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It’s Masters Sunday

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AUGUSTA – Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy experienced his share of “firsts” on Saturday. McIlroy became the first player in Masters history to start a round with six consecutive 3s on the scorecard.

He also had a “second,” as the second player in Masters history to record six consecutive 3s during one round (Jack Renner/1983/R1/Nos. 12-17).

But it was McIlroy’s first time making two eagles in one round at the Masters (Nos. 2 and 15) and he became the first player to do so since 2020 (three players).

McIlroy joined Jordan Spieth (2015), Tiger Woods (2005, 1997), Raymond Floyd (1976) and Johnny Miller (1975) as players with consecutive rounds of 66 or better at a Masters.

And, the big one: McIlroy can also join only five players who have won all four major championships, otherwise known as the career Grand Slam.

If McIlroy completes his career Grand Slam, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, he’d be creating golf history:

  • 90 years after Gene Sarazen/1935 Masters
  • 60 years after Gary Player/1965 U.S. Open
  • 25 years after Tiger Woods/2000 Open

As the great sports day of “Sunday at the Masters” is now upon us, McIlroy will not be out there alone. With a final-round score in the 60s today, Bryson DeChambeau (2nd/-10) would join Cameron Smith (67-68-69-69/2020/T2) as the only players to shoot all four rounds in the 60s in a single Masters tournament. DeChambeau owns the most rounds in the 60s at major championships since the start of 2024 (11).

In each of the last eight Masters, the eventual champion sat T2 or better through 54 holes.

Corey Conners (3rd/-8) seeks his best finish in a major championship (previous, T6/2022 Masters Tournament) as he looks to join Mike Weir(2003) as the only Masters champions from Canada.

Patrick Reed (T4/-6), Scottie Scheffler (T6/-5) and Zach Johnson (T10/-4) are the only past Masters champions among players at T10 or better on the leaderboard. Johnson’s 6-under 66 marks a span of 28 rounds since his last round in the 60s at the Masters (68/R4) back in 2015.

The Masters | Leaderboard After 54 Holes

1 Rory McIlroy 72 66 66 204 (-12)

2 Bryson DeChambeau 69 68 69 206 (-10)

3 Corey Conners 68 70 70 208 (-8)

T4 Patrick Reed 71 70 69 210 (-6)

T4 Ludvig Åberg 68 73 69 210 (-6)

Tournament Leaderboard: (link)

The Masters

COURSE: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

ARCHITECT: Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones Jr.; Perry Maxwell in 1937

YARDS/PAR: 7,555 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: TBD

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

OVERVIEW: (link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @The Masters

 

Rose Clinging to Lead at Masters

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AUGUSTA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – There’s no shortage of stars jockeying for position midway through the Masters. England’s Justin Rose is eager to see how this plays out. Rose maintained the lead through the second round by shooting 1-under-par 71 on Friday.

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He’s aiming for his first victory at Augusta National Golf Club, though this is the third time he has been at the top of the leaderboard through 36 holes in the tournament.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to knock on the door,” Rose said. “… You’re going to have to play great golf, and you’re going to have to go out there and want it and go for it and get after it.”

Rose stands at 8-under 136 but his lead has been reduced from three strokes to one, and there are several big-name golfers in close pursuit. LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau is in second place after shooting a 68.

“This is what golf is about. Got a lot of great names up there, and looking forward to an unbelievable test of golf,” DeChambeau said.

N. Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (66 on Friday) is tied at 6 under with Canada’s Corey Conners (70).

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (71), Matt McCarty (68), England’s Tyrrell Hatton (70) and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (68) are at 5 under. It looked like Hatton might be in position to catch Rose until bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17.

“We’ve got some great guys on top of the leaderboard, so it should be a fun weekend,” Scheffler said.

Rose has captured one major, the 2013 U.S. Open, and he likes being in the conversation in the big tournaments.

“That’s the company that I expect to keep, and that’s where I have tried to be my whole career,” Rose said. “That’s where I’ve been for a lot of my career.”

Rose had four birdies and three bogeys. After sinking a 7-foot birdie at the par-3 17th hole to get to 9 under, he found the sand on No. 18 and couldn’t save par.

DeChambeau, who holed out from a bunker for birdie on No. 4, played the front nine in 4 under before making a bunch of pars interrupted only by a bogey on No. 16 and a birdie on the next hole.

Patience will be crucial for DeChambeau this weekend.

“It’s not easy to try and be more conservative when you know the leaders are starting to run away from it,” he said.

McIlroy got rolling on the back nine with three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 13th, where he drove it into the pine straw but hit a perfect second shot to 9 feet of the pin.

He said he tried not to be consumed with the notable names on the leaderboard.

“I was just looking for my name,” he said, drawing laughter. “I was not really worried about the others.”

Scheffler, who has won two of the past three Masters, had a couple of costly three-putts Friday. He finished with six birdies and five bogeys.

“Extremely challenging when you get greens this fast and you get that much wind, especially when it’s gusty,” Scheffler said. “It can be quite challenging.”

McCarty, in the Masters for the first time, had a horrid start at 3 over through two holes but bounced back with eight birdies, including four in a row at Nos. 6-9. Even with a bogey on the last hole, he’s at 5 under for the tournament.

Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard (67), Norway’s Viktor Hovland (69) and Australia’s Jason Day (70) are at 4 under.

South Korea’s Sungjae Im reached 6 under for the tournament through 14 holes but slumped late in the round. His 70 left him at 3 under.

Along with Im, the group at 3 under includes Patrick Reed (70), Collin Morikawa (69), Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (68) and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (73).

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany missed the cut by one stroke at 3 over after missing a par putt on the final hole. He shot rounds of 74 and 73 in his 41st and final Masters.

“Coming up 18 was mixed emotions because I was still inside the cut line, and even when I made bogey, I wasn’t sure I’m totally out of there or not,” Langer said. “I actually thought 3-over would make the cut, as windy as it was.”

Langer, 67, received countless ovations through the tournament’s first two rounds.

“I always appreciated the beauty of this golf course and the challenges you have to face, pretty much on every shot,” he said. “The support of the patrons and so much more.”

Others falling outside the cut line include Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley at 3 over, Fred Couples and Spain’s Sergio Garcia at 4 over, and Brooks Koepka, Australian Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson at 5 over.

“It felt like this was a good week, a good opportunity for me, and unfortunately I didn’t score,” said Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion. “It’s disappointing because I felt I was playing well enough to at least be in the hunt.”

–Field Level Media

Senate Subcommittee on LIV Golf

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WASH DC – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A report by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations accused the Saudi Public Investment Fund of entering negotiations with the PGA Tour only due to the threat of discovery in their antitrust lawsuit.

The report, released Friday, outlined the subcommittee’s findings from an inquiry into the June 2023 “framework agreement” for a merger between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF’s golf assets, namely LIV Golf.

US Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), chair of the PSI, was among those concerned about “the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution.”

But the subcommittee’s investigation goes further back to before that shocking announcement, when LIV Golf was pursuing antitrust litigation against the PGA Tour for denying golfers the opportunity to play on both tours.

“The Subcommittee’s inquiry revealed that the first significant back and forth about a potential agreement between the PIF and the PGA Tour began with a renewed push from a representative of the PIF to broker a deal on April 14, 2023,” the report said, “and that a key term of the initial Framework Agreement entered into by the PIF and the PGA Tour involved the dismissal, with prejudice, of pending litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

“On April 7, 2023, a judge in the Northern District of California had ruled in that litigation that the PIF and its Governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, were subject to discovery and depositions by lawyers for the PGA Tour. This deposition would likely have revealed details of the PIF’s operations and Governor al-Rumayyan’s control over its commercial investments.”

Blumenthal went on to write that “U.S. defenses are inadequate to protect against increasingly sophisticated foreign influence efforts by Saudi Arabia and other malign actors and exposed loopholes within the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) that allow foreign governments to escape accountability.”

The PGA Tour and the PIF have supposedly been in negotiations for some time now, though the PGA Tour has since acquired additional funding for its new for-profit endeavor, PGA Tour Enterprises, from a coalition of sports owners and investors called Strategic Sports Group.

The PGA Tour and LIV have held meetings with President Donald Trump, an avid golfer, in recent weeks, which have not produced any material progress in the talks.

–Field Level Media

Stinky Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Chicago’s Omar Narvaez had three RBIs, while Jacob Amaya and Miguel Vargas each delivered two-run doubles and Davis Martin pitched six-plus strong innings as the host Chicago White Sox routed the Boston Red Sox 11-1 on Friday.

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Chicago snapped an eight-game losing streak while sending Boston to its fourth loss in five games. The White Sox capitalized on five Red Sox errors to score six unearned runs.

A career outing from Martin (1-1) helped propel the White Sox. The right-hander pitched into the seventh inning for the first time in 22 major-league starts while matching his previous best with six strikeouts.

Martin scattered one run and six hits while walking one. He retired nine straight Boston hitters during one stretch.

Red Sox counterpart Sean Newcomb struggled to keep the White Sox off the bases. Amaya lined a two-run double to left with two outs in the second inning to give Chicago a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

There also were two outs when Vargas contributed a two-run double to start a four-run fourth. Luis Robert followed with a run-scoring single, stole second base and scored on Lenyn Sosa’s RBI single.

Newcomb (0-2) spaced six runs and six hits in four innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

Narvaez extended the White Sox advantage to 7-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. He added a two-run single in the seventh.

Boston avoided a shutout in its half of the seventh. A Wilyer Abreu double and Kristian Campbell single chased Martin from the game before Blake Sabol lofted a sacrifice fly against reliever Cam Booser.

Alex Bregman grounded out to third with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Michael A. Taylor collected three hits for Chicago while Brooks Baldwin and Sosa each added two.

White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth, acquired from the Boston organization in the offseason trade that sent left-hander Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox, made his major-league debut and reached base in all four plate appearances. He posted a single and three walks while scoring two runs.

Abreu and Campbell had two hits apiece for the Red Sox.

Martin, Booser, Penn Murfee and Brandon Eisert combined for 11 strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

Runs Scarce for Sox & Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – “Let’s get some runs” is typically the domain of Chicago’s North Side, where it’s a common refrain at Wrigley Field should the Cubs be trailing at the seventh-inning stretch.

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A weekend series between the host Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox could use an infusion of offense, though.

The White Sox have scored three runs in their past three games entering Friday’s series opener. The Red Sox, meanwhile, needed a bit of good fortune to rally for a 4-3 victory in 10 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, avoiding a four-game sweep that saw Boston score four runs in the first three games.

Chicago stumbles back home on an eight-game losing streak that includes an 0-6 trip through Detroit and Cleveland.

The White Sox collected just two extra-base hits while being swept by the Guardians — doubles by Austin Slater on Wednesday and Matt Thaiss on Thursday.

Boston rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the eighth inning of its series finale against the visiting Blue Jays, with Trevor Story delivering a game-ending RBI groundout.

Story said the win will “give us something to build on” and ensure a “happy flight” to Chicago.

“It’s been a tough series here with the Blue Jays, but we’re just looking to dominate at home — and we didn’t do that,” Story said.

Right-hander Davis Martin (0-1, 5.73 ERA) gets the call for the White Sox as he aims to recapture the stuff of his first start this season — not his second.

After spacing two unearned runs and four hits in six innings of a March 30 no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels, Martin sputtered on Saturday in Detroit. He yielded seven runs and nine hits, including two home runs, in five innings.

Martin feels he learned a valuable lesson about pitch sequencing from the loss to the Tigers.

“You saw they were jumping on offspeed early and often,” he said. “As we went on, we started switching it to more of a fastball-heavy approach, moving the sinker around, following it up with four-seams, doubling it up with four-seams. So just seeing that earlier, the better.

“Instead of doing that in the third and fourth innings, doing that in the first two or so. Just reading swings, reading those tendencies early in the game is another part of development.”

Martin defeated the Red Sox in his lone career appearance against them, delivering six innings of one-run, three-hit ball in a victory at Fenway Park last September. He walked one and struck out three while working around three hit batsmen.

Lefty Sean Newcomb (0-1, 5.19) will start for the Red Sox. Pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in a doubleheader on Sunday, he turned in a bounce-back effort from his first outing of the season.

Newcomb took a no-decision, spacing one run and six hits in 4 2/3 innings, with three walks and five strikeouts. In his first game, on March 31, he took the loss after giving up four runs on eight hits over four innings of an 8-5 loss at Baltimore.

Newcomb has pitched to a 0.00 ERA in two career relief appearances against the White Sox covering 2 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Rose Leads Masters After 18

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

AUGUSTA – Justin Rose has won in every corner of the globe. The 44-year old Englishman (born in South Africa) has one Major (2013 U.S. Open), is the oldest player since 50-year-old Fred Couples in 2010 to lead/co-lead through 18 holes at the Masters. Aside from the one Major, he’s finished second and third in the others. Rose won on the European Tour, the Japan Tour, and he’s won in Canada and Australia. In 2016, he won a gold medal at the Rio Olympics.

Rose has a victory at the World Golf Championship and has a FedEx Cup title to his name, and that banked $10,000,000 back in 2018. Add success in the Ryder Cup and it’s just an amazing career.

This weekend, he’s focused on The Masters and his (65) placed him atop the leaderboard after 18 holes, a place he’s now held five times – a Masters record.

Rose carded eight birdies, five on the front nine. He had one bogey which came on the 18th. The round matched his career-low 18-hole score at the Masters Tournament (65/R1/2021/finished 7th).

Three golfers, Corey Connors of Canada, Scottie Scheffler – the defending champion of the USA – and Ludvig Åberg of Sweden are a three shots off the lead.

LIV golfers, Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau are four shots back, shooting (69s).

Collin Morikawa was (-3) after an eagle on 13, but bogeyed three of his last four holes and sits T-27 after shooting E – (72).

Rory McIlroy (T27/E) carded two double bogeys in his last four holes (Nos. 15 and 17). It was his first time with multiple double bogeys or worse in a round at the Masters Tournament since 2014 (R2).

With a hole out from 191 yards on the par-4 14th hole, Fred Couples (T11/-1), in his 40th appearance, makes his first career eagle on a par-4 at the Masters. Couples, at age 65 years, 6 months, 7 days, became the second-oldest to break par in a round at Augusta National Golf Club (Tom Watson/2015/71/R1 at age 65 years, 7 months, 5 days).

Four of the six leaders are international players.

Nick Dunlap finished 18 over with a (90) and will be facing a cut with the top 50 and ties advancing to the weekend. It was the highest 18-hole score on the PGA TOUR since Aguri Iwasaki carded 91 in round two of the 2024 Open Championship.

The Masters | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

1. Justin Rose 65 (-7)

2. Corey Connors 68 (-4)

2. Scottie Scheffler 68 (-4)

2. Ludvig Åberg 68 (-4)

5. Tyrrell Hatton 69 (-3)

5. Bryson DeChambeau 69 (-3)

Frozen Four: Boston U. in the Finals

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ST. LOUIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jack Hughes and Cole Eiserman scored second-period goals Thursday night as Boston University edged Penn State 3-1 in the second semifinal of the Frozen Four, the finals of NCAA ice hockey.

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The Terriers (24-13-2) advance to the Saturday night championship match to oppose Western Michigan, which got past defending champion Denver 3-2 in double overtime in the first semifinal.

The Nittany Lions, who made their first Frozen Four, finished the season at 22-14-4.

Goalie Mikhail Yegorov made 33 saves for Boston University, including 17 in a third period that saw Penn State generate a steady push with two goals to make up. The Nittany Lions got one just 2:12 into the period via a rebound that Nicholas DeGraves swiped into the net for his fourth marker of the season, but they couldn’t come up with the equalizer despite creating a spate of good chances.

The Terriers wrapped it up when Jack Harvey deposited his 11th goal of the season into an empty net at 19:01, putting BU in their first title game since 2015. The long-time Eastern hockey power, playing in its 25th Frozen Four, hasn’t won a national title since 2009.

Arsenii Sergeev delivered 32 saves for the Nittany Lions but wasn’t able to keep the puck out of his net in the second period. A turnover at the blue line sent Matt Copponi down the left side for a wrister that Sergeev stopped. However, the goalie couldn’t locate the puck, then turned his body in a futile attempt to find it and Hughes poked it in at the goal mouth at 1:35.

Eiserman’s goal came at the end of a classic two-on-one rush. Devin Kaplan won a battle in the corner in Boston University’s end of the ice and hit Cole Hutson with a breakout pass. Hutson fed Eiserman at the right post, and Eiserman slammed the puck past Sergeev.

Neither team scored in a first period that started 80 minutes later than scheduled due to the length of the first game. The Terriers enjoyed an 11-7 advantage in shots.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Hand Out Season Awards

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official New Release) – The Boston Bruins announced the recipients of their 2024-25 season awards for the team. Morgan Geekie has been named the recipient of the Eddie Shore Award, given to the player who shows exceptional hustle and determination, as chosen by the “Legacy Season Ticket Holders.”

David Pastrnak has been chosen the winner of the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy, awarded to the player exemplifying outstanding performance on home ice as determined by the Boston chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Parker Wotherspoon has been selected for the John P. Bucyk Award for providing exceptional off-ice charitable contributions, chosen by John Bucyk.

Eddie Shore Award
Bruins forward Morgan Geekie has been selected by the “Legacy Season Ticket Holders” as the 2024-25 Eddie Shore Award winner for demonstrating exceptional hustle and determination throughout the season. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound forward, has appeared in 74 games with the Bruins this season, recording career highs in goals (30), assists (23) and points (53). Among active Boston skaters, the Strathclair, Manitoba native ranks second in goals, points, even strength goals (26), even strength points (44) and power play goals (4).

Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy
David Pastrnak has been selected as the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy recipient for the 2024-25 season for his outstanding performance on home ice this season. Through 39 games at TD Garden this season, the 6-foot, 200-pound forward has totaled 24 goals and 28 assists for 52 points with a plus-17 rating. The Havirov, Czechia native leads the Bruins in goals, assists, points, even strength goals (20), even strength points (42), power play goals (4), power play points (10) and shots (157) in home games this season. This is the second consecutive year and the fourth season that Pastrnak has received the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy (2025, 2024, 2022, 2020).

John P. Bucyk Award
Parker Wotherspoon will receive the John P. Bucyk Award for his contributions in the Boston community this season. Wotherspoon has been involved in several community events including the team’s annual holiday toy shopping, a Halloween visit at Massachusetts General Hospital and various meet and greets. In January 2025, he visited the Richard J. Murphy School to participate in a STEM lesson with a 7th grade classroom. Later in the season, Wotherspoon also participated in a game of goalball with students from the Perkins School for the Blind. The award is named after Bruins legend John P. Bucyk, who is in his 68th season with the organization.

Masters Preview

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AUGUSTA – The 2025 Masters Tournament is the first major championship of the ‘25 professional golf season. Scottie Scheffler is the Masters’ defending champion and also the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking.

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After missing the 2024 Masters Tournament due to injury, Bernhard Langer of Germany will make his 41st and final start at the Masters Tournament.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler, fresh off serving the least expensive Champions Dinner in recent memory, is making his sixth appearance at Augusta National. The 2022 and 2024 Masters champion seeks to become the ninth player with three or more victories at Augusta and with a victory, would join JackNicklaus (1963, 1965, 1966) as the only players to win three Masters Tournaments in a four-year stretch.

Scheffler is also seeks to join Jack Nicklaus (1956, 1966), Nick Faldo (1989, 1990) and Tiger Woods (2001, 2002) as players to successfully defend their title at the Masters Tournament.

Scheffler has never finished outside the Top 20 in five prior starts at the Masters Tournament (T19/2020, T18/2021, Won/2022, T10/2023, Won/2024) and with his last three finishes at the Masters (Won/2024, T10/2023, Won/2022), he’s one of two players to finish among the Top 10 in each of the last three years. Collin Morikawa (5th/2022, T10/2023, T3/2024) is the other.

Rory McIlroy is making his 17th start at the Masters Tournament. He was the runner-up in 2022 which marked his best performance among seven Top-10 results.

McIlroy, as past winner of the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open Championship, is attempting to become the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam.

  • Gene Sarazen
  • Ben Hogan
  • Gary Player
  • Jack Nicklaus
  • Tiger Woods

McIlroy’s victory at the 2025 PLAYERS Championship marked his 28th win on TOUR (T20 all-time). He’s seeking to become only the third player to win the PLAYERS and The Masters in the same season, joining Tiger Woods (2001), Scottie Scheffler (2024).

With a victory at this year’s Masters Tournament, Collin Morikawa, the World No. 4 and two-time major champion (2020 PGA Championship, 2021 Open Championship) can join three active players (Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson) with three legs of the career Grand Slam.

The 2023 Open Championship winner and last week’s Valero Texas Open winner, BrianHarman heads to his seventh Masters Tournament where he has missed the cut in his last three appearances. Harman made the cut twice in prior six starts (T44/2018, T12/2021).

England’s Tommy Fleetwood seeks his first PGA TOUR win in his 152nd start; last player to earn first PGA TOUR win at a major championship: England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (2022 U.S. Open); finished T3 at the 2024 Masters Tournament, his best result in eight career appearances

The 2015 Masters champion Jordan Spieth is making his 12th start at Augusta National. He owns five Top-3 results in 11 prior appearances (T2/2014, Won/2015, T2/2016, 3rd/2018, T3/2021).

In 40 rounds at Augusta National, his 70.95 scoring average marks the lowest of any player with 25-49 career rounds); underwent wrist surgery in August following the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship and returned to competition at the 2025 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

The 2021 Masters champion and World No. 6 Hideki Matsuyama, the only male major championship winner from Japan, has made 12 cuts in 13 appearances at the Masters Tournament (MC/2014).

The Masters field has 25 different countries and territories represented this year, the most since 2015 (24). A total of 95 invitees are scheduled to compete this year.

Preview | The Masters

COURSE: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

ARCHITECT: Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones Jr.; Perry Maxwell in 1937

YARDS/PAR: 7,555 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: TBD

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

OVERVIEW: (link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @The Masters

Sox Lose Crochet’s Fenway Debut

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Toronto’s George Springer homered and Easton Lucas pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings to help the visiting Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Boston Red Sox 6-1 on Tuesday in the second game of a four-game series.

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The game was scoreless until Springer hit a solo home run against Garrett Crochet (1-1) in the top of the sixth inning. It was his second home run of the season.

The Blue Jays added three more runs in the sixth, all three unearned as Boston made a pair of two-out throwing errors.

Lucas (2-0) limited Boston to three hits. He struck out eight and walked one.

Crochet, who signed a six-year, $170 million contract extension last week, made his first start at Fenway Park since he joined the Red Sox in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox. He allowed four runs (one earned) on five hits in 5 2/3 innings, with four walks and five strikeouts.

Bo Bichette collected three hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Jays, who beat Boston 6-2 on Monday. Springer and Tyler Heineman each had two hits.

After David Schneider reached first on an Alex Bregman throwing error and Myles Straw walked, Toronto extended its lead to 2-0 when Heineman hit an infield single and Schneider scored on second baseman Kristian Campbell’s error on the throw to first. Bichette followed with a two-run single to center that drove in Heineman and Straw to make it 4-0.

Boston scored its lone run in the seventh. Romy Gonzalez doubled and scored on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single. The Red Sox got two hits from both Rafaela and Trevor Story.

The Blue Jays added two runs in the eighth. Bichette drove in Straw with a one-out single, then Heineman scored when Anthony Santander grounded out to second with the bases loaded.

Boston struck out 12 times in the loss.

–Field Level Media