Latest news with #TorontoBlueJays
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
José Berríos, Blue Jays bullpen keep Red Sox bats silent in 9-0 series-opening win
Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong, right, misses a tag on Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, who slides safely into home plate in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Boston Red Sox second baseman David Hamilton, right, waits for the throw as the Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dives into the base safely with a steal of second in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Toronto Blue Jays' Ernie Clement (22) is greeted at the dugout after he scored in the second inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Boston Red Sox third baseman Nick Sogard, left, and catcher Connor Wong, right, lie on the ground after neither could make a diving catch of a second-inning bunt foul ball during a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Boston Red Sox third baseman Nick Sogard, left, and catcher Connor Wong, right, lie on the ground after neither could make a diving catch of a second-inning bunt foul ball during a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong, right, misses a tag on Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, who slides safely into home plate in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Boston Red Sox second baseman David Hamilton, right, waits for the throw as the Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dives into the base safely with a steal of second in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Toronto Blue Jays' Ernie Clement (22) is greeted at the dugout after he scored in the second inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) Boston Red Sox third baseman Nick Sogard, left, and catcher Connor Wong, right, lie on the ground after neither could make a diving catch of a second-inning bunt foul ball during a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Boston. (AP/Photo/Jim Davis) BOSTON (AP) — José Berríos pitched seven scoreless innings, George Springer had three hits and two RBI singles, and the Toronto Blue Jays earned a 9-0 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement and Andrés Giménez also drove in runs for Toronto, which has won six of eight meetings with its AL East rivals this season. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added two hits. Advertisement Berríos (4-3) allowed just four hits and struck out eight and surrendered only one walk in handing Boston its sixth loss in a row. Boston's Brayan Bello (3-3) gave up three runs off eight hits over six innings with a strikeout. But he didn't get support from a Red Sox lineup that has managed just four runs over their last three games. Boston was held to one run or none for the 15th time this season. Boston opponents have scored at least eight runs four times over the last nine games — all Red Sox losses. Guerrero Jr. was a late addition the the Blue Jays' lineup. He left their series finale win over Cleveland on Thursday after being hit by a pitch in his right forearm. X-rays didn't reveal a fracture, but manager John Schneider originally was going to be cautious and start Clement at first base. Advertisement Key moment With runners on first and second with two outs in the first, Springer lined a single to center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Guerrero Jr., who was on second, tried to score and was called out on Rafaela's throw home to catcher Connor Wong. Toronto challenged, and replay showed Wong missed on the tag, overturning the call. Key stat This marks the first six-game losing streak for Boston since Sept. 26, 2022. Up next RHP Chris Bassitt (7-3, 3.61 ERA) is set to start to make his 17th start of the season for the Blue Jays on Saturday. RHP Lucas Giolito (3-1, 4.53) is slated to make his 11th start for the Red Sox. ___ AP MLB:
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dylan Rock does not hit home run in 9th consecutive game, falling short of pro baseball record
Dylan Rock fell short of setting a professional baseball record on Friday night, going without hitting a home run in his ninth consecutive game. The outfielder had one last chance in the ninth inning to hit a record home run, but hit a grounder back to the pitcher for an out. He batted 0-for-3 with an RBI, walk and strikeout in the Lexington Legends' 8-7 defeat versus the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the independent Atlantic League. Advertisement Rock became the fifth player in pro baseball history to hit a home run in eight consecutive games during Thursday's 11-10 loss to the Charleston Dirty Birds, going deep in the first inning off pitcher David LeBron. His streak began on June 18 versus the Gastonia Ghost Peppers. Three players have hit eight consecutive home runs in MLB history: Ken Griffey Jr. with the Seattle Mariners in 1993, the New York Yankees' Don Mattingly in 1987 and Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956. In the minors, Texas Rangers prospect Justin Foscue hit eight straight across the rookie Arizona Complex League and the high Single-A level in 2021. He came into Friday's game batting .267/.372/.544 with 11 doubles, 13 homers, 31 RBI and 16 stolen bases. Advertisement Rock was the Toronto Blue Jays' eighth-round draft pick in 2022 out of Texas A&M. In his lone season with the Aggies, he hit .318/.468/.641 with 19 homers, 65 RBI and 16 stolen bases. He played his previous four college seasons at UTSA. The 26-year-old played for three seasons in the Blue Jays' organization, spending last year with high Single-A Vancouver before being released last July while batting .184/.292/.272 in 75 games. He played 33 games for Double-A New Hampshire in 2023.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sports scoreboard for Thursday, June 26, 2025
Thursday's Scoreboard CFL Winnipeg 36 Edmonton 23 --- MLB American League Toronto 6 Cleveland 0 Detroit 8 Athletics 0 Tampa Bay 4 Kansas City 0 Minnesota 10 Seattle 1 National League Chicago Cubs 3 St. Louis 0 L.A. Dodgers 3 Colorado 1 Miami 12 San Francisco 5 N.Y. Mets 4 Atlanta 0 Interleague Houston 2 Philadelphia 1 --- WNBA Los Angeles 85 Indiana 75 Washington 94 Las Vegas 83 --- Canadian Elite Basketball League Saskatchewan 96 Calgary 89 --- The Canadian Press
New York Times
13 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Craig Breslow on Red Sox trade deadline mindset: ‘The future has to be now'
BOSTON — As the Boston Red Sox return to Fenway Park for their first homestand without Rafael Devers — a trade that may have signaled the waving of a white flag on a frustrating season — chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said that's not the case. In speaking to The Athletic before Friday's series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, Breslow said his focus remains on contending in 2025 even as the team entered the day 40-42. Advertisement 'I think we've talked a lot about looking to the future, at some point, the future has to be now,' Breslow said. 'We went into 2025 expecting to compete for the division and expecting to make it to the playoffs. We haven't played as well as we're capable of, but that goal still exists, and we're not so far away that we should be thinking about 2026 or 2027. 'There's a lot of games to be played between now and the deadline, but we are thinking about how we bolster the team,' he said. 'How we do identify the needs that we have and are aggressive in getting those players to put us in a position that we talked about all offseason.' With the MLB trade deadline just over a month away, Breslow already made one the most shocking trades of the season thus far in sending Devers to San Francisco for pitchers Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks and two prospects. Following the trade, the Red Sox went 3-6 on a nine-game, 10-day West Coast trip, returning home for three games this weekend against a division opponent in Toronto. As the Red Sox currently sit seven games back of the division-leading Yankees and two games out of the third wild card spot, there's urgency to play like a team capable of postseason contention. Breslow addressed three areas of need in starting pitching, bullpen help and another bat for the lineup. 'The bullpen has been really good for a really long time, we've asked a lot of them,' he said. 'And I think at times we see some of the work just catching up with guys. Hopefully getting Jordan Hicks into the mix there means that we can get guys like (Greg) Weissert and (Garrett) Whitlock and Justin Wilson an extra day when they need it.' Hicks (toe inflammation) is scheduled for his second rehab outing with Triple A Worcester on Friday and could join the Red Sox during this homestand. Starter Tanner Houck remains on the injury list with a flexor pronator strain and is scheduled to pitch following an opener on Sunday in Worcester. Hunter Dobbins (elbow) has been playing catch and may throw a bullpen this weekend. Advertisement Harrison, who made his first start for Worcester earlier this week, allowing four runs in four innings, is likely to be in the rotation mix at some point in the second half. Regardless, adding starting depth remains a focus. 'We have some depth built up, but whether it's injury or performance, we just haven't gotten that run of consistent deep starting pitching,' Breslow said. 'Garrett (Crochet) has obviously been excellent all season, but we saw the type of team that we can be when our starters are pitching deep into games.' On offense, the Red Sox have predictably struggled without Devers' bat in the lineup. Over the past nine games, they've averaged 3.11 runs per game and a .188 average compared to 4.84 runs per game and a .253 average leading up to the trade. The lineup will have some internal reinforcements soon, with Alex Bregman (quad) and Masataka Yoshida (shoulder) likely to return after the All-Star break, but Breslow suggested bolstering the lineup will also be on his agenda. Yoshida is expected to begin a rehab assignment for Worcester on Tuesday, where he'll also see time in the outfield. Bregman hit for the first time on Friday and will take grounders on Saturday. The team will reevaluate him next week to determine when he'll be ready for a rehab assignment. It remains to be seen if Yoshida could be traded over the next several weeks as he begins his rehab assignment. But since he hasn't played in a game this season and is owed more than $40 million through 2027, his trade value remains marginal. Breslow is likely to trade from a surplus of outfielders, with Jarren Duran's name surfacing on a few occasions already. Manager Alex Cora offered a realistic viewpoint with the trade deadline just over 30 days away. 'We've just got to play better,' Cora said. 'It's been kind of like the same thing I've been saying all along. We're that close. You can't go back, but a pitch here, a pitch there, a play there, or a play there, and it's a positive road trip. But it wasn't. So we have to improve.' Advertisement At the last trade deadline, Breslow's first in charge of the team, he acquired starter James Paxton, relievers Lucas Sims and Luis Garcia and right-handed bat Danny Jansen. Paxton, Sims and Garcia were injured and offered little help in the second half. The Red Sox weren't officially out of the wild card until the final week of the season, though, giving Breslow impetus to push harder this season. Having already traded Devers in a mid-June blockbuster, this season is already much different than last year, but Breslow said he's reflected on how this year might be different. 'We went into (last year) thinking, 'OK, these are the needs of the team,' and we walked out of the trade deadline with acquisitions that address those positions,' he said. 'Whether they work out or they don't, the moves are going to be evaluated by the performance over the second half of the season. Ours didn't work out. It's not OK to just say, 'Hey, that's baseball.' The obvious question is, 'Why didn't they work?' 'Whether that's doing more work on the players that we're bringing in, having a better understanding of their ability to perform here at Fenway, there's always more questions that we need to ask,' Breslow said. 'Whether we bring in a standard household name or we bring in someone that is lesser known, the impact is going to be driven by what that player does from the day they get here until the end of the season. And we need to do everything we can to make sure that they're going to help us win games.' (Top photo of Rafael Devers: Eakin Howard / Imagn Images)
Associated Press
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Guardians' José Ramírez sidelined with bruised forearm after being hit by pitch
CLEVELAND (AP) — Guardians third baseman José Ramírez is not in the lineup for Friday night's game against the St. Louis Cardinals due to a bruised right forearm. Ramírez was hit by a pitch by Toronto's Kevin Gausman during the fourth inning of Thursday's game. That came after Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was hit by a fastball from Cleveland's Tanner Bibee in the third inning and left the game with a bruised forearm. It is only the third time Ramírez has been out of the lineup and first since May 3 at Toronto. Manager Stephen Vogt said Ramírez's status is day-to-day but he is hopeful he can return to the lineup on Saturday. Ramírez is sixth in the majors with a .317 batting average and tied for sixth with 21 stolen bases. He is a finalist to start for the American League in the July 15 All-Star Game in Atlanta. ___ AP MLB:
