Red Sox 3, Brewers 2

 

OMG! OMG! OMG! The Red Sox won a game! We're back, baby! We're going to the World Series!

Crochet Day paid dividends. Garrett went 6⅓ innings, with seven strikeouts, five hits, and only two runs. Kelly, Whitlock, and Chapman were near perfect in relief - no hits, no runs, and only one walk. Meanwhile, Trevor Story hit a two-RBI double in the sixth, and in the next at-bat, Caleb Durbin, pinch hitting for Marcelo Mayer, brought in the winning run on a grounder.

The Red Sox are still in last place in the AL East, 5½ back from New York, and still have the worst record (3-8) in MLB.  But, hey, one game at a time!

This afternoon, Sonny Gray (1-0, .450) starts for Boston against Brewer's rookie Shane Droham, making his major-league debut. A win today would give the Sox their first series win of the season.

Celtics 113, Hornets 102

Jaylen Brown scored 35 points and Jayson Tatum 23, and Derrick White scored all 12 of his points on threes last night, going 4-5 from outside. Payton Pritchard scored all 12 of his from outside the line, too, going 4-7 on threes and 4-8 overall. Nikola Vučević had seven rebounds and scored two points, but also added two assists and two steals. 

The Hornets outscored the Celtics,  31-20, in the first quarter, including 13 points from LaMelo Ball, who finished the game with 36. But Boston fought back, retaking the lead mid-way through the third, and after some back-and-forth lead changes, held on for the win.   

With three games left to the regular season, the Celtics are 54-25 and are three games up on the Knicks (51-28), who they play on Thursday. Based on the current standings, the Celtics will face the winner of the Philly-Orlando play-in series in the first round of the playoffs.    

Carolina 6, Bruins 5 (OT)

 

The other day, I commented on Morgan Geekie's lack of recent scoring, and then last night, he came back in a big way, scoring three goals in what sadly turned out to be the Bruins third straight loss.

Geekie scored twice in the first period and again in the second, all even-strength goals, to complete his hat trick. Hampus Lindholm started the scoring with an goal early in the first, but the real heroics were Pavel Zacha's goal in the third to tie the game up and send it into overtime. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes scored in OT and took the win.

Swayman made 18 saves in the net before being pulled after allowing five goals, including three in the first nine minutes of the second period. Joonas Korpisalo stopped the 16 shots he faced in regulation, but the winning goal in OT managed to get past him.

The Bruins pick up a point for taking the game into OT and the standings don't rally change much, despite three consecutive losses. They still lead the Wild Card race, four points ahead of Ottawa for the first berth and six up on contenders Columbus. The most likely playoff situation still has the Bruins facing Tampa Bay in the first round.    

The Bruins better figure out a way to deal with the Lightning - they're 0-2-1 against Tampa Bay this season, and will be facing them Saturday afternoon (12:30 pm) in the Garden.

Brewers 8, Red Sox 6

 

The worst team in the majors lost the opening game of their second home series, falling to 1-4 in Fenway so far this season. Third consecutive loss, eighth loss in their last ten games. This time, they blew a 3-0 lead.

Last night, starting pitcher Brayan Bello lasted only 3⅓ innings, pulled in the top of the fourth after loading the bases up on a single and two walks. After Milwaukee then scored their first run of the game on a fielding error, that was enough for Cora to pull his starter. All three runners on base eventually scored, so Bello was charged with four runs, his ERA ballooning to 9.00. 

The bullpen gave up another four runs. This team sucks.

The Red Sox (2-8) are 5½ games out of first place in the AL East and 1½ back from the second-worst team in the league (Oakland). For what it's worth, if they were in the National League, they'd be a half game behind last-place San Francisco.

But it's Crochet Day! Hope springs eternal! IF there were to be a turnaround this season, and granted that's a big "if," it would start with Garrett Crochet (1-1, 3.27). The lefty's started twice against the Brewers for a total of 12⅔ innings, He's 0-1 in those two starts but his ERA was 2.13 so he's due for a win.  He'll be up against the Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski (1-0, 2.45), a second-year right-handed pitcher who has never pitched in Fenway before or faced the Sox.

Celtics 115, Raptors 101

 

On an Easter Sunday when both the Bruins and the Red Sox suffered losses, it was up to the Celtics to be the Christ to the two beggars on the cross and take the win, beating Toronto, 115-101. We even had an Easter resurrection with Nikola Vučević returning to the lineup for 13:00 minutes off the bench, four points, four rebounds, and an assist.

The ever-reliable Jaylen Brown led all teams with 26 points, while Jayson Tatum had his usual twin double with 23 points and 13 rebounds, all defensive. Overall, the Celtics outrebounded the Raptors, 44-31. 

With four games left to the season, the Celtics (53-25) trail Detroit by four in the East. On Tuesday, our old friends Grant Williams (2019-2023) and Xavier Tillman (2023-2026) return to the TD Garden with the Charlotte Hornets (43-36) for an 8:00 pm game on NBC.       

Padres 8, Red Sox 6

 

At 2-7, the Boston Red Sox are now officially the worst team in Major League Baseball. An embarrassment to Fenway Park, the proud Red Sox tradition, and the people of New England. It's only the first week of April, but already they're five games back in the standings.

The Sox had a 4-0 lead after three innings . . . 

And now we face a three-game home series against the Milwaukee Bucks (7-2). Brayan Bello (0-1, 9.64) starts tonight against the Bucks' Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 3.60).  

Let's win a few games, okay, boys?

Flyers 2, Bruins 1 (OT)

 

Pavel Zacha tied the game up on a power play in the third period, with an assist by Mittelstadt and Pastrnak, but the Bruins lost in the OT for their third consecutive loss and meanwhile can anyone even remember the last time Morgan Geekie scored a goal? 

The Bruins (43-26-9) still pick up one point in the standings with the OT loss, and still lead the Wild Card  race, five points ahead of Ottawa and six on the Islanders. 

The Bruins travel down to Carolina on Tuesday for a game against the Hurricanes (49-22-6), who are sitting pretty on top on the East. Perhaps the Bruins could catch them off guard and, I don't know, maybe win a game? Just winging ideas out here. Spit-balling.  

Padres 3, Red Sox 2

 

The Red Sox join the A's and the Rockies as the worst team in Major League Baseball.

Yesterday afternoon, Marcelo Mayer scored an RBI on a sacrifice fly and somebody named Andruw Monasterio, pinch-hitting for Jarren Duran, scored a run by hitting into a fielder's choice, but starting pitcher Connelly Early only lasted four innings and the normally reliable  Aroldis Chapman uncharacteristically gave up the winning run on an RBI single in the ninth. 

This afternoon, left-handed pitcher Ranger Suarez (0-1, 8.31) goes up against our old friend Walker Buehler (0-1, 6.75), a righty who went 7-7 for the Sox last season.    

So in summary, the Red Sox, a team with the least number of wins in the majors, is facing their former starter on a team with the second least wins, and regardless of the final score today, will still lose the series.

I'm already so over this season. 2026 can go fuck itself.  

 

 

Lightning 3, Bruins 1

 

Tampa is the new Florida. At least as far as kryptonite teams for the Boston Bruins goes, it's now the Tampa Bay Lightning that the Bruins can't beat. Although they still can't beat their old kryptonite, the Florida Panthers. If you're from Florida, a state where ice doesn't even exist except with a Zamboni or in Home Depot parking lots, the Bruins can't beat you. Boston is 0-2-1 against both Tampa Bay and Florida this season, and guess what? As the standings are right now, the Bruins would face the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs 

But first, they have to make the playoffs. They currently have a six-point margin in the Wild Card race with five games left, including one more against Tampa Bay, but if either Ottawa, Detroit, Philly, or Columbus manages to win three more games down that stretch than Boston, it's curtains. And two more of the last five games are against Philly and Columbus. 

Casey Mittelstadt scored Boston's only goal last night. Swayman made 20 saves, going .909. The Bruins play the Flyers down in Philly this afternoon (3:30), who are fighting for their lives for the last Wild Card spot.  Boston is 1-0-2 this season against Philly -  at least they haven't lost to them yet this year. 

Two consecutive losses. I guess what I'm trying to say is it looks like this will be another season where the Bruins get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.   

Celtics 133, Bucks 101

 

Giannis Antetokounmpo. A calf injury forced him to miss 15 consecutive games earlier this season, and then a left-knee hyperextension and bone bruise has kept him on the bench since mid-March. Although he reportedly claims he's good to go now, the Bucks are insistent on keeping him on the bench. Last night, the Bucks gave 5:15 minutes of playing time to Thanasis Antetokounmpo and 4:27 to Alex Antetokounmpo but for naught - between the two of them, they only scored one point as the Bucks lost to the Boston Celtics, 133-101. Apparently, a Thannis and an Alex do not a Giannis make. 

Meanwhile, on our side of the court, MVP candidate Jaylen Brown sank 26 points. Jayson Tatum scored 23 and snagged 11 rebounds, and was one assist away from a second consecutive triple double. Neemias Queta got a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Overall, the Celtics outrebounded the Bucks 48-30. The team's three-point shooting is heating up as well - Hauser went 3-4, Tatum, 4-8, and White, 5-9. Mazzulla has this team reaching its peak right in time for its playoff run. 

The probable playoff picture remains the same with the two-seed Celtics (52-25) most likely facing the winner of the Hornets-Raptors play-in round, followed by the winner of the Knicks-Sixers series in the second round. 

But first, there's Brandon Ingram and the Raptors (43-34) in the Garden on Sunday afternoon (3:30), a possible first-round playoff preview.

Red Sox 5, Padres 2

 

The Red Sox win a game! First win since opening day!

Ceddanne Rafaela and new guy Caleb Durbin hit RBI singles in the third and fourth, but the Sox really came alive in the sixth, with home rums by Willson Contreras and Marcelo Mayer.  Sonny Gray went six innings, giving up two runs on four hits. The relief of Weissert, Slaten, and Chapman was near perfect, with no runs, no hits, and only one walk over three innings. 

The Red Sox are still in dead last place, but hey, they're only a half game back from Tampa Bay. One team at a time.

Connelly Early (0-0, 1.69) starts tomorrow afternoon (4:10) against the Padres' Randy Vásquez (1-0, 0.00). Vásquez has only faced the Sox for a total of seven innings over two games, but gave up eight hits and one home run in those seven innings. This will be Early's first time facing the Padres. Called up to the Majors late last season, Early is eager to prove that he belongs on this team long-term, although he hasn't even reached the 50-day mark yet.

Panthers 2, Bruins 1

 

Kryptonite is still kryptonite, and even though the Bruins have a far better record (43-25-8) than the Florida Panthers (37-35-3), the Panthers still won, 2-1. I guess the Red Sox were off yesterday, and someone had to take a loss for Boston. 

Kryptonite: The Bruins are 0-2-0 against the Panthers this season and are 3-4-3 record against Florida  over the last 10 games. Despite this, the Panthers are in last place in the Atlantic, 17 points back from the Bruins, and 11 points back from the last available Wild Card spot.