Sports
Red Sox turn to Garrett Crochet to be stopper again vs. Twins
Apr 29, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the second inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images The Boston Red Sox look to avoid their second consecutive series loss when Garrett Crochet takes the mound for a Sunday afternoon rubber game against the Minnesota Twins.
Crochet (3-2, 2.05 ERA) is coming off the second-longest outing of his young Boston career, having pitched seven innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts in a Tuesday win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Red Sox ultimately went into this current homestand on a down note, though, after surrendering leads in the last two games and dropping the series to the Jays. Crochet will have to be a stopper again as Minnesota evened the weekend set with a 4-3 win Saturday.
The 26-year-old southpaw has been hard on himself as he assumes the role of staff ace in Boston, but the most recent outing was a strong bounce-back from a loss to the Seattle Mariners five days earlier.
“He had two bad innings (on April 24), man. He struck out nine in five (innings),” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Crochet. “Sometimes we make a big deal out of an outing that was OK for the rest of them. It wasn’t acceptable for him, but like I told him, ‘If that’s a bad one, I’ll take it.’ He gave us a chance to win.”
Not only did the Red Sox lose a Saturday game in which they held the advantage in hits and had three players record multi-hit games, but also it followed the early-afternoon news of first baseman Triston Casas rupturing his patellar tendon, requiring season-ending surgery.
Romy Gonzalez replaced Casas at first base after the injury Friday and went 3-for-4 while starting at the position Saturday. He is expected to carry the load in the immediate future, with longer-term solutions still to be determined.
“I think we need to put all options on the table,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Saturday. “Asking some guys who haven’t played in the big leagues yet to assume new positions at the same time they’re trying to make that transition is a difficult task. But we need to be open-minded about solutions here.”
The Twins snapped a four-game skid with the Saturday win and reached their apparent magic offensive number by scoring four runs. This season, they are 14-3 when hitting that mark and 0-17 when not.
“We had to make plays to do it. Every time you play here, the games … always seem to be tighter,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said.
The biggest swing was a sixth-inning, two-run home run by Kody Clemens in his first appearance at Fenway Park, where his father Roger — who was watching with his family in the stands — spent a majority of his long MLB career.
The younger Clemens had been just 1-for-14 in 11 games with Philadelphia and Minnesota this season before Saturday.
“(The Red Sox) came back a little bit there, so it was a great team win. Everybody fought,” Kody Clemens said. “Super special to do it here at Fenway. … I was just taking it in today. It was great.”
Righty Chris Paddack (0-3, 5.60 ERA) aims to shut down the Red Sox again after holding them scoreless across six innings of two-hit ball on May 3, 2024. He is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA in two career starts against Boston.
However, Paddack is still in search of his first win of this season despite allowing no more than two runs in any of his last four starts. The latest was a five-inning no-decision Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians.
Sunday marks Paddack’s seventh outing of 2025, with his numbers being skewed by a nine-run outing vs. the Chicago White Sox in 3 1/3 innings in his March 31 season debut.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Apr 18, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) celebrates center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) gaol against there Dallas Stars in the first period in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images Matt Boldy had two goals and an assist for the visiting Minnesota Wild in a 6-1 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series on Saturday.
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice, Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist, and Mats Zuccarello had three assists for the Wild, who are trying to win their first playoff series since 2015 after getting eliminated in the opening round eight times since then.
Jesper Wallstedt got the start over Filip Gustavsson and the rookie made 27 saves for Minnesota.
Jason Robertson scored and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for Dallas, which lost Game 1 of its first-round series 5-1 against the Colorado Avalanche last season before rebounding and eventually reaching to the Western Conference Finals.
Minnesota was on the first power play of the game when Zuccarello passed the puck from above the left faceoff circle to Boldy just below the goal line. He made a touch pass to Eriksson Ek cutting into the slot area and Ek scored with a one-timer from the left hash marks for a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period.
Minnesota scored 56 seconds into the second period to extend the lead to 2-0.
Kaprizov received a pass along the wall in the Dallas zone after he was left alone coming down the right side. He had room to skate just below the right faceoff dot before scoring shortside with a wrist shot for his 16th career playoff goal, tying Zach Parise for the most in franchise history.
Brock Faber shot a bouncing puck from just above the left circle that Hartman redirected into the net from in front of the crease to make it 3-0 at 3:28.
Boldy made it 4-0 at 6:30 when he tapped in a loose puck from the side of the net.
Robertson backhanded the puck into the net from in close while on a power play to cut it to 4-1 at 15:10 of the second period.
Eriksson Ek tacked on a power-play goal at 8:13 of the third period to make it 5-1, and Boldy scored into an empty net with 3:08 left for a 6-1 lead.
Game 2 is Monday in Dallas.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Brayan Rocchio hit a three-run homer and Gavin Williams pitched seven strong innings to lead the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Bo Naylor also homered for the Guardians, who won for just the second time in the past five games. Cleveland had just three hits.
Williams (3-1) struck out 11 and allowed one run, three hits and one walk. It marked the second time this season and sixth time overall that he has struck out 10 or more in a game.
Cade Smith fanned the side in the ninth for his fifth save.
Leody Taveras and Gunnar Henderson (two hits) hit solo homers for Baltimore, which had just four hits while losing for the fourth time in the past five games.
Dean Kremer (0-1) pitched six innings for the Orioles and gave up three runs and two hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Baltimore’s Pete Alonso and Colin Cowser struck out in all four at-bats. Dylan Beavers fanned three times as 16 Orioles went down on strikes.
Taveras came up with one out in the fourth and drilled a 1-0 curveball from Williams over the fence to right for the game’s first run.
Meanwhile, Kremer tossed 4 1/3 no-hit innings and his walk to Rhys Hoskins was followed by Daniel Schneemann’s line single to right. After Naylor fanned, Rocchio jumped on a 2-2 fastball from Kremer and deposited the ball over the fence in right to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead.
Williams picked up where he left off after the Taveras homer by retiring the final 11 batters he faced.
Hunter Gaddis replaced Williams and Henderson touched him up for a one-out solo shot to right in the eighth.
But Naylor got the run back leading off the bottom of the inning when he launched a 1-1 changeup from Albert Suarez into the bleachers in right.
Smith fanned Beavers, Cowser and Taveras while closing it out as Cleveland gained a 2-1 edge in a series that concludes Sunday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick rules AdventHealth 400 qualifying, collects another pole
May 11, 2025; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (45) races during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A fourth victory from the pole position would suit Tyler Reddick just fine after the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota prevailed in Saturday’s highly competitive qualifying session at Kansas Speedway.
Reddick toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.142 seconds (185.300 mph) to claim his third pole of the season, his second at Kansas and the 14th of his career.
In doing so, Reddick edged his car owner, Denny Hamlin (185.179 mph), by 0.019 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, the ninth NASCAR Cup Series race of the year.
The pole was the fifth in the last six Kansas races for Toyota drivers.
The 2026 season already has been a remarkable one for Reddick, who won the first three races and added a fourth victory March 22 at Darlington Raceway. Reddick’s last three wins have come from the pole position: at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta (starting on metrics after a qualifying rainout), Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and at Darlington.
Should Reddick win on Sunday, he would become the fourth driver in Cup Series history –and the first since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 — to win five of the first nine events of a season. Reddick tops the series standings with a 62-point edge over second-place Ryan Blaney.
“We had a lot of good handling in our car for Atlanta,” Reddick said of his and his team’s ability to convert qualifying speed into race wins. “COTA, obviously I felt like the 12 (Blaney) and Shane (van Gisbergen) were really strong. I think just good handling, handling that you can trust, handling that stays with you in the long run (really helps). So, Darlington, same thing.
“Here, the speeds were a bit higher, and I didn’t know if we’d be able to get the pole, but it was really nice to see that the handling that we have, the short-run speed that we have, appears to be all there today.”
Bristol winner Ty Gibbs and defending series champion Kyle Larson posted identical times (29.192 seconds for 184.982 mph) and will start third and fourth, respectively, with Gibbs getting the nod on owner points. Larson is the two-time defending winner of the spring race at Kansas.
Chase Briscoe qualified fifth at 184.938 mph as Toyotas claimed four of the top five starting positions. Carson Hocevar was sixth, followed by Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
–NASCAR Wire Service
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
