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Gimme a Break, a Good Break

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

BOSTON – Usually, the Major League Baseball All-Star break is greeted by both fans and players with glee. MLB’s 162 game season is a long haul, so it’s usually a welcome time to get some rest, take a quick trip, relax and take a much deserved break, unless you’re one of the chosen few who gets to party with the All-Stars.

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The 2025 MLB All-Star break is coming at a terrible time for the Boston Red Sox, but a really high time for the team as a whole (or on a roll). The team has compiled a 10-game winning streak, and won 12 of their last 13 games. They’re eight games over .500 mark, a 2025 season high. Boston has just swept three consecutive series and has now won as many games in this first half of 2025 (53-45) as they did in the first half of 2024 (53-43), a major feat considering the team was (30-35) and 10.5 games out in the American League East on June 6.

July has been a magical time for Boston, so this is the worst possible time for a break. But, the schedule is the schedule and its time to see if the newly found momentum can be sustained.

The team is relatively healthy, although 3B All-Star and new team leader Alex Bregman could use a few more days of rehab on his injured quad. Only Sox pitchers like Hunter Dobbins (out for season), Liam Hendriks, Zack Kelly, Tanner Houck, and, of course, first baseman Tristan Casas (out for the year) are on the mend.

Starting pitcher Bryan Bello brought the juice again Sunday. In earning his sixth win of the season (6-3), Bello threw 6.1 innings of one run ball, he gave up only six scattered hit and struck out five Tampa batters. After throwing a complete game victory against the Colorado Rockies on July 8 (107 pitches), Bello followed with a 105-pitch gem, only to give way to All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman who made quick work of the Rays by striking out the side in the visitor’s ninth inning and earned his 17th save.

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Boston centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela was the hometown hero in Boston’s 4-1 win on Sunday. His sixth inning two-run home run sealed the 10th straight victory for the Red Sox. It was Rafaela’s fifth home run in the 10-game streak. He’s carrying a career high 10-game hitting streak while batting .421 (16-for-38) with 10 runs scored, six doubles, and 15 RBI.

Since trading their franchise third baseman, Rafael Devers, on June 15 and enduring a six-game losing streak from June 21-to-27, Boston has won 12 of their last 13 games. That includes an 11-1 mark in this magical month of July. It’s only the third time in franchise history (1968 and 1939) that they’ve started July winning 11 of 12.

Shortstop Trevor Story has been another major contributor to the surging Sox. In 38 games since June 1, Story is hitting .319 (46-for-144) with 27 runs scored, ten doubles, eight home runs, and 35 RBI. The 35 RBI ranks a T-3rd in all of MLB since June 1.

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Rookie OF Roman Anthony became the youngest Red Sox player to record a nine-game hitting streak since the great Tony Conigliaro did so in 1964-and 1965. Anthony is only 21 years, 61 days old as MLB takes its break.

Tampa limps into the break, seriously needing a break. The rays have lost four in a row (by way of the Red Sox sweep), but Tampa’s dropped eight of 10 and 12 of their last 16 games, dropping the Bay to (50-47), teeting ever closer to the .500 mark they saw back on May 25th (26-26).

Tampa was swept in a series for the fourth time this season, but the first time being swept in a four-game series, dating back to July 7-10, 2024 by Baltimore.

 

Ace Crochet

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet tossed a complete-game shutout and the Boston Red Sox extended their winning streak to nine games with a 1-0 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

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Crochet (10-4) held Tampa Bay to three hits, struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter.

It’s the first time Crochet has pitched a complete game in his MLB career. Prior to Saturday he hadn’t pitched more than 8 1/3 innings in a game.

Tampa Bay’s only hits were singles by Yandy Diaz, Curtis Mead and Taylor Walls.

Crochet, who signed a six-year, $170 million contract extension earlier this year, has recorded at least seven strikeouts in each of his last nine outings. He threw 100 pitches, 72 of which were strikes.

His complete game came at a welcome time since Boston starting pitcher Hunter Dobbins left Friday night’s game in the second inning because of an ACL tear.

Tampa Bay received a strong start from Shane Baz, who held Boston to a run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Baz (8-5) struck out three and walked two. It was his fourth straight quality start.

The Rays have lost five of their last six games.

Boston scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Roman Anthony hit a one-out double and scored on a Carlos Narvaez single.

Tampa Bay had a chance to tie the game when it had runners on first and third with one out in the sixth, but Boston first baseman Abraham Toro threw out Walls at the plate when Ha-Seong Kim attempted a safety squeeze. The Rays challenged, but the call was upheld.

The Red Sox prevailed even though they were held to five hits and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

The teams will wrap up the four-game series Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break.

–Field Level Media

There’s Magic in the Air at Fenway

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – For the very first time in the 2025 Major League Baseball season, there was a big game atmosphere as 35,452 fans entered Fenway Park on Friday night. Nearly all of them stayed in their seats when the hometown Red Sox came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning, trailing the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3.

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Much of the buzz in the American League’s oldest ballpark stemmed from the Red Sox entering the game with a seven game winning streak. Since June 4th, Boston’s recorded the third-best record in the Majors.

Friday night, their lineup seemed whole as 3B Alex Bregman was reactivated after a 43-game absence caused by a severe right quad strain, dating back to May 24th. Since that time, there’s been massive changes to the Sox – the trade of their best hitter, Raphael Devers, and the promotion of three promising rookies – 2B Marcelo Mayer, OF Roman Anthony and INF Kristian Campbell, the latter relegated back to Triple A Worcester when RF Wilyer Abreu was reactivated from the 10-day injured list on June 20th.

Changes. Uncertainty. Errors. Poor base-running. A six game winning streak from June 10-to-16 followed by a six game losing streak from June 21-to-27. It all resulted in a rut called fourth place in the American League East with June 6th being the low point of being 10.5 games out of first place.

Tonight was different. There was magic in the air at Fenway and the Red Sox finished the night a half-game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, and in possession of third place in the AL East and keeping pace with the second place New York Yankees who spanked the Chicago Cubs, 11-0, just as the Sox came to bat in the home ninth.

One of the rookies, Mayer, led-off but grounded out. That left Sox Manager Alex Cora an easy decision to pinch hit his other top prospect, Anthony, for first baseman Abraham Toro. The slugger stayed patient at the plate, as Tampa Bay closer Pete Fairbanks brought his 99 mph heat. Four of Fairbanks’ pitches missed the strike zone and Anthony walked to first base.

One out, man on first, trailing 4-3 – and up came the Sox number nine hitter, Ceddanne Rafaela.

The defensive wiz centerfielder came into the game with a seven game hitting streak and he had extended it to eight with an RBI single in the second inning. His hot streak included a .444 batting average, eight runs scored, six doubles, 10 RBI and three home runs.

Fairbanks fired three four-seam fastballs to take a 1-2 count to his advantage. On the fourth pitch, an 86 mph slider, Rafaela took it long – some 406 feet to put an exclamation point on the advertisements atop the famed Green Monster. Sox win, 5-4.

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It was Rafaela’s second career game-winning home run, the last coming as the tides were running high on June 4 out in Anaheim, California when Boston won an 11-9 slugfest. Tonight was different.

Rafaela (2-for-4, one run, one HR and three RBI) has been scoring runs and driving runners in, as well., to the tune of the last seven games to make him only the third Boston Red Sox player at the age of 24 or younger to accomplish that feat. To put it in perspective, Ted Williams (8 game streak in 1942) was another, along with little known Duffy Lewis, back in 1912.

Records and milestones aside, Rafaela – like the rest of his Boston Red Sox teammates – are walking a walk, tossing bats aside and skipping past third base with a resolve to meet-up with an entire roster of confident players.

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It’s now led Boston to an eight game winning streak and the climb past Tampa to third place. The confidence prompted utility man Romy Gonzalez to print up some t-shirts for his teammates with an art deco, pink and Carolina blue script, reading “Tremendously Locked In.”

With Rafaela’s game winning home run in the books, it might be time to print some more t-shirts to be sure the locksmiths are all ready for the final two games of this important July series.

 

Sox Buehler Tosses a Quality Win

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Boston’s starter Walker Buehler worked a seven-inning quality start and got the support of four solo home runs as the Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in the rubber game of a three-game series on Wednesday.

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Marcelo Mayer homered in each of the first two at-bats, with the 22-year-old rookie becoming the youngest Red Sox player to produce a multi-homer game since Rafael Devers in 2018.

Jarren Duran hit a leadoff home run in the first inning and Abraham Toro socked the eventual game-winning shot in the fifth after Tampa Bay erased a 3-1 deficit.

Toro and Ceddanne Rafaela joined Mayer with multi-hit games for Boston, which has won back-to-back series.

Buehler (5-4) struck out seven while yielding three runs on six hits and one walk. Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 12th save.

Yandy Diaz (two-run homer), Brandon Lowe and Jake Mangum all had two hits for Tampa Bay.

Tampa Bay right-hander Zack Littell (6-6) allowed all four Boston homers in his six-inning outing. He permitted eight hits, fanned six and didn’t issue a walk.

After Buehler stranded two baserunners to post a first-inning zero, Duran bashed Littell’s first pitch of the game into the right-center-field bullpen give the hosts a quick 1-0 lead.

The Rays quickly responded as back-to-back singles by Mangum and Matt Thaiss set the table for a game-tying run in the second. Lowe knocked in Mangum on a fielder’s-choice grounder to shortstop.

Mayer singlehandedly put the Red Sox back in front and provided insurance with his solo shots. His first homer led off the second inning, landing deep in the right field corner.

Mayer went deep again with one out in the fourth, sending another homer to a similar location in right.

Two-out offense drew Tampa Bay even in the fifth. After Lowe chopped an infield single on an open left side, Diaz deposited a two-run homer into the first rows of the right field seats.

After Littell recorded three straight outs by strikeout in the fourth and fifth, Toro cranked a homer out to straightaway center for a 4-3 edge.

Buehler retired seven straight to finish his outing before Justin Wilson and Greg Weissert combined to get out of an eighth-inning jam, preserving the one-run Boston lead. A walk to Junior Caminero and a Mangum single off Weissert loaded the bases, but Thaiss fanned to end the threat.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Scratch-out Win vs Rays

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ST PETERSBURG – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jarren Duran drove in the winning run in a small-ball eighth inning as the Red Sox evened their three-game series with Tampa Bay on Wednesday, edging the Rays 2-1 in Florida.

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After Trevor Story (2-for-3, homer, two runs) opened the eighth with a weak single past Drew Rasmussen (0-2), the Boston shortstop stole second and third. With one out, Duran slapped the winning hit to right for the Red Sox (76-76).

Boston starter Tanner Houck yielded one run and four hits in four innings. He struck out four without issuing a walk.

Justin Slaten (6-2) pitched out of trouble in the seventh. Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen worked around two walks in the ninth to notch his 27th save.

Josh Lowe (double, run), Jonny DeLuca (hit by pitch) and Taylor Walls (RBI, walk, stolen base) had two hits apiece for Tampa Bay (74-78).

Rays starter Ryan Pepiot dominated Boston for six innings, allowing just one run on two hits and no walks while fanning a career-high 12 batters. He crafted an immaculate inning (struck out all three batters on a total of nine pitches) in the fifth.

One night after tying their season high by going deep four times in an 8-3 win, the Rays produced a second-inning run. Lowe doubled with one out and DeLuca was hit by a pitch. After a strikeout, Taylor Walls slapped a liner that scored Lowe for a 1-0 lead.

In the fifth, Pepiot blew away the Red Sox lineup, whiffing Connor Wong looking and Wilyer Abreu and Triston Casas swinging.

The first-year Rays hurler set down 15 of the first 16 Boston batters he faced — 10 by strikeouts, nine swinging.

However, Story was ready to swing right away in the sixth and belted a first-pitch 93 mph fastball to left-center, making it 1-all with his second homer of the year.

Not known for his defense, Rays left fielder Christopher Morel prevented two runs in the seventh by ending the inning with a leaping catch above the fence’s pads on Casas’ drive with two runners on base.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Sweep Tampa Bay

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ST. PETERSBURG – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Wilyer Abreu and Connor Wong each drove in a pair of runs as the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the host Tampa Bay Rays with an 8-5 win on Wednesday.

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Rob Refsnyder’s leadoff single was the lone Boston hit through four innings against Tampa Bay starter Ryan Pepiot, but a five-run, five-hit fifth inning against three pitchers flipped the script of the game for good.

Abreu hit a two-run home run in the big inning. Refsnyder matched him with a 2-for-4 performance. Ceddanne Rafaela crossed the plate twice.

Brayan Bello (5-2) struck out six across six innings of four-hit, three-run ball to earn the win for the Red Sox, who secured their first road sweep of the Rays since April 2019.

Tampa Bay’s Jose Caballero and Richie Palacios each had two hits and scored a run.

Caballero and Yandy Diaz each drove in two.

A walk and a hit batter set the table for Rafaela’s ground-ball single to left to put the Red Sox on the board in the fifth and end the day of Pepiot, who was charged with three runs on two hits and four walks over the first four-plus innings.

Pepiot’s ledger grew with Richard Lovelady (0-2) on in relief after Wilyer Abreu singled and Connor Wong knocked a two-run base hit to left that tied the game.

Sox: Three in 8th Is Enough

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ST. PETERSBURG – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox scored three runs over the eighth and ninth innings en route to a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday in Florida Jarren Duran and Reese McGuire both homered as Boston took the first two games of the three-game series, giving the Red Sox their first series win at Tropicana Field since 2019.

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Boston got to Rays reliever Jason Adam (2-1) for two decisive runs in the eighth inning, which began with Ceddanne Rafaela singling and stealing second before scoring on Wilyer Abreu’s base hit into center.

Abreu was later tagged out overrunning second base on a steal, but Duran soon swiped home as part of a double steal with Rafael Devers, who had been intentionally walked. Devers’ six-game home run streak ended on Tuesday.

McGuire then homered to right-center in the ninth to close the scoring.

Greg Weissert (2-1) earned the win, and Kenley Jansen worked around a leadoff double in the ninth for his eighth save.

Isaac Paredes went 3-for-4 with both Tampa Bay RBIs.

The Rays recorded just three hits after the first inning.

After being shut out in Monday’s series opener, the Rays came out swinging and scored two runs during a four-hit first inning to take the lead. Josh Lowe’s leadoff single and a Randy Arozarena double set the table for Paredes to drive home both runners with a single.

The Red Sox got right back in the game on Vaughn Grissom’s run-scoring single in the second.

Boston starter Cooper Criswell settled in after the shaky start, allowing two runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out six.

After Jose Siri led off the home half of the second with a single, Criswell retired nine straight batters before walking Alex Jackson with one out in the fifth.

Criswell’s fine work allowed the Red Sox to come back and tie the game when Duran launched a solo homer to center in the sixth.

Tampa Bay starter Zack Littell struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings, allowing only three hits and two runs. He walked one.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox and Rays Meet Again

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TAMPA-ST.PETE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Tampa Bay Rays will play an 11th straight game against an American League East foe on Monday evening when they open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox in Florida.

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The Rays are a combined 6-4 against the New York Yankees, Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays in the 10-game stretch. They took three of four last week from the Red Sox and have had the upper hand over the past five-plus seasons against Boston.

Manager Kevin Cash’s squad sports a 57-31 mark against the Red Sox since 2019, although Boston claimed the most important triumphs when it won three of four games in the 2021 AL Division Series.

Last week in their first matchups between the teams in 2024, Tampa Bay overcame an awful gaffe before posting a series win. With two outs and Jason Adam trying to close a series-clinching win, the reliever yielded a walk to Rob Refsnyder and a single to Rafael Devers, prompting a mound visit from Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder.

However, the Rays were out of visits — a fact noted on the Fenway Park scoreboard — and Adam was removed for swingman Erasmo Ramirez, who prevented further embarrassment by getting a game-ending comebacker.

“Hundred percent on me. I let the mound visits slip in my mind,” Cash said. “I screwed up, and I’m glad that it didn’t cost us a ballgame.”

With left-handed reliever Colin Poche (back) on the injured list, the Rays made a trade Saturday for southpaw Richard Lovelady. He specializes in retiring left-handed hitters, with a .235 career average against him.

Garrett Cleavinger currently is the only bullpen option from that side.

Tampa Bay’s seven-game road trip ended on a sour note as the Blue Jays topped the Rays 5-2 on Sunday.

Isaac Paredes homered with two outs in the ninth to keep the Rays from being blanked for the second time this season as Tampa Bay lost for the first time in the past five games.

“Awesome, we’re rolling,” said catcher Ben Rortvedt, who had one of his team’s four hits. “We didn’t end the road trip the way we should have, but we feel good.”

Boston snapped a four-game losing streak Sunday by way of six excellent innings of one-hit, one-run ball from starter Nick Pivetta and homers from Tyler O’Neill and Devers in an 11-3 win at the St. Louis Cardinals.

O’Neill, a former Cardinals player, rocked a 439-foot shot in the first inning. Devers stepped up in the sixth, tying Bobby Dalbec’s franchise record with a homer in his fifth straight game.

“Pretty special weekend for me and my family,” O’Neill told The Roku Channel. “Circled this one on the calendar for a long time coming.”

Monday’s meeting will be a rematch between Tanner Houck and Taj Bradley, who squared off Wednesday in the Rays’ 4-3 victory.

Houck (3.15, 2.17 ERA) allowed three runs, only one earned, and five hits in 5 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts en route to dropping his fourth straight decision.

Across 58 innings, the right-hander has allowed 14 earned runs and 48 hits. He has surrendered one home run, and his 1.02 WHIP and .219 batting average against are elite.

In six career appearances (four starts) against the Rays, Houck is 0-4 with a 5.91 ERA.

Bradley (1-1, 2.45 ERA) won Wednesday’s game with five innings of two-run ball on four hits with six strikeouts.

The right-hander is 3-0 with a 4.20 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox.

–Field Level Media

Diaz Takes Down Red Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Tampa’s Yandy Diaz’s two-run single in the sixth inning was the difference as the Rays edged past the host Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Wednesday. The Diaz hit highlighted a three-run frame, and the relief trio of Shawn Armstrong, Pete Fairbanks and Kevin Kelly combined to throw three scoreless innings to finish the game.

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Kelly recorded his first save of the season for Taj Bradley (1-1), who struck out six while allowing just two runs on four hits over the first five innings.

Jose Siri went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for Tampa Bay, which has won two of the first three games in the four-game series.

Jarren Duran went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored while Wilyer Abreu and Rafael Devers homered for the Red Sox.

Boston manufactured a go-ahead run right out of the gates in the first inning, as Duran lined a leadoff double off the Green Monster in center and scored on Connor Wong’s sacrifice fly two batters later.

Boston starter Tanner Houck (3-5) pitched a 1-2-3 first inning before working around baserunners in each of the next two frames, but the visitors knotted the score at 1-1 in the fourth.

After Jonathan Aranda walked and Isaac Paredes chopped a single down the third-base line with one out, Richie Palacios reached on Boston first baseman Garrett Cooper’s fielding error to get Tampa Bay on the scoreboard.

Abreu wasted no time giving the Red Sox a 2-1 lead back in their half of the fourth, launching a towering solo home run out to right.

The Rays didn’t take the lead back until Houck departed after allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits over 5 2/3 innings.

After Palacios and Jose Caballero hit consecutive singles and a strikeout of Ben Rortvedt ended Houck’s day in the sixth, Siri knocked a game-tying base hit through the left side. Palacios scored just ahead of catcher Wong’s tag.

Caballero swiped third before scoring ahead of Siri on Diaz’s single past diving shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela and into left.

The Red Sox got a run back in the last of the sixth when Devers lined a solo shot to straightaway center, but got no further as the final three Tampa Bay relievers recorded scoreless frames.

Despite the loss, Boston’s bullpen was also strong as Cam Booser and Chase Anderson combined to throw three scoreless and hitless innings after Weissert exited. Booser struck out four over two frames.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Win in 12 Innings

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Romy Gonzalez ripped a walk-off single just inside the first-base line in the bottom of the 12th inning as the Red Sox earned a 5-4 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.

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Before scoring single runs in the 11th and 12th innings, the Red Sox had been held scoreless since Ceddanne Rafaela’s solo home run in the fifth.

Dominic Smith first put Boston ahead with a two-run double in the fourth.

Rafaela’s throwing error from shortstop on Isaac Paredes’ fielder’s choice scored Randy Arozarena to put Tampa Bay ahead in the 11th. The Red Sox answered in the bottom of the inning as Rob Refsnyder’s grounder back to the pitcher — which was unable to turn into an inning-ending double play — scored David Hamilton with Boston’s tying run.

The Red Sox then won it in the 12th after reliever Brennan Bernardino (2-1) caught Rays catcher Ben Rortvedt looking at strike three, stranding runners on the corners. Wong then scored the clinching run for Boston.

Josh Lowe (home run), Paredes and Amed Rosario all had multiple hits for Tampa Bay. Arozarena also went deep.

Manuel Rodriguez (0-1) took the loss.

After Tampa Bay tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth, strong relief pitching limited each team to just a single hit until the game reached extras.

Zack Kelly worked an impressive 10th, stranding the automatic runner at third with an inning-ending strikeout of Harold Ramirez. In the bottom half, Tampa Bay reliever Jason Adams turned a Vaughn Grissom liner into a double play to get through the frame.

The Rays struck first in the first inning for the second straight night, staking Aaron Civale to a 1-0 lead when Lowe took Pivetta deep to right-center field for a two-out solo home run.

Civale allowed only Rafael Devers’ leadoff single through the first three innings, but the Red Sox tagged him for two go-ahead runs in the fourth as Smith ripped a double past Lowe’s dive in right.

Rafaela upped Boston’s lead to 3-1 in the fifth, taking a one-out pitch deep down the left-field line for a solo homer.

After Arozarena homered to left-center to end Pivetta’s outing, Justin Slaten came out of the Boston bullpen and allowed a Lowe double to center and then Paredes dumped a single into shallow right to make it 3-3.

Aside from the homers, Pivetta allowed just two other hits and struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings.

A product of nearby Northeastern University, Civale finished the first Fenway Park start of his MLB career with six strikeouts and three runs allowed on five hits across the first five innings.

–Field Level Media