies. Just have to learn from it and go again tomorrow.”

Brayan Bello (6-3, 3.14) is slated to make his 17th appearance (16th start) for Boston. A winner in three consecutive starts, Bello is 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA in July.

Last time out, the 26-year-old right-hander allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings in a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Bello has faced the Cubs once in his career, throwing six innings of three-run ball in an 8-3 win in July 2023.

Boston’s pitching staff will look to continue a stretch that’s seen it go 11 straight games of allowing four runs or fewer.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox, Cubs Anxious to Play Again

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CHICAGO – (Wire Service Report) – A pair of teams eager to resume play will kick off the second half of the regular season on Friday afternoon, when the Chicago Cubs host the Boston Red Sox.

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Chicago is on pace to finish with its most wins since its 2016 World Series championship season (103) and return to postseason play for the first time since 2020. The Cubs won eight of 12 games entering the All-Star break and sit a half-game back of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League’s best record.

With a pair of 25-homer sluggers in Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki spearheading the powerful lineup, the Cubs appear to be on track for a special end to the summer.

“Our job is to just keep winning. It’s as simple as that,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “There’s so much season left. Just keep winning. Stack up wins and we’re going to be in a good position.”

After a six-game road trip capped the first half of the season, Chicago returns to Wrigley Field on Friday, where the club has gone 30-16.

Veteran right-hander Colin Rea (7-3, 3.91 ERA) gets the start and will look to extend his personal winning streak to four games. Since his last loss against the Seattle Mariners on June 22, Rea has allowed just four runs in 18 2/3 innings. The 35-year-old surrendered one run in seven innings last time out in an 8-1 victory over the host Minnesota Twins.

In his only career start against Boston, Rea gave up two runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 6-3 victory as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers in May 2024.

Nobody in baseball entered the break as hot as the Boston Red Sox, who have won 10 straight games and catapulted themselves into the American League postseason picture.

Following a July 2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, Boston swept the Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies and the Tampa Bay Rays to pull within three games of the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays and just a game back of the second-place New York Yankees. A win on Friday would match the ninth-longest winning streak in franchise history, which was last accomplished in September 2016.

“We’ve still got a long way to go,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “We’re happy with this stretch, we’re happy with how we’ve been playing. I think we’ve only had one bad series the last few weeks, so we’re playing well.”

Lucas Giolito (6-1, 3.36) will make his 14th start of the season for the Red Sox on Friday. Like his counterpart in Rea, Giolito has won three consecutive starts. Since allowing seven runs in less than two innings against the Los Angeles Angels on June 4, Giolito has gone 5-0 with a 0.70 ERA and 37 strikeouts in six starts.

The 31-year-old right-hander will hope to fare better against the Cubs, as he’s 2-3 with a 7.86 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings over five career starts against the club.

–Field Level Media

NL Wins with Schwarber’s Swing-Off

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ATLANTA  – (Wire Service Report) – The National League beat the American League 4-3 in the All-Star Game’s first-ever “swing-off” on Tuesday night.

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The game was tied 6-6 after nine innings, so the teams competed in a three-man Home Run Derby in which AL manager Aaron Boone selected Brent Rooker, Randy Arozarena and Jonathan Aranda, while NL manager Dave Roberts picked Kyle Stowers, Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso.

Each player was to receive three swings to hit as many home runs as possible. Rooker launched two, while Stowers went 1-for-3. Arozarena hit one before Schwarber sent all three out to give the NL a 4-3 running lead entering the final round.

Aranda then went 0-for-3, clinching the bizarre National League victory — the league’s second All-Star Game win in three years after dropping the previous nine.

Trailing 6-0, the American League mounted a rally in the seventh, as San Diego’s Adrian Morejon allowed a single to Alejandro Kirk and walked Jonathan Aranda. Giants reliever Randy Rodriguez entered and surrendered Rooker’s three-run homer. Bobby Witt Jr. later drove in the AL’s fourth run on a groundout.

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Byron Buxton and Witt each doubled to pull the AL within one run against San Diego’s Robert Suarez in the ninth. Mets closer Edwin Diaz then entered and retired Jazz Chisholm Jr. before Steven Kwan tied the game with an infield single.

Boston’s Aroldis Chapman retired the side in the bottom of the ninth.

The NL struck first in the home half of the first inning. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and hometown favorite Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. reached on singles, before Arizona’s Ketel Marte laced a two-run double to right against AL starter Tarik Skubal.

In the sixth, after Fernando Tatis Jr. walked and Brendan Donovan singled, Alonso belted a three-run blast off Kansas City’s Kris Bubic to give the National League a 5-0 advantage.

Casey Mize then replaced Bubic, surrendering a 414-foot solo homer to Diamondbacks star Corbin Carroll to extend the margin to six runs.

Making his second All-Star Game start in as many seasons, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes struck out Detroit Tigers Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene in the first before inducing Aaron Judge into a groundout in the ace’s lone inning.

– Field Level Media