Sports
Red Sox, Rays in desperation mode as wild-card hopes dim
Sep 6, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (37) pitches against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images Time is running out for the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays, with each of them thinking of a sweep when they meet for the first of six remaining matchups.
The third- and fourth-place teams in the American League East — spots they have held much of the season — will meet in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Tuesday night to begin a three-game series.
Entering a nearly must-win series at the first-place New York Yankees late last week, the Red Sox (75-75) lost three out of four, including a pair of one-run outcomes in the first two contests.
Boston rocked New York ace Gerrit Cole in a 7-1 rout on Saturday behind three RBIs from Masataka Yoshida and a team-leading 14th win from Brayan Bello, but the devastation of winning just once left the Red Sox’s outlook gloomy.
“It wasn’t like it was a bad series because we lost three out of four,” manager Alex Cora said. “We were in every game. Every game was a close one, but that’s not enough in this league. You don’t get wins by playing tough games. You get W’s when you win games. And we didn’t do it.”
Entering Monday’s off day, Boston sat 4 1/2 games back of the final wild-card position currently held by the Minnesota Twins.
With a dozen games left, Cora’s club would need to pass the Detroit Tigers, the Seattle Mariners and one of the three wild-card teams to earn a postseason berth.
Boston could get some starting pitching back later in the series as Tanner Houck, who has tossed a career-high 169 2/3 innings, may return to the rotation after last pitching on Sept. 4 due to shoulder fatigue.
Nick Pivetta (5-10, 4.24 ERA) gets the nod in the opener. The righty has been sharp in two September starts (0-0, 1.50) with nine hits allowed, 15 strikeouts and four walks in 12 innings.
Against the Rays, Pivetta is 1-6 with a 4.42 ERA in 12 games (11 starts).
Tampa Bay (73-77) is in a worse situation with 12 games remaining after a disastrous 4-6 road trip through Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cleveland, which included a three-game sweep by the Phillies.
The Rays entered Monday 6 1/2 games behind the Twins for the final wild-card slot.
That stretch left manager Kevin Cash’s squad 18-25 since the July 30 trade deadline and 25-29 post All-Star break, essentially dooming their playoff chances with a much tougher schedule than the first half.
In a consistently mediocre 2024, the Rays have watched their record slot into a range between five games below and three games above .500.
“We’ve been in a situation for a month where we’ve needed to win every series and win some of these tight games,” said Cash, whose group has held down fourth place for 89 straight days. “We haven’t, but I feel like the intensity has been there.”
Right-hander Shane Baz (2-3, 3.28) will extend his career high in starts with his 12th on Tuesday when he faces the Red Sox for the first time.
In two starts this month totaling 11 1/3 innings, the Houston native is 0-1 with a 2.38 ERA, but his numbers have been better than his record.
Baz has recorded nine strikeouts and four walks and allowed just five hits in that stretch. He has also surrendered two home runs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
Jul 3, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels pitcher Reid Detmers (48) throws against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Romy Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs and Aroldis Chapman broke the record for most strikeouts by a reliever en route to his 17th save as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 on Friday in Anaheim, Calif.
Caleb Durbin hit a home run and scored twice, Jarren Duran had two RBIs, Ceddanne Rafaela collected two hits and a stolen base and Willson Contreras doubled, singled and scored a run for Boston, which ended a two-game skid. However, the Red Sox won for the sixth time in eight games.
Red Sox starter Jake Bennett (3-3), who began the game throwing 4 1/3 perfect innings, allowed two runs on five hits over 7 2/3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.
Chapman opened the bottom of the ninth by striking out Denzer Guzman with a 99 mph sinker for his 1,364th career strikeout, breaking the all-time reliever record previously held by Hoyt Wilhelm. Chapman then permitted two singles before inducing a game-ending double-play grounder from Jo Adell.
Jose Siri homered and Zach Neto had two hits and an RBI for Los Angeles, which lost its fourth straight game. Reid Detmers (3-6), coming off a June that saw him allow just eight runs over 31 2/3 innings over five starts, permitted five runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked three and fanned five.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the second when Gonzalez hit a sinking line drive for a triple under the glove of a diving Siri in center field, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Duran.
The Red Sox extended the lead to 4-0 in the third on a bases-loaded two-run single by Gonzalez followed by a safety squeeze bunt by Duran.
Durbin led off the fifth with his eighth home run, a 358-foot line drive inside the left field foul pole, to make it 5-0.
Los Angeles got back into the game with two runs in the eighth. Siri hit his fifth homer to right-center to cut the lead to 5-1. Josh Lowe followed with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Neto.
The contest was the opener of a three-game series.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Without A'ja Wilson, Aces survive Sky in OT
Jul 3, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Aces forward NaLyssa Smith (3) drives to the basket against Chicago Sky center Kamilla Cardoso (10) in the second quarter at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images The Las Vegas Aces may have been without perennial MVP A’ja Wilson, but the defending WNBA champions still survived at home despite a turbulent effort in a 98-90 overtime victory against the Chicago Sky on Friday.
Forward NaLyssa Smith picked up where her frontcourt partner Wilson was unable to, tallying a career-high 29 points for the Aces (15-5) on an efficient 11-of-14 shooting while also collecting eight rebounds. Jewell Loyd added 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Chelsea Gray chipped in 18 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Skylar Diggins paced the Sky (6-14) with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, making two of her four attempts from 3-point range. Natasha Cloud was the driving force behind Chicago’s fourth-quarter rally, adding 15 points and five assists in the loss. Kamila Cardoso also delivered an encore to her 24-point game against the Aces on Sunday, chipping in 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Trailing 86-84, Gray buried a mid-range pull-up jumper with 22.6 seconds remaining to knot the game at 86 and eventually send the game to overtime after an empty Sky possession ended regulation. Diggins gave the Sky an 88-86 lead to open the scoring in overtime, but the Aces answered with a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 92-88 with 1:14 left in the extra period and didn’t look back.
After Gray put the Aces ahead by a game-high 14 points with 8:58 remaining in the third quarter, the Sky went on a 26-13 run to cut the lead down to 64-63 with 1:53 remaining in the frame. Loyd promptly answered with a rally of her own for Las Vegas, scoring seven of the Aces’ next nine points to push their lead back to 73-64 early in the fourth quarter.
Despite the fact that the Sky trailed by double digits in each of the first three quarters, they still managed to take their first lead of the game, 82-81, on a Cloud 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining and extended that lead to 84-81 on their next possession on a Diggins lay-in.
The Aces overcame a troublesome 4-of-22 clip from 3-point range (18.2%), while Chicago made 7 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc (35%). Despite that, Las Vegas still shot a superior 35-of-69 (50.7%) from the field overall, while Chicago made 28 of 65 field-goal attempts (43.1%).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Teoscar Hernandez belts grand slam as Dodgers rally past Padres
Jul 3, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) scores a run past Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing (68) during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jon Endow-Imagn Images Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 victory Friday while sending the visiting San Diego Padres to a season-high seventh consecutive loss.
Shohei Ohtani struck out nine over six innings, while allowing three runs on seven hits, and Kyle Hurt (3-1) picked up the win with a scoreless inning as the Dodgers won for the ninth time in their past 11 games.
Tanner Scott pitched the ninth inning for his 12th save while Los Angeles improved to 6-2 against San Diego this season.
Jackson Merrill hit a home run for the Padres and Michael King dominated over six innings before he was chased from the game in the seventh. King gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings.
San Diego’s losing streak is its longest since a seven-game slide late in the 2021 season.
The Padres were in control early, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Ohtani on a Gavin Sheets single. Merrill made it 2-0 in the fourth with a home run to center field, his 10th of the season and second in the series.
A Xander Bogaerts RBI double put San Diego up 3-0 in the sixth.
King was cruising after retiring the first 11 batters he faced while not allowing a baserunner until Freddie Freeman singled in with two outs in the fourth inning. He gave up two hits through six scoreless innings.
The Dodgers’ seventh-inning rally started with a Mookie Betts walk, while Max Muncy followed with a single to right field to end King’s night. Kyle Tucker appeared to hit a double-play grounder against Adrian Morejon, but second baseman Jake Cronenworth misplayed the ball for an error that loaded the bases.
Hernandez’s grand slam came on the first pitch from Morejon (6-2) and was his eighth home run of the season and first since returning Monday from a month away because of a hamstring injury.
–Field Level Media
Aroldis Chapman sets reliever strikeout record as Red Sox down Angels
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