Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

 

Baseball's on hold for the All-Star break and it's still 53 days until the start of the Georgia Bulldogs football season. Let's talk e-sports.

For most of the year, at least since February 7, I've been playing Assassin's Creed: Shadows. I kind of burned out on it, but kept going back for reasons I don't fully understand. But on June 27, I finally switched things up and started playing Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remake of the classic video game Metal Gear Solid 3.

I never played 3. I wasn't much of a gamer when it first came out in 2004, and I've never owned a PlayStation. However, I have played MGS 5 (2015) on PC but to be honest, I had no idea what the story was all about or who the characters were. I still had fun stealthing my way through Afghanistan and Angola in the game, but I haven't touched it since September 2019. While I was burning out on AC: Shadows, I thought about revisiting the game, and when I saw Delta on a Steam sale, I thought that would be a good way to reenter the MGS universe.

I'm not reviewing or critiquing the game here: this is a sports blog, not a review site. Suffice it to say that after my first playthrough, I immediately started a New Game + and finished my second playthrough last night.

My motives for restarting weren't purely enthusiasm, though. It took me a while to get the hang of the game the first time through, and I realize that I missed a lot of things on the first playthrough. My first playthrough took me 26 hours and 48 minutes as I kept getting killed by bosses over and over again before I figured out how to beat them (each one requires a different technique).

I played a second time to see what I missed on my first playthrough and to test some of my late-game lessons learned on early-game adversaries. I completed the second playthrough in 16:07, and it would have been even quicker if I hadn't spent so much time searching around for "collectible" frogs and ducks.

Hidden throughout the game are 64 toy frogs (Kerotans) and the same number of rubber ducks (GA-KOs). They're not easy to find, and I can easily imagine playing the whole game through and not even noticing they're there. If you found all 128 without referring to one of the many online guides, I'm pretty impressed. I only bagged 49 of each of the 64 after two complete playthroughs, even with access to online guides. 

Also, I wonder what the hell some of you were doing in those obscure nooks and crannies where they had hid the toys, or why, when you're racing down a runway on a motorcycle with the game's penultimate boss chasing you in a nuclear-powered death machine, while motorcycles guards are shooting at you and trying to run you off the road, you were scanning signs along the road in front of you through the scope of your sniper rifle for three-inch-tall toy frogs and rubber duckies. Who does that? On my second pass, even knowing exactly where they were based on the game guides and YouTube videos, I still couldn't hit them all as you have maybe two seconds to find them in your scope, aim, and fine as you're speeding past on a bumpy ride.

I ended up "killing" 156 NPCs on my first playthrough, but that's bad - it's a stealth game, and you're supposed to kill as few as possible. That number was reduced to 65 on my second pass, but that's still far from bragging levels.   

The game is a faithful remake of the Hideo Kojima original, and like any Kojima game (Metal Gear, Death Stranding) there's plenty of eccentricities and weirdness, like the toy frogs and rubber duckies, and long, long cut scenes. My total playing time based on the in-game statistics (42:55) doesn't match the total number of hours on my Steam statistics (65.9 hours) and I don't know why. Does the game not count the minutes in cut scenes as "play time" and if not, that implies a total of 23 minutes in cut scenes, which actually would be on the lower side of my guess.  

Whatever the exact number, I'm satisfied with my hours and don't feel a burning desire for a third playthrough. But rather that starting MGS 5 now like intended, I see that a PC remake of MGS 4 will be released on August 27, and it seems logical to wait for that and then to play 5 after completing 4. I probably still won't fully understand the story (I'm not sure I'll ever follow all the twists and turns of a Kojima game) but that seems like as good a plan as any.

Red Sox 3, Mets 2

Another day, another trophy. I'm gonna keep awarding these trophies for as long as the Red Sox keep winning. 

Today, Boston won their ninth straight game, a first for this season and a feat they haven't achieved since July 12, 2025. More significantly, they swept three series in a row, winning every game of this road trip. The last time the Sox swept three in a row was September 2019, and the last time they swept three in a row all on the road was way back in 1977. They're 14-2 since June 25 of this year and the start of a home stand against the Yankees. 

But, my God, the way that they won this game today. The Sox had starter Tolle on a strict pitch count today for some reason and pulled him after 66 pitches and 3⅔ innings. They brought in Brayan Bello, freshly returned from a minor-league reassignment, for long relief. A bold move, but Bello got the job done, striking out five and giving up one run on only two hits over 4⅓ innings. 

But the Sox hitting was off today and they hadn't scored a run for the first eight innings of the game. In fact, they only had two hits to show for themselves all game, and went into the ninth trailing, 2-0. I was already rationalizing the loss, thinking "all things eventually end" and "still a helluva run," but then Rafaella singled, Gonzalez advanced him to second, and Durbin loaded the bases with a walk. The Mets walked in Boston's first run of the day, and then a Duran single tied the game, 2-2.

Chapman closed out the ninth inning with only one hit and no runs, and in the top of the tenth, a Seigler fly ball brought Yoshida home from third. Whitlock made three quick outs in the bottom of the inning, and the Red Sox left the field with their ninth straight road win. Bet you didn't have that on your bingo card, did you? 

We're going to the World Series, baby! 

Boston enters the All Star break at 46-48 and in third place in the AL East. Tampa Bay lost today, so the Sox are now ten games back from first. But their path to the World Series doesn't run through a Division championship but a Wild Card berth. Seattle and Minnesota both won their games today, so Boston remains a tantalizing half game back from qualifying for a Wild Card spot. 

The Sox are off until Friday for the MLB All-Star break. They'll return to action at Fenway, where they're still only 17-27, for a four-game series against first-place Tampa Bay (56-38), starting with a Friday double-header. But after that, their odds will improve as they host Baltimore (45-51) and Toronto (45-50).

Not to throw a hex on our mojo, but as a long-suffering Red Sox fan (I was in the stands at Fenway for many of the games in that historic 1977 season) I can't help but think of disappointments in both the distant and recent past. Last season, we went into the All-Star break on a 10-game winning streak, only to go a disappointing 4-6 in the first ten games of the second half. 

However, this year, if we can at least split the series with the Rays and then sweep the birds (both Orioles and Blue Jays), then we're 8-2 to start the second half and all will be right with the world.

Red Sox 4, Mets 0

Another day, another trophy. Today, the Boston Red Sox won their eighth straight game, a first for this season and a feat they haven't achieved since July 11, 2025. They're 13-2 since June 25 of this year and the start of a home stand against the Yankees, while New York's gone 5-11 in that time.

Monasterio hit a homer 390 feet into deep left center in the fourth inning, scoring Durbin, and Yoshida hit a homer 371 feet into deep right in the eighth, also scoring Durbin. Rivera lasted only 3⅔ innings in his first MLB start, but didn't allow any runs and only one hit. Coulombe gave up three walks in the last two innings, but no hits and no runs.

The Mets stink - there's no kinder way to express it - and while the Red Sox are on a tear right now, they still have a ways to go before . . . oh, who am I kidding?  We're going to the World Series, baby! 

The Rays won again today, so Boston (45-48) still trails by 11 games, but we're now only a half-game back from qualifying for a Wild Card spot. Right now, Seattle, who lost their fifth straight game today, has the last Wild Card berth, while Minnesota, who won today, now has an identical 47-49 record. It's not impossible that we enter the All Star break holding that last Wild Card spot.

But first, we have one more game against those Mets. Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.14) will start the last game of the first half of the season. In his last start, Tolle, who's never faced the Mets, struck out six and gave up only two hits in six shut-out innings against the White Sox.

The Mets haven't yet announced their pitcher for tomorrow. You doing anything?

Meanwhile, in Alaska

 

I can honestly say I don't know what the hell Tamara Klink is doing.

She arrived back in Homer, Alaska last June and spent a month getting her ship, the Sardinha 2, out of dry dock, repainted, re-primed, and ready to make the long return trip back to Brazil. She took it for a few test trips around Kachemak Bay, and then on July 1, began her return odyssey.

Or did she? Any logical route from Homer, on the southern coast of Alaska, to Atlantic-facing Brazil, either goes south around Tierra del Fuego and then north up the eastern side of South America, or south and through the Panama Canal. Since Klink is an experienced Antarctic sailor, if even an Antarctic enthusiast, it seems unlikely she would go the Canal route. In fact, she most likely will take the Sardinha to Tierra del Fuego and establish a base in either a Chilean or Argentinian harbor for future Antarctic adventures.  

But either way, the logical course is south, hugging the west coast of North America, and then, after Baja California, further out to sea and straight for Cape Horn.

But that isn't what she's doing. She's actually sailed west along the Aleutian Peninsula and is presently harbored in King Cove, tantalizingly close to False Pass, the gateway to the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, through which she passed last year on her way to Homer. I don't see any advantage in starting her voyage south to Tierra del Fuego from further west in the Aleutians. She posted that the fickle winds made her change course several times a day, but it seems unlikely that she's just letting the wind take her willy-nilly some 550 miles off course. 

Could she be planning the audacious and sailing the Northeast Passage over Russian and Scandinavia, like fellow Arctic adventurer Ella Hibbert, and into the Atlantic, and then south to Brazil for the most insane route from Point A (Homer) to Point B (Brazil) imaginable? 

Or is she just poking around the Alaska coast during the summer season before heading south to the tropics, and then on to South America during the antipodal summer?          

So far, she hasn't said.

Red Sox 6, Mets 2

 

Another day, another trophy. The Boston Red Sox have won their seventh straight game, a first for this season and a feat they haven't achieved since August 5, 2025. They're 12-2 since the start of the home stand against the Yankees, while New York's gone 4-11 since that series. 

The Sox arrived in New York late for this weekend's series against the Mets (plane problems) and without Willson Contreras (suspension due to the June 30th altercation with the Nat's race-baiting bigot, Cade Cavalli). They were expecting the Mets to open the series with starter Clay Holmes, but the sneaky Mets put Nolan McLean on the mound instead. No problem. They scored two runs off McLean in the first inning on a Yoshida single and never looked back from there. 

Major-league disappointment Juan Soto eked out an RBI off Boston starter Sonny Gray in the third innings with a sac fly, but that was the only run Gray allowed over six innings. Seigler hit a two-run homer in the seventh, and Abreu hit another two-run homer in the top of the ninth. Weissert gave up the  memorial Aroldis Chapman ninth-inning homer, but the Sox still finished with a 6-2 road win, and Gray earned his 11th win of the season.   

Every other team in the AL East also won their game last night, so Boston remains 11 back from Tampa Bay in the standings. However, they're now a mere 1½ games back in the Wild Card standings, tied with Toronto and Houston and a half-game back from Minnesota. The Red Sox' road to the World Series doesn't go through an AL East title, but by qualifying for the Wild Card and advancing through the playoffs to the World Series championship.   

With most of the Red Sox rotation out on the IL, Boston will start rookie Eduardo Rivera today (4:10 pm). Rivera's only other major-league appearance was a three-run stint in relief in a 4-1 loss to the Yankees on April 22, back when this team still sucked.  However, he got three K's in those three innings and gave up only one hit, a José Caballero single to center. Whether he's got the right stuff for a starter or not we'll know after today's game.

The Mets, if you can believe them, say they will start former Brewer Freddy Peralta (5-7, 4.68). Peralta is 0-1 against Boston in two starts, most recently a May 28, 2025 game when he gave up a home run to Rafaela and the Sox burned him out through 108 pitches in five innings, even as they eventually lost the game in extra innings. 

Will the Sox make it eight straight? Nine? Will they complete a third consecutive sweep? Either way, as we approach the All-Star break, it's been a helluva run down the final stretch of the first half of the season.

Red Sox 2, White Sox 1

 

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2026 Boston Red Sox are back!

For the first time this season, the team has won six straight games and has completed back-to-back, consecutive sweeps. First, the Angels, and now, the AL Central-leading White Sox (although after three straight losses to Boston, Chicago is now tied for first with Cleveland). 

With this notable achievement, we present the team with the coveted, two-sweep, six-win trophy. We're going to the World Series, baby! 

Yesterday, the Red Sox won what turned out to be a pitching duel, and with a starter returning from a two-year stint on the Injured List at that. Patrick Sandoval, in his first game since June 21, 2024, pitched 4⅓  innings, the first three hitless, striking out five, and walking only one. He finally gave up a single in the fourth, and then got himself into some trouble in the fifth. After Sandoval was relieved, our old friend Andrew Benintendi (Boston, 2016-2020) took advantage of the two-on, one-out situation with a one-run RBI single, but that was all the scoring the Red Sox allowed yesterday.

In the fourth inning, Caleb Durbin hit his ninth homer of the season, a two-run shot into deep left center, and that was all the scoring the White Sox allowed, but it was enough for the win, Boston's sixth straight. And for a sweep in Chicago, a second straight sweep. I know I already point those two things out, but it just feels so good to say it.

The Red Sox are 11-2 since starting a home stand against the Yankees back on June 25. Speaking of Yankees, they beat Tampa Bay last night, so Boston (43-48) picks up a game in the standings and is now eleven back from first place, and 1½ ahead of last-place Baltimore.  

And speaking of New York, the Red Sox are heading there now for a weekend series against the woeful Mets (40-54). Sonny Gray (10-1, 2.61), a legitimate 20-win contender, will start. Gray's last start against the Mets, back on May 2 of last year, didn't go so well - he struck out six, but gave up four earned runs on nine hits, including a two-run homer to Pete Alonso, who's now with the Orioles (serves him right). I sense some payback ass-whipping coming up.  

The Mets will start Clay Holmes (4-4, 2.39). His last start against Boston also didn't go so well - he lasted six innings and struck out five, but gave up home runs to Narváez and the now departed Devers (not departed as in "dead," but as in traded to San Francisco, which is probably just as bad). He might have his own payback fantasies, which is just so adorable, but the Mets don't stand a chance - these Red Sox are unstoppable.

Red Sox 5, White Sox 0

 

Last night, the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-0,  for their fifth consecutive win. It's only the second time this season that Boston's won five straight, and they haven't yet won six straight, so today's game should be interesting. 

Last night, rookie Jake Bennett pitched seven solid innings, giving up no runs, only four hits, and four K's. The bullpen (Weissert and Morán) was perfect - no hits, no runs, and two Morán strikeouts.

Meanwhile, all the scoring occurred in the third and fourth innings. Cheng and Rafaela had RBI base hits in the third, and then Seigler scored on a wild pitch. Cheng had another RBI in the fourth and Narvaez brought Yoshida home with a single that inning. With Bennett's pitching and the bullpen, those five runs were more than enough for the Red Sox to win the game.

Contreras and Seigler both left the game with apparent foot contusions. A loss of Contreras would be devastating, especially at this resurgent point in the season, but if it's "only" a contusion and with the All-Star break coming up, the impact may be muted.

The Red Sox (42-48) are now twelve games back from first-place Tampa Bay, who beat the Yankees -  again - last night. Winning the AL East isn't a realistic goal, despite the enthusiasm we may be feeling right now on this 10-2 run we're on, but Boston is once again only three games back in the Wild Card race, with four teams, all below .500, ahead of them. 

We're going to the World Series, baby!  

But first we need to wrap up this series in Chicago. Patrick Sandoval returns from a years-long stint on the IL and will make his first Red Sox appearance today, as well as his first time on the mound since June 21 back in 2024.  He's a career 0-3 against the White Sox, but that's based on three starts for the Angels, which has to be taken into consideration. 

The Pale Hose will start veteran Anthony Kay (6-3, 4.29), who's never started against the Red Sox and has only faced Boston in relief appearances, none since July 2023 when he was pitching for the other Chicago team.

A win today (2:10 pm) would be huge for Boston. It would be both the first consecutive sweep of two teams this season as well as the first six-game win streak of the year. And with three games against the woeful Mets (39-54) next, it sets us up to potentially sweep three in a row, and complete a 9-0 run before the break.

World Series. We're going to the World Series, baby!

         

 

Red Sox 6, White Sox 1

 

As of last night, the Boston Red Sox are no longer the worst team in the AL East.

Peyton Tolle pitched six innings of shutout, two-hit baseball, striking out six and giving up only one walk. Tolle is the first Red Sox pitcher since Dennis Eckersley in 1978 to make at least four starts of 6.0-plus innings while allowing zero earned runs in a single season.

Meanwhile, both Monasterio and Rafaela homered in the first to give Boston an early, 3-0 lead. Wong made it 4-0 in the fourth with a sac fly, and then in the top of the ninth, Contreras, Gonzalez, and Durran added all the insurance one could want with a pair of RBI doubles and a single. 

That's four straight wins for the Sox, a feat they've only managed once before this season when they swept the Yankees. Since that series against New York started back on June 25, the Red Sox have gone 9-2, and finally (finally!) out of the AL East basement. They're now in fourth place, a half-game ahead of Baltimore and 12½ back from the Rays, who beat the Yankees last night. 

Rooke Jake Bennett (3-3, 3.10) will face the White Sox tonight for the first time in his short career (he only came up to the majors on May 1). He'll be opposite Chicago's Davis Martin (9-3, 3.08), who's started twice against Boston. Last year, he went six innings against the Red Sox, striking out six but also giving up six hits (one earned run) in an 11-1 Chicago blowout. 

Let's hope for better results tonight.

Red Sox 7, Angels 5

 

So, the good news is that the Red Sox won last night, 7-5, and completed a sweep of the Angels in L.A. It's Boston's fourth sweep of the season, following sweeps in Detroit and Kansas City and back home over the Yankees earlier this season. 

The bad news is that Ranger Suarez left the game with an apparent groin injury, adding him to the list of Boston pitchers on the IL that includes Connelly Early, Garrett Crochet, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, and Patrick Sandoval.

But about last night . . . Last night, Duran hit a two-run homer in the second and Contreras hit a three-run homer in the third. Yoshida hit a RBI single in the seventh after Abreu scored a run with a sacrifice fly that same inning. After Suarez left the game in the third inning with three runs, the bullpen locked down and held the Angels scoreless until Slaten gave up an RBI single in the eighth. Chapman gave up a solo homer in the ninth because of course he did - that's what he does now.

Not to gloat, but the Angels are in last place in the AL West and now have the distinction of the worst record (36-55) in MLB. So a sweep is nice, but anything else would be an embarrassment.  

The Rays lost last night, their second straight "L," so the Red Sox (40-48) are now 12½ games back. The Yankees lost as well; in fact, every team in the AL East lost last night except for the Sox, who are still in last place but now only a half game back from fourth-place Baltimore. Bonus points: the Rays and the Yankees start a four-game series in Tampa Bay tonight, so Boston has a chance to sneak up in the standings while the two leaders duke it out at the top.

The Red Sox are off today, and tomorrow start a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox (47-42), the top team in the AL Central. Payton Tolle (4-6, 3.39), who, surprisingly for a Boston pitcher, isn't out injured, will start the first game. This will be Tolle's first time pitching in Chicago or facing the White Sox. The Pale Hose will start rookie Noah Schultz (2-5, 5.86), who hasn't yet faced the Red Sox in his career. 

Arctic Update

 

Before heading up to the Arctic, we first need to acknowledge that former Hudson River whitewater guide Kelsey Pfendler completed her trip from Monterey, California to Oahu, Hawaii. Rowing her 21-foot boat, Lily, solo, she shattered both the men's and women's records in 43 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes. She became the first and youngest American woman to row the mid-Pacific trip solo. Congratulations.

Meanwhile, way up north on Saint Paul Island in the Bering Sea, English captain Ella Hibbert is still prepping her boat, the Yeva, to complete her solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean. She's been on St. Paul since mid-May, prepping and repainting the Yeva since mid-May, getting everything ship-shape before heading back out. Once she sets sail, she'll pass north over Russia and Scandinavia to return to her original starting point west of Iceland.  

Ice-free conditions on the Kara Sea generally don't begin until mid-July and last through mid-October, so there's no reason for Hibbert to head out any earlier. In fact, it would be foolish to start too soon, as she'd only be waiting from her boat for the ice to clear while needlessly consuming fuel, food, and supplies. However, she's now gotten the Yeva out of drydock and into the water, and hopefully has taken her for a few test runs.

Meanwhile, Brazilian explorer, adventurer and author Tamara Klink is in Homer, Alaska, reunited with her ship, the Sardinha 2. She posted some pics on Instagram of her and a crew priming, painting, and repairing the boat after it's long winter dry-docking in Homer. 

I've visited Homer twice, once in 1994 and again in '95 - marvelous little town, friendly people, lots of bars. The Key West of Alaska, in that it's at the end of the road on a long spit off an even longer peninsula. There's nowhere further to go from Homer other than to turn around and head back, although I convinced someone there to ferry me and my backpacking buddy across Kachemak Bay to the roadless Kenai mainland for a taste of true wilderness camping. No one there but a sky full of air, 40,000 grizzles, and me (and my friend). Intimidating, but a great reminder of what it feels like to not be on the top of the food chain. And to trust some random boat dude to keep his promise to come back and pick us up the next day (he did).  

But this isn't a post about me. What captain Klink plans to do this summer on the Sardinha is anyone's guess. Sail the boat back down to Brazil? Travel back through the Northwest Passage again, but this time in the opposite direction? Follow Hibbert on the so-called Northeast Passage over Russia and into the Atlantic? We'll have to continue to follow her social media posts to find out.  

Red Sox 8, Angels 1

 

Two wins in a row as the Red Sox clinch a road series win. Contreras and Gonzalez both homered for a combined five runs, and Abreu and Rafaela both doubled for three more. Duran stole second base twice in the game, but got stranded both times. Still, nice effort. Sonny Gray pitched six innings with seven K's and the only run of the game, and the bullpen shut out the A's over the last three innings.

The Sox make winning look so easy when they play baseball well.  

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay finally figured out a way to lose a game last night, so the Sox move up one game in the standings. They're still in last place in the AL East and a dismal 13½ back, but at least they moved up one.

Ranger Suarez (4-3, 2.94) pitches tonight in the series finale. In 8½ years on the mound, Suarez has only started one game against the Angels, a July 20, 2025 game in Philly where he gave up six earned runs in a 8-2 L.A. win. One could assume that he'd like to avenge that loss. Ryan Johnson (1-3, 7.40) will face the Sox tonight for the first time in his two-year career when he starts for the Angels.

Let's sweep those Angels so we have some positive momentum when we travel to Chicago to next play the Pale Hose.

Red Sox 5, Angels 2

 

The 2026 Boston Red Sox apparently are road warriors. Setting aside their improbable four-game home sweep of the Yankees, they're 13-27 in Fenway, but .500 (21-21) on the road. They evened up, or "equalized" as our World Cup friends like to say, their road record last night with a 5-2 win in Anaheim.

Jake Bennett pitched a fine game, lasting a full 7⅔ innings and had a no-hitter going through four. He struck out six batters before finally giving up a homer and a one-run single in the eighth. Whitlock finally got us out of the inning, and then . . . Then, Aroldis Chapman took over in the ninth and set a new major-league record for the most strikeouts (1,364) by a reliever in MLB history.     

Meanwhile, on the other side of the plate, Duran had two RBI hits, Gonzalez hit a two-run double, and Durbin hit a homer in the fifth.

Tonight, the formidable Sonny Grey (9-1, 2.69) starts for Boston against the Angel's Sam Aldegheri. Gray is a career 4-4 against the Angels, and in his last appearance against them, playing for the Cardinals, he struck out nine but gave up five runs.  Aldegheri has only pitched two innings against the Sox, a middle-relief stint back on June 5 last year, resulted in two unearned runs, in a see-saw Red Sox victory, much to the delight of a fictional little girl.