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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

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

Fenway’s $170 Million Dollar Man

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – After signing a six-year, $170 million contract extension last week to remain with the Red Sox beyond this season, Garrett Crochet will take the mound in Boston for the first time in his new uniform when he opposes the Toronto Blue Jays tonight.

Crochet (1-0, 1.38 ERA) was named Boston’s Opening Day starter after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox in December, and he pitched twice on the club’s season-opening road trip. After getting a no-decision against the Texas Rangers on March 27, he followed up with a dominant outing on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles.

A day after locking up his long-term deal, the 25-year-old left-hander pitched the first eight innings of a 3-0 win, scattering just four hits and a walk while striking out eight.

“That’s the reason we committed to him,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Crochet’s latest effort snapped a four-game Boston skid. It also kicked off a five-game Red Sox winning streak that ended with a 6-2 setback in the series opener against Toronto on Monday.

Crochet last went eight innings in a start when he was pitching at the University of Tennessee, and said he hadn’t “sniffed it since.”

Now, he is ready to pitch in front of the home fans for the first time in Boston.

“This is something that I felt at home with right away,” Crochet said. “They made an immediate impression on me, and I couldn’t be more excited to be wearing a Red Sox uniform for the next several years.”

Crochet has faced the Blue Jays just three times in his career, including one start, when he threw six scoreless innings on May 21, 2024. Overall against Toronto, he is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in eight innings.

The Red Sox could use another spark from Crochet after being held to five hits, including two by Jarren Duran, in the series opener.

Duran was in the news earlier Monday after his mental health struggles, including an attempted suicide, were revealed ahead of Netflix’s documentary on the 2024 Red Sox being released.

“It takes a person with courage and being transparent and genuine to do that. I hope that’s how we see it, right?” Cora said. “He will impact others, and he’s going to save lives with what he did with Netflix.”

Toronto’s trend of strong starting pitching continued with a seven-inning, one-run outing from Jose Berrios, who was moved up a day to the series-opening slot. The Blue Jays’ rotation has covered an American League-leading 61 innings.

As a result of the Berrios move, Easton Lucas (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start on Tuesday. The rookie left-hander tossed five innings of scoreless, one-hit ball against the Washington Nationals in his first major league start on Wednesday.

George Springer went 4-for-4 and had three two-out RBIs to lead Toronto’s 13-hit effort on Monday. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also had multiple hits in his first game after landing a reported 14-year, $500 million extension.

The deal has not been confirmed and a physical remains pending, but it is undoubtedly vital to the future of an organization that has missed on several big free agents in recent offseasons.

“I feel like this is a very exciting day for Blue Jays fans as a whole, to have a guy like Vladdy who will be here for what looks like and sounds like his whole career,” Springer said. “I wholeheartedly believe his name will be hanging up in the stadium one day.”

Toronto manager John Schneider laid out what the big-money deal would mean for the 26-year-old first baseman.

“It’s different. It comes with a lot of … stuff,” he said. “It’s one thing to go out and perform. Expectations come from that, then there are expectations — whether you like it or not — that you’ll have to be a voice, be a face and set an example.”

–Field Level Media

 

Red Sox vs Cards Postponed

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Sox-Cardinals game scheduled for Saturday, April 5, at Fenway Park was postponed due to an extended period of rain throughout the Fenway and Greater Boston area.

Saturday’s game has been rescheduled as the first game of a split doubleheader Sunday, April 6, beginning at 1:35 p.m. Tickets for the Saturday game will be good for admission to the rescheduled contest. Sunday Night Baseball’s regularly scheduled game remains at 7:10 p.m.

Tomorrow’s rescheduled game will be televised on NESN, while the regularly scheduled game will be televised on ESPN. Both games will be broadcast in English on WEEI 93.7 FM and in Spanish on WESX 1230 AM/WCCM 1490 AM.

 

It’s Opening Day at Fenway Park

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk (and on site at Fenway Park)

BOSTON – We’ve endured a long winter, but when a deep and dark December turned to the New Year, we started to count down the days until Pitchers and Catchers reported to Spring Training at Little Fenway, down in Fort Myers, Florida. There were 42 days to tear off the wall calendar, from January 1st to February 12th. It seemed to last a lifetime.

Then, it came. The equipment truck left Jersey Street. The veteran players began to arrive – early. Then it was official. Spring Training opened and soon after – February 17th to be exact – the entire squad was stretching and jogging/ jogging and stretching in the Florida sun.

Soon after there were exhibition games and not so much later came the opening day for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs way over in Toyko, Japan. It was set your alarm for real games. There were more on March 27 when everyone except the Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays were throwing out the first pitch of the 2025 season.

Today, it’s Boston turn to host a Major League Baseball game in 2025. The St. Louis Cardinals are in Boston for a three game series and today, at ten after two o’clock, Walker Buehler will throw a baseball as the starting pitcher for the ‘25 Red Sox. A half-inning later, Erick Fedde will take the mound – the cool kids call it ‘the bump’ – and we’ll all see what this hometown baseball team is all about.

The Red Sox limped home yesterday after a seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record, somewhat respectable considering an opening day win was sandwiched with a current two-game winning streak but in between were four losses, three to the tough as nails Texas Rangers and one to the equally talented Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles and the New York Yankees – once again – are probably the two teams in the American League East standing between the Red Sox and postseason play, but it’s a long way until September when the days are shorter, cooler and the scoreboard watching begins.

Opening Day for the Red Sox begins with a number of storylines.

First and most important is the fact there’s a new third baseman and a new designated hitter for the Sox. Alex Bregman, a gold glove defender, is manning the hot corner which forced Boston manager Alex Cora to name longtime third baseman, Rafael Devers, as the club’s DH. Devers was none too happy and his .111 batting average (3 for 27) with 16 strike-outs tells that tale.

Devers did rip a double down the line at Camden Yards to break his slow start and he scored twice in Baltimore, so his horrible start has nowhere to go but up. Bregman, Wilyer Abreu and rookie Christian Campbell are the bright lights for the offense, as of today and, newly acquired and highly rewarded ($) starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (ERA 1.38) might become the ace that Cora needed.

The Sox faithful might’ve been too far ahead with visions of division titles dancing in their heads during Spring Training. The Red Sox finished 81-81 last season, third in the AL East, and they were five games back of a wild card spot. Now, they’re a half-game back of that pace, but it’s far too early to make any real, keen judgements on this club.

Too many questions remain, and they include:

Can Campbell keep up the pace and be a legit contender for AL Rookie of the Year?

Can Crochet win 20 games and strikeout 200+ batters along the way?

Can the likes of Buehler, Tanner Houck, Richard Fitts, and Sean Newcomb morph into a successful starting rotation while Garrett Whitlock, Arnoldis Chapman, Justin Slaten and a few others hold down a promising and improved bullpen?

Cora said Thursday that pitchers Lucas Giolito (hamstring) and Brayan Bello (shoulder) are “not close” to returning as they sit on the club’s 15-day injured list. Reliever Liam Hendricks (elbow injury and also on the IL) has been throwing at a 120-foot distance, a good sign for April 4th. Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy, a fancy name for tendinitis) is also on the IL with an injury that’s bothered him since his third start of 2024.

Today, the Red Sox begin a stretch of 14 of 20 games to be played at Fenway from April 4-24 and add ton that the fact Boston will play 30 of 48 games (from 4/4-5/25) at Fenway, where Bregman should be a “double machine” and Devers will have comfortable confines to raise his batting average and home run count to normal range.

We’ll see today whether Campbell can perform well after a standing ovation from the Fenway faithful greets him upon introductions and for his first home at bat. And, we’ll also watch Abreu batting as he leads the American League in batting average at .471 – not too shabby, eh?

Otherwise, Boston will do what it does best – throw a party at Fenway which will honor the late, great Luis Tiant and his 1975 teammates while ushering in a 63-degree New England spring day.

Play Ball.

 

Bregman Breaks Out the Bats

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

–Field Level Media

Devers Gets Red Sox on Track

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

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

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

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

The breakout excited his teammates.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Add More with Moore

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FT MYERS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Boston Red Sox added left-handed pitcher Matt Moore to the club’s 2025 Spring Training roster as a non-roster invitee. He will wear number 56.

Moore, 35, posted a 5.03 ERA (27 ER/48.1 IP) with 41 strikeouts in 51 relief appearances for the Los Angeles Angels in 2024. The left-hander did not allow an earned run from July 25 to August 19 (10.2 IP) and did not surrender an earned run in 37 of his 51 total appearances. Since the start of 2022, he owns a 2.98 ERA (58.0 IP/175.0 IP) and .210 opponent batting average (134-for-639) in 164 games. Originally selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, the Florida native has a 4.39 ERA (557 ER/1,142.2 IP) with 1,053 strikeouts in 369 career Major League games (164 starts) with the Rays (2011-15), San Francisco Giants (2016-17), Texas Rangers (2018, 2022), Detroit Tigers (2019), Philadelphia Phillies (2021), Cleveland Guardians (2023), Miami Marlins (2023), and Angels (2023-24). The 2013 American League All-Star has also posted a 3.33 ERA (9 ER/24.1 IP) in five career Postseason games with the Rays (2011, 2013) and Giants (2016).

Red Sox Sit Top Prospect

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FT. MYERS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s top prospect Roman Anthony was scratched from the Red Sox lineup Friday with right elbow soreness.

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Manager Alex Cora said the move is a precaution after Anthony was hit by a pitch in the right elbow on Thursday, and he might be back after sitting out Boston’s spring training exhibition opener against Northeastern.

Anthony was slated to hit leadoff and play left field with Boston’s “Big Three” prospects in the top three spots in the batting order. Second baseman Kristian Campbell and shortstop Marcelo Mayer remained in the lineup Friday.

“He’s sore,” Cora said after Anthony arrived to take batting practice.

The No. 2 prospect in baseball, Anthony was replaced by Trayce Thompson, a spring training non-roster invitee. Thompson has played seven seasons with five teams prior to joining the Red Sox.

Anthony, 20, was a second-round pick in the 2022 draft. Baseball Prospectus ranks him first among all MLB prospects with Major League Baseball Pipeline and Baseball America ranking Anthony second.

In parts of three minor league seasons, he has a combined .284 batting average with 32 home runs, 141 RBIs and 38 stolen bases in 245 games.

–Field Level Media