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Red Sox and Cubs Brace for Nor’Easter

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – A major storm heading toward New England this weekend is expected to force the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox into an early end to the regular season. The upcoming three-game series, which starts Friday at Boston, is expected to have playoff seeding implications. The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that MLB does not plan to move the series to an alternate location despite a storm that will include heavy rain and wind in a regional event commonly known as a Nor’easter.

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With the worst of the weather expected to begin Saturday night, multiple outlets have reported that a Friday doubleheader is being planned, with a single game on Saturday that would end the regular season for both clubs.

The Red Sox (84-73) were locked into either the second or third wild-card spot in the American League. They entered Wednesday’s play as the second wild card with a three-game lead on the Chicago White Sox in the third spot.

The Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres all were tied for the top spot the National League wild-card standings at 87-70, with the Arizona Diamondbacks still holding a outside chance at a postseason spot, four games back.

The tight Friday-Saturday schedule would have its advantages for both teams. Both would get an extra day of rest for their pitching staffs heading into wild-card round opening games Tuesday as the remainder of the wild-card field finishes their regular-season schedule Sunday.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox on Guard

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox hope to shift some momentum in advance of the playoffs when they host the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night in the second game of a three-game series.

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Cleveland extended its winning streak to six games by beating Boston 3-2 on Tuesday. It was the third straight loss for the Red Sox (84-73), who have dropped eight of their last 12 games and own a 9-10 record in September but still clinched a wild-card berth on Sunday.

Add left-handed reliever Erik Miller to the list of Boston’s concerns as the Red Sox prepare for the playoffs. Miller looked sharp when the Red Sox acquired him from San Francisco in August, but he has allowed nine walks and hit two batters in September.

One of those hit batsmen scored the game-winning run Tuesday. Miller hit Chase DeLauter to start the ninth inning, and DeLauter ended up breaking a 2-2 tie when he scored on Nathaniel Lowe’s sacrifice fly.

Miller has given up six runs and six walks in his past 3 1/3 innings and took the loss on Tuesday.

“He’s working through stuff,” Boston manager Chad Tracy said. “I thought today was another step in the right direction. The hit batter … the free passes are what gets you, and I think he also got some bad batted ball (luck). … We’re gonna try to get him out there a couple more times this week. Obviously still trust the stuff. If we can get that right, trust the stuff and his ability to strike out guys.”

Tuesday’s win allowed the Guardians (82-75) to remain one game ahead of the Chicago White Sox at the top of the American League Central standings. Chicago has the division tiebreaker over Cleveland, which has a magic number of two to clinch a playoff berth.

Meanwhile, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt called Lowe “a professional hitter.”

“You know he’s not trying to do too much,” Vogt said. “He’s not going up there trying to be a hero, hitting a three-run homer. Just score the guy from third. Got a pitch up in the zone, and was able to drive it deep enough to left. And you know he continues to just make plays for us.”

The Guardians won despite stranding 15 runners and a 1-for-12 hitting performance with runners in scoring position.

“Again, felt like it was another night where we get a ton of traffic, we put a lot of pressure on, and just weren’t able to get the big hit,” Vogt said. “You know, we were able to get a couple runs across, but we left a lot on the table. But I just love the way we’re making guys work. We’re getting on base … and we’re going to come through a lot more often than not. And again, our pitching just picked us up again tonight.”

Tracy said he expects center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (quadriceps) to be activated from the injured list on Wednesday. The manager also said first baseman Willson Contreras still has some soreness in his hand and won’t be in the lineup Wednesday but is close to returning.

Right-hander Sonny Gray (17-5, 2.82 ERA) will start for the Red Sox on Wednesday. He’s 8-5 with a 3.12 ERA in 21 career starts against the Guardians. On May 30, he gave up one run on four hits and three walks over six innings against them. He struck out seven in a 9-1 win.

Left-hander Foster Griffin (15-5, 3.67 ERA) will start for Cleveland on Wednesday. It will be his first career appearance against the Red Sox.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Re-Up Breslow, Sign Tracy

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox dropped the interim tag on Tuesday and named Chad Tracy as the 49th manager in franchise history. Tracy agreed to a three-year contract that will extend through the 2029 season with a club option in 2030.

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Also on Tuesday, the Red Sox exercised their 2029 and 2030 contract options on Craig Breslow, the team’s chief baseball officer.

No financial terms were released.

“Craig and Chad are two exceptionally talented leaders who have earned these opportunities in very different ways,” Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy said in a statement. “Over the last three years, we have watched Craig bring clarity, discipline, and conviction to the work of building our baseball operation. Chad was asked to step into a difficult situation with little notice, but the trust he immediately commanded at the major league level was earned through years of work across our organization.

“What this team has accomplished over the past several months has been historic. Results matter greatly in this business, but so do judgment, character, and the ability to bring out the best in others. Craig and Chad have demonstrated all of those qualities, and they have earned our confidence in leading us forward.”

Breslow, 46, was named to his position on Oct. 25, 2023. The Red Sox have posted a 254-226 record under his watch.

Tracy, 41, was named the interim manager on April 26, taking over a team that owned a 10-17 record under former manager Alex Cora. They have qualified for a wild-card berth in the American League playoffs and have an 84-72 record heading into the final six games of the season.

Boston’s success under Tracy was highlighted by a 27-3 mark from July 3-Aug. 7 that served as the best 30-game span in franchise history.

“It became pretty clear early on,” said Breslow. “We didn’t want it to become a distraction and it was pretty easy to get it (the three-year deal) across the finish line.”

“All the focus can be on October baseball,” said Tracy.

–Field Level Media

Sox Face Guardians in Home Stretch

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Cleveland Guardians are playing some of their best baseball of the season at the most important time, and they will attempt to extend a five-game winning streak when they visit the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

Cleveland (81-75) has a one-game lead over the Chicago White Sox for first place in the American League Central standings with six games remaining. After playing three games at Boston, the Guardians will wrap up the regular season with a three-game road series against the Kansas City Royals.

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The Guardians also have a three-game lead over the Texas Rangers, who are at the top of the American League West standings. Cleveland and Texas are among the teams battling for the AL’s No. 2 seed, which comes with a first-round bye.

“The feeling in the clubhouse is pretty awesome right now,” Cleveland closer Cade Smith said after he earned his 39th save in 44 opportunities when the Guardians beat the Athletics 1-0 Sunday. “We’ve got some momentum. We’ve got confidence in the way we’re playing. We’re playing clean baseball.

“There’s this kind of calm focus that we’re ready to go out there and play. We’re looking forward to taking it one game at a time and finishing strong and setting us up for the postseason.”

The Guardians went 10-20 in their first 30 games after the All-Star break and were a season-high five games under .500 (61-66) at that point but have gone 20-9 since then.

“One day at a time,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “We can only control today. Let’s go 1-0 every day and let’s worry about tomorrow, tomorrow, because here we are, one week to go, six games to go. We’re right in it and we have a great opportunity in front of us.”

Despite dropping a 5-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, Boston (84-72) clinched a playoff spot when the Houston Astros lost to the Atlanta Braves. A postseason berth didn’t seem likely when the Red Sox had a 32-46 record on June 24.

“They didn’t take no for an answer,” said interim manager Chad Tracy, who took over a 10-17 team when he replaced Alex Cora on April 26. “When you work as hard as we have worked, it was almost July (before we got going), and to fight as hard as we did, to put ourselves in the position we did, I don’t think you care much how (the spot is clinched). You just want to see your ticket get punched.”

The Red Sox will almost certainly open the playoffs with a best-of-three wild-card series on the road against the New York Yankees. Boston and New York also met in the wild-card round last year, when the Yankees won the series in three games.

Boston also has six regular-season games remaining. After the three-game series against the Guardians, Boston will play three home games against the Chicago Cubs.

Tuesday’s pitching matchup features a pair of left-handers in Cleveland’s Parker Messick (12-9, 2.57 ERA) and Boston’s Payton Tolle (9-6, 3.02). Tolle was originally scheduled to pitch over the weekend against Tampa Bay, but had his start pushed back as Boston lines up its pitching for the postseason.

Messick doesn’t have a decision against Boston but has a 4.15 ERA in two career appearances (both starts). Tolle has not pitched against Cleveland during his career.

–Field Level Media

Rays Walk On, Walk Off

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ST. PETE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Richie Palacios produced a two-out, walk-off single in the ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays edged the Boston Red Sox 2-1 on Saturday afternoon in Florida to even their final home series of the regular season.

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Against Garrett Whitlock (7-2), Palacios looped a 1-2 sinker into shallow right to score Junior Caminero as the Rays (94-60) hit their third walk-off winner during the nine-game homestand.

Jonathan Aranda homered while Liam Hicks and Chandler Simpson posted two hits apiece as Tampa Bay improved to 7-1 on the homestand.

Bidding for a fifth consecutive win over five starts, Freddy Peralta received no decision after yielding just one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings that took 97 pitches. He struck out six and walked two.

Caleb Durbin stroked two doubles and scored for the Red Sox (84-71), who lost for the first time in three games.

Starting pitcher Brayan Bello went a season-best eight innings and allowed one run on five hits with a career high-tying 11 strikeouts. The Rays got an out with the infield drawn in and appeared to escape trouble in the third. Then Roman Anthony, who homered and had three RBIs in Friday’s 4-2 win in the opener, remained hot and made it 1-0 with a two-out double that scored Durbin.

Cedric Mullins laid down a bunt single and reached second on Durbin’s throwing error to open the third, but he was picked off and caught trying to steal third on Jorge Mateo’s failed sacrifice bunt.

In the fourth, Aranda tied it 1-all when he rocked his 22nd homer to left field as he took Bello’s 97 m.p.h. four-seam fastball the opposite way.

With Bello still in the game in the seventh, Hicks led off with a single and Simpson dropped one into right with no outs. Following a groundout and a fielder’s choice, Bello ended the threat by whiffing Mullins on a foul tip.

Durbin lined his second double with one out in the ninth, but Hicks tossed him out trying to steal third. Jarren Duran followed with his fifth triple, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to deep third to end the inning off Bryan Baker (4-2).

–Field Level Media

 

Anthony Does His Job

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ST. PETERSBURG – (Wire Service Report) – Roman Anthony homered and had three RBIs, Jahmai Jones went deep and the Boston Red Sox cooled off the first-place Tampa Bay Rays with a 4-2 victory on Friday night in Florida.

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The Red Sox (84-70) opened their final road series of the regular season by scoring all of their runs in the first three innings to win for the second consecutive night. Anthony went 2-for-5, while Caleb Durbin was 2-for-3 as the team produced nine hits. Sox starting pitcher Ranger Suarez (8-4) fought control issues but went 5 2/3 innings in earning the win. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out five and walking five.

Junior Caminero doubled, walked twice and drove in a run for Tampa Bay (93-60), but the American League’s top club had only five hits, was a brutal 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and had its six-game winning streak snapped.

Starter Ian Seymour (9-7) was hit hard in the first two innings and finished by allowing four runs on seven hits in five frames. He whiffed five and walked two.

On the third pitch of the game, leadoff hitter Anthony crushed a Statcast-estimated 438-foot blast to center field. It was the left fielder’s fifth homer.

Caminero’s RBI groundout tied it in the bottom half, but Anthony did more damage by ripping a two-out single to right for a 3-1 lead in the second.

Jones made it 4-1 leading off the third by lining Seymour’s changeup out to left for his sixth homer.

Suarez got out of a slight jam in the third after Caminero walked and Ryan Vilade singled, but he retired red-hot Chandler Simpson and Jonny DeLuca to maintain the three-run lead.

The home club put together a strong threat in the sixth after Wyatt Olds relieved Suarez and issued two walks to fill the bases with two outs. However, he battled back in the count against pinch hitter Jake Fraley and struck him out.

In the ninth, Jonathan Aranda’s groundout scored a run, but Erik Miller got Simpson to ground out to second with the bases loaded for his fifth save.

–Field Level Media

Rangers Extend Win Streak vs Sox

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ARLINGTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Texas Rangers will have plenty to play for when they wrap up a three-game series against the visiting Boston Red Sox on Thursday night in Texas.

A victory would give the Rangers (76-76) a three-game sweep and keep them in at least a tie for first place in the American League West. Their 7-3 victory over Boston on Wednesday, plus Kansas City’s 5-2 win against Houston, left the Rangers and Astros tied at the top of the division standings. Houston will face Kansas City again Thursday.

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The Astros own the tiebreaker.

Nathan Eovaldi held Boston scoreless for the final four innings Wednesday to earn the win. The victory stretched Texas’ winning streak to four games.

“We just have to keep playing baseball,” Eovaldi said. “Keep doing the things we’ve been doing. We’ve been playing well lately and I think it’s a combination of everybody stepping up and doing their part.

“Obviously guys are grinding right now, but for us to be able to come out and play well in these first two games against the Red Sox — we have to make sure we’re able to bounce back tomorrow — but I think it just shows the grit that we have in the clubhouse in all the guys.”

Eovaldi surrendered one hit and threw 46 pitches in relief.

“Once it got tied up, just felt like he (Eovaldi) was the guy to take us to the end,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “We didn’t have (Jacob) Latz available. We didn’t have (Robert) Garcia available today. … What he provided was enormous because we were a little bit limited in the back end.”

The game was tied, 3-3, until Texas scored three runs against reliever Erik Miller in the seventh, an inning that featured a walk, a hit batter and two hits.

“They put some good swings on him,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “I don’t know what else to say other than that. He hit the leadoff guy so you put traffic out there, and they got some pitches up in the zone and they hit him hard. He’ll be fine. He’s really good, but they were able to get some good swings on him today.”

Boston (82-70) received a two-run home run from Willson Contreras but was held to three hits. In their 4-2 loss on Thursday, the Red Sox had six hits but struck out 15 times.

“We’re going through it a little bit,” Tracy said. “We didn’t create a ton of opportunities. Obviously Willson with a big swing to give us the lead and only a couple other chances, one of which was a ball that was stung by Izzy (Isiah Kiner-Falefa) on a contact play for a double play. And then we gave ourselves one other chance. … Just not creating a ton of opportunities for ourselves.

“We got some guys going through it. You could see one or two big swings and it could turn completely in the other direction. We just gotta keep plugging away at it.”

The Red Sox have a hold on the second AL wild card, up five games over the third spot.

Boston will send right-hander Sonny Gray (17-5, 2.76 ERA) to the mound Thursday as they attempt to avoid the three-game sweep. Gray is 12-5 with a 2.81 ERA in 20 career appearances (19 starts) against Texas.

Tyler Alexander (5-2, 3.38) is expected to be the opener for the Rangers before giving way to fellow left-hander Cody Bradford (0-5, 4.72) as the bulk reliever. He has a 7.36 ERA in one career start against Boston, that coming in a 7-4 win on Aug. 3, when he gave up three runs on four hits — including two home runs — in 3 2/3 innings. He did not figure into the decision.

Alexander has seven career appearances (one start) against the Red Sox and is 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA. He pitched one scoreless innings of relief in the win on Tuesday.

–Field Level Media

Rangers, deGrom Defeat Red Sox

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ARLINGTON – (Wire Service Report) – Jacob deGrom struck out eight in five innings, and the Texas Rangers scored four runs in the second inning to defeat the visiting Boston Red Sox 4-2 Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series in Texas.

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DeGrom (11-9), who dealt with groin tightness in his start against Seattle on Thursday, held Boston to two runs on three hits and walked one.

Boston (82-69) had the tying run at the plate after Roman Anthony singled with two outs in the ninth, but Jacob Latz struck out pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones for the game’s final out. Latz pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn his 30th save. He allowed one hit, walked one and struck out three.

Boston starter Patrick Sandoval (1-6) was pulled with two outs in the third. He allowed four runs on four hits and walked two.

Ezequiel Duran and Corey Seager each collected two hits for the Rangers, who have won three in a row. Despite the win, Texas (75-76) remained a game behind division-leading Houston in the American League West standings.

Nick Sogard homered for Boston, which left the bases loaded in the fifth and eighth innings. The Red Sox struck out 15 times, stranded nine baserunners and were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

The Rangers took the lead for good in the second. After singles by Brandon Nimmo and Duran, Elias Diaz hit a two-run double to open the scoring. Seager later extended the lead to 4-0 with a two-out, two-run single.

Sogard’s two-run home run off deGrom in the third made it 4-2. It was his fifth home run of the season and followed Caleb Durbin’s one-out single to center.

Latz was one of four Texas relievers who combined to hold Boston to three hits over the final four innings.

–Field Level Media

Texas Rangers Host Red Sox

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ARLINGTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Texas Rangers are far from healthy but find themselves one game out of first place in the American League West as they kick off a nine-game homestand with a matchup against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

Texas (74-76) had lost its last eight road series until it beat Arizona 7-6 on Sunday to take two of three games against the Diamondbacks. Sunday’s win moved the Rangers a game behind Houston in the division, although the Astros own the tiebreaker.

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It was a big road series,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “After a tough final game in Seattle, to come here and win two out of three against a really good team (is great). Hopefully we can build that momentum going into a good homestand against some more tough teams. But that was a big win, and a much-needed win.

“We need this off day (Monday), 1,000%, but I’m proud to be part of this team. They are showing fight and resiliency. They are doing whatever they can to get on the field. I’m positive that some of them probably shouldn’t be playing, and they are. And, so, that’s why I think we’re in a really good spot mentally because the guys are playing for each other.”

Third baseman Josh Jung is among those playing at less than 100%. He was activated from the injured list (left calf) before Saturday’s game in Arizona and went 4-for-9 with two RBIs in the final two games of the series, but he was pulled from Sunday’s game in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“It was the first time I’ve had some soreness since I started playing again, but we managed,” Jung said. “It was good enough. And I’m going to play every day. I might be sore. I might be running really slowly. But I’m going to be out there and do the best I can.”

There’s also concern regarding outfielder Joc Pederson, who was hit by a pitch on his left hand Saturday and was wearing a brace Sunday. Schumaker said Pederson was scheduled to see a hand specialist in the coming days.

Pitchers Cal Quantrill (back) and Jacob deGrom (groin) are dealing with injuries as well.

The injury news is better for Boston (82-68), which activated first baseman Willson Contreras from the 10-day injured list Sunday. Contreras, who leads the team with 26 home runs, batted fourth and went 2-for-3 in a 4-1 triumph over the Kansas City Royals.

Contreras was booed by fans at Fenway Park twice in August for failing to run out ground balls while managing a sore hamstring and was placed on the IL on Aug. 31.

“Felt good overall,” Contreras said. “Good game. We won, most important thing. I had to (run the bases). I don’t want to get booed again, so I made sure my hamstring was 100%.”

The Red Sox, who are currently in a position to face the New York Yankees in an American League wild-card series, will start left-hander Patrick Sandoval (1-5, 4.58) on Tuesday. Sandoval is 1-3 with a 3.29 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against the Rangers.

Texas has not announced a probable starter.

–Field Level Media

Immaculate Man

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FENWAY – (Wire Service Report) – Roman Anthony’s two-out RBI single in the seventh inning snapped a 1-1 tie, lifting the Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals in the rain-delayed rubber game of their series on Sunday.

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The Red Sox (82-68) took a 1-0 lead on Caleb Durbin’s solo homer in the second inning before scoring three runs over their final two at-bats.

Willson Contreras, who missed the previous 12 games with a left hamstring strain, and Trevor Story each had two hits. Story had a two-RBI single in the eighth.

Payton Tolle struck out seven and allowed just four hits and one walk over six shutout innings, including an immaculate first. (An immaculate inning is one where the pitcher strikes out three batters with a total of nine pitches). Garrett Whitlock (7-1) was credited with the win in relief while Aroldis Chapman brushed off two walks of his own to strike out the side for his 34th save.

Tolle generated seven swings and misses en route to his immaculate inning, punctuating it with a 98 mph fastball to retire Jac Caglianone swinging. He became only the eighth Red Sox pitcher in franchise history to post the feat and the first since Chris Sale in 2021.

The left-hander struck out each of the first four batters he faced before a one-out infield single to Michael Massey in the second.

Kansas City (66-84) was limited to just five hits, though Noah Cameron tossed one-run ball across six innings.

After Red Sox reliever Erik Miller’s back-to-back walks led to Kansas City’s game-tying run on a Carter Jensen RBI single in the top of the seventh, Craig Kimbrel (1-5) issued one-out free passes to Durbin and Nick Sogard, and Anthony’s line-drive knock into right-center field off Connor Thomas followed two batters later.

In the eighth, the Red Sox tagged Nate Pearson for three straight one-out hits to add insurance to their lead. Story drove home Contreras and Adley Rutschman, who singled and doubled, respectively.

An inning after Cameron got out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first, Durbin vaulted the Red Sox into the lead with a blast into the Green Monster seats in left-center field.

Massey’s knock was Kansas City’s lone hit until the fifth, when Tolle stranded Luke Maile and Tyler Tolbert following back-to-back singles with two outs. In the sixth, Tolle allowed a leadoff single to Bobby Witt Jr. and hit Caglianone before two inning-ending strikeouts kept Boston in front.

The Royals finally broke through in the seventh. After Isaac Collins — who drew the first of back-to-back walks from Miller — was out on a force play at third, Jensen grounded a pinch-hit single past diving first baseman Contreras to plate pinch runner John Rave with the tying run. Whitlock escaped that jam with back-to-back outs thereafter.

–Field Level Media