Sports
Rays look to repeat power display in rematch vs. Red Sox
Sep 17, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA;Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Jose Caballero (7), outfielder Jose Siri (22), second base Brandon Lowe (8), left fielder Christopher Morel (24) and outfielder Josh Lowe (15) celebrate beating the Boston Red Sox at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images The Tampa Bay Rays started their final homestand of the season the right way with a convincing victory in the series opener against the Boston Red Sox.
On Wednesday night, the Rays (74-77) will send out one of their better pitchers in the rematch against their American League East rival in St. Petersburg, Fla.
In Tampa Bay’s 8-3 victory on Tuesday, the club erupted for 12 hits — seven for extra bases, including four home runs. That’s considered foreign production from manager Kevin Cash’s generally punchless bunch.
Josh Lowe, Brandon Lowe, Junior Caminero and Jose Siri all went deep as the Rays damaged the wild-card aspirations of the Red Sox.
“It makes it easy for me when our offense is that great,” said Shane Baz, who allowed two runs on two hits in seven innings and got the win.
Hard-throwing Ryan Pepiot (8-6, 3.76 ERA) will get the start on Wednesday for Tampa Bay.
In his first season with the Rays, Pepiot has blossomed into the type of hurler the organization expected when it acquired him from the Dodgers in the trade that sent ace Tyler Glasnow to Los Angeles.
The Rays also received Jonny DeLuca in last December’s trade. Batting just .210, the outfielder slots first on the club in triples (four) and is fourth in stolen bases (16).
Meanwhile, Pepiot has a staff-high eight wins in the depleted rotation, which is missing Glasnow, Zach Eflin, Shane McClanahan and Aaron Civale from 2023.
Pepiot allowed three runs on two hits in four innings of a no-decision in his lone career start against Boston in an 8-5 loss on May 22.
Tuesday’s loss was a devastating one for the Red Sox (75-76), who have dropped four of their past five decisions. They have a losing record for the first time since June 11 and fell games out of the final AL wild-card spot with 11 games left.
“It’s not a lack of effort,” Boston manger Alex Cora said. “It’s not happening for us right now.”
The Red Sox will turn to right-hander Tanner Houck (8-10, 3.24) to make Wednesday’s start.
Houck had been expected to start last Friday’s matchup with the Yankees in New York, but his shoulder was not 100 percent and he was scratched.
He has posted a 1.17 WHIP and struck out 150 hitters this season. However, he has toiled through a career-high 169 2/3 innings, bettering his previous high of 106 set in 2023.
That led to concerns about his workload in the Yankees series.
“This guy’s very important for us, not only now but for the future,” Cora said of the decision to have Houck skip another start. “For him to go out the way he was, we were going to pay the consequences after that one.”
His most recent start was on Sept. 4 in an 8-3 loss at the New York Mets, who handed him a defeat for the fourth consecutive decision. He last won on July 11 in a 7-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Against the Rays, the 28-year-old is 1-4 with a 4.45 ERA in seven outings (five starts).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros turn to Peter Lambert in bid for sweep of reeling Marlins
Jul 11, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert (38) comes off the field after he pitches against the Texas Rangers during the third inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images A spate of unrelenting injuries to the rotation resulted in 14 different pitchers making starts for the Houston Astros this season, with Ronel Blanco joining that group on Monday when he made his season debut after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Hayden Wesneski, slated to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Thursday, should be next to return for Houston.
The Astros claimed their three-game interleague series against the Miami Marlins with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday behind Tatsuya Imai.
Five Astros have made at least 10 starts, a collection that doesn’t include ace Hunter Brown, who returned from an extended stint on the injured list in mid-June.
“Some of those guys that we’re getting back have pitched out of the bullpen, so as we continue to map out the next couple of weeks and consider adding some pitching at the deadline, with all those pieces, would they fit,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.
“We’re going to move some things around so we can make this work.”
Right-hander Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.03 ERA) is scheduled to start on Wednesday as the Astros pursue the series sweep.
Lambert is 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA in three starts this month and has allowed one run or fewer in each start, including on June 17 against the Baltimore Orioles. He worked six innings in that game and surrendered one run on three hits and three walks with a season-high 10 strikeouts over six innings.
Lambert is 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Marlins. In his previous start against Miami on May 2, 2024, he allowed four runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings and did not factor into a 5-4 loss with the Colorado Rockies.
Right-hander Sandy Alcantara (10-5, 3.89) has the starting assignment for Miami.
Alcantara has produced a quality start in all three starts this month, going 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA. He went 7-0 with a 2.98 ERA during a seven-start stretch before a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on July 10.
He did not factor into the decision of a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last Friday after allowing one run on three hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.
Alcantara has faced the Astros once previously. He surrendered six runs on nine hits and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings in an 8-2 home loss on Aug. 4, 2025.
All-Star shortstop Otto Lopez returned from a two-game injury hiatus (finger) for the Marlins, which allowed Miami manager Clayton McCullough to tinker with his lineup.
Lopez batted leadoff for the ninth time this season and finished 0-for-3 with two walks. McCullough is aiming to build protection around left-handed hitting Kyle Stowers with the right-handed hitting Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez, plus switch-hitting Xavier Edwards.
“Just trying to have Stowers be shielded as best I can from left(-handed pitching), and if they are going to throw left on Stowers, then at least you have Otto and (Hernandez) around him, X (Edwards) behind him,” McCullough said.
“Before Otto got hurt, I was thinking about potentially going this route with hitting him (leadoff), hitting Bert (third). If people still want to bring in left on Stowers to try to mitigate some of his slug, at least they’re going to have to go through Bert and X before they get to (lefty Liam) Hicks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jason Day (back) withdraws from 3M Open
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Jason Day watches his shot from the second tee during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Australia’s Jason Day withdrew from the 3M Open on Wednesday due to a back injury.
Day, 38, missed the cut at The Open Championship last week and withdrew during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 18, also with a back injury.
The former World No. 1 is a 13-time winner on the PGA Tour, including his lone major title at the PGA Championship in 2015.
Charley Hoffman, 49, replaced Day in the field for the 3M Open which begins Thursday at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn. He has missed the cut in 13 of his 14 PGA Tour events this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Charlie Woods' U.S. Junior run ends with bogey in playoff
Charlie Woods watches his tee shot during the 109th Florida Amateur Championship at The Club at Admiral’s Cove on June 11, 2026, in Jupiter, Florida. Charlie Woods’ run at the 2026 U.S. Junior Amateur ended early Wednesday with a bogey on the first playoff hole.
The 17-year-old son of Tiger Woods fell shy of advancing to match play at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.
Charlie Woods was one of 14 golfers in the playoff, competing for two spots in match play. The Florida State commit went 76-70 in stroke play, topping his previous performances of 80-74 in 2025 and 82-80 in 2024.
Woods was 6-over-par through five holes in Monday’s round before rebounding strong and playing his next 31 holes in 1-under par.
In Wednesday’s playoff, Woods’ tee shot at the par-5 first hole found the middle of the fairway, about 270 yards from the hole. With two players ahead of him having already carded birdies, he went for the green in two but found thick rough. His pitch ended up on the fringe and his birdie chip slid past the hole, ending his day.
Eli Wessel, Hudson Kutchma and Leo Gao birdied to advance to the second playoff hole, where Wessel and Kutchma made pars to move on to match play.
Woods is heading into his senior season of high school and is expected to sign with the Seminoles, where he will join No. 1-ranked junior Miles Russell in the 2027 recruiting class. Russell shared medalist honors this week and entered match play as the No. 2 seed.
Woods entered the week ranked No. 174 by the American Junior Golf Association.
–Field Level Media
Astros turn to Peter Lambert in bid for sweep of reeling Marlins
Jason Day (back) withdraws from 3M Open
