New York 6, Boston 1

 

The Red Sox might have one of the best bullpen ERAs in baseball, but yesterday that bullpen lost the game for Boston. 

After 6⅓ masterful innings by Ranger Suarez (one run and six K's), the game was tied at 1-1. Justin Slaten entered the game in the eighth inning and gave up a solo homer after two outs and then, after walking the next batter, allowed an RBI single. Joe La Sorsa (who?) took the mound next in his first Red Sox appearance and gave up a two-run homer to the Yankees' Jazz Jism Junior. Five runs in the inning, all coming on two outs.   

New York's Shittler lasted only 5⅔ innings, fewer than Suarez, got five K's to Ranger's six, and gave up one walk (Suarez had none), but the press called Shit Hitler's pitching performance "dominant" and barely mentioned Suarez. It doesn't matter, other than pointing out the big-market bias of the press, but it reminds us once again why the Yankees suck.

The Sox escape the Bronx with one win, one loss, and one rainout. They're still in last place, 10½ back from the lead, and headed toward first-place Tampa Bay.

The Rays have been on a rocky road as of late, losing seven of their last 10 games. Tonight, they'll start pitcher Ian Seymour (3-0, 5.23). The Sox have faced Seymour twice before, both times in relief, and got only one hit, one run (and not on the lone hit), and three strikeouts over four innings. 

The Sox will answer with young Connelly Early (5-3, 3.26). Early was "dominant" against the Rays in a pitching masterpiece back on May 8, striking out eight over seven shutout innings in a 2-0 Fenway victory. I think he's still got it in him to do it again, this time in Tropicana Field.

Unfortunately, a Tampa Bay loss probably won't be as helpful for the Sox as for the Yankees, who trail the Rays by less than half a game. But even I don't advocate tanking a series in a lost season just to screw over New York . . . but why not? What have we got to lose? We're not winning the division (spoiler alert) anyway -  we're not going anywhere. Why not just be little stinkers and fuck things up for the goddamn Yankees and give Tampa Bay three easy wins while New York struggles with Cleveland?

It's a plan at least.

The Last of AC Shadows

 

The Red Sox were rained out last night in Yankee Stadium, so here instead is my last post for the video game Assassins Creed: Shadows (games are esports, right?).

In a post last week, I said that Claws of Awaji, the DLC for the game which is supposed to add 10 hours of gameplay, would probably take me about 25 hours to complete. It turns out I was exactly right - I finished it late last night after exactly 25 more hours of playtime. That brings my total in-game hours after two complete playthroughs of the main game and one of the DLC to 433, the fourth-highest of any game I've played. It's even passed Horizon: Forbidden West (426 hours), a frankly far better game that I enjoyed much more.

I finished the game with my characters at Level 91 and right on the cusp of reaching 92. Naoe, one of the two characters you play as, had five available adrenaline slots, 22,168 health points, and an average 19,348 damage points. The other character, Yasuke, also had five adrenaline slots but 44,982 health points and dealt an average 13,380 damage points. I reached Knowledge Rank 10 (apparently only 1.3% of players reach that level) and completed 61 of 72 achievements on Steam, the rarest of which, after Knowledge Rank, was "kill 5 enemies with one single Wind Slash strike" (1.5% of players).   

To be honest, I didn't care much for the Awaji DLC and it kind of tainted my opinion of the game as a whole. The DLC throws four bosses at you, one of which (Yasuhira) is actually pretty easy, and another of which (Nowaki) doesn't put up much of a fight when finally confronted, but getting to her requires a long frustrating stealth mission during which she repeatedly teleports to other locations whenever you get close or get a hit in on her. However, the other two bosses, Tomeji and the final antagonist, Yukari, are near impossible to beat. Tomeji is a damage sponge who simply doesn't wear down, although he can one-hit you and end the bout. Yukari is impossibly fast so you can't parry or dodge, and her hits force a "stunned" reaction from your character from which it takes a second to recover (and split seconds count in this fight).  

Those two fights were frustrating and after multiple (more than 10) attempts at each, I finally switched the gameplay to "easy" mode just to get through the scenes and finish the goddamn game, a tactic I don't like to use. But I like getting killed repeatedly by a boss I can't beat even less, and my options were to either rage quit the game or switch difficulty modes.  

But despite the bad taste the DLC left in my mouth, the game is incredibly beautiful and running through its version of 16th Century Japan is fun and rewarding. I'd give the game an "A" for exploration and a "B" for combat and characters, but a "D-" for story. The plot is fubar and I've been playing this game since February 13. It's past time to move on.

Red Sox 5, Yankees 3

 

Oh. My. God. They actually did it, those crazy bastards! The last-place Boston Red Sox crawled into the belly of the beast, deep into the darkest recesses of the urban hellhole that is the Bronx, and won the first game game, 5-3, of the weekend series against the Yankees. 

Willson Contreras did a lot of the heavy lifting, hitting an RBI single in the third that brought Duran home, but not before Wilyer Abreu's ground out with the bases loaded that same inning scored Wong. Contreras later put an exclamation mark on the game with a two-run homer in the fifth. Monasterio also hit a homer, a solo blast in the fourth.

Starting pitcher Sonny Gray gave up three runs on eight hits, including two homers, over 6⅓ innings. He only got three K's, but generally kept the Yankees from scoring. The bullpen was perfect - no runs and no hits - although Chapman walked two, putting the potentially tying run on base, because he likes to make his ninth inning appearances needlessly interesting. 

Tampa Bay won last night so the Sox are still 11 games out of first place, but Toronto lost so at least we picked up a game on the fucking Jays.

Tonight, Ranger Suarez (2-3, 3.38) will start for Boston. Back in April, Suarez gave up five hits to the Yankees in Fenway, including a three-run homer in the first. However, he struck out four batters over 4⅔ innings before getting pulled. He'll be opposed by the Yankees' Will Warren (7-1, 3.22), who missed a start in April's Fenway series.  However, he's a  career 1-2 against Boston, and in his last start against the Sox last September, gave up six first-inning runs, including a solo homer to Carlos Narváez. However, Connor Wong (.264) is expected to catch today for Suarez instead of the struggling Narváez (.214). 

       

Orioles 8, Red Sox 2

 

Of course, this year's Red Sox team can't win a home series against the fourth-place Orioles. Of course, Brayan Bello, after finally being allowed to start a first inning again, gives up six runs in that first. Of course, the Boston batters get only seven hits all game and go scoreless until Contreras finally wakes the fuck up and scores an RBI in the sixth and hits a meaningless solo homer in the 9th.

Of course. of course, of course. The 2026 Boston Red Sox really do suck. After the game, Bello was sent down to Triple A until he remembers how to throw strikes.

The Red Sox are .426 (26-35) but still not as bad as the Tigers, Royals, and Angels, or the Giants and Rockies over in the National League, and are 11 games out of first place and about to start one of the toughest weeks in their schedule, starting tonight in the Bronx.

Sonny Gray (6-1, 3.06) will start for the Sox. Gray missed his start in the last series against the Yankees, but is a career 2-2 against New York. Last August, as a Cardinal, he gave up six runs while striking out seven in a game against New York in Sr. Louis. He'll be pitching against the Yanks' Ryan Weathers (3-2, 3.52), who in 6½ years in MLB has faced virtually every team in MLB at least once before except for Boston. This will be his first time facing the Sox, as a starter or in relief.

Doesn't matter. The Sox will lose and will get swept in New York, and then fly down to Tampa Bay to get swept by the Rays. Only 92 more days until the start of the Georgia Bulldogs football schedule.  

Red Sox 8, Orioles 1

 

Bassitt does it again! Just like last year, when he gave up eight earned runs in two innings in a 15-1 Boston rout, last night he gave up three runs in as many innings, including a two-run Abreu homer in the second inning, his seventh home run of the year. The Sox won, 8-1, and the cumulative score in their last two games against Bassitt is 23-2.  

Duran scored in the first inning, like he always does, this time on an Abreu single. Gasper tripled in the fifth, scoring two runs, Kiner-Falefa and Durbin both had fifth-inning RBI doubles, and Rafaela brought Durbin home with a single that inning.

Meanwhile, Tolle went six shutout innings, striking out five. Ryan Watson gave up an RBI triple in the seventh, but after that it was smooth sailing for him the rest of the game.

The home series is tied at one each. The rubber game is this afternoon at 1:35.

Toronto lost last night, so the Sox are now two games back from the Orioles and the Blue Jays. They're still 3½ back from Wild Card eligibility, with five teams ahead of them. 

The Red Sox will actually give the ball to Brayan Bello (2-5, 5.63) in the first inning today, instead of that stupid, one-inning opener strategy they were using last month.  Back on April 24, Bello gave up four first-inning runs to the Orioles and earned a total of eight runs in 3⅓ innings in a 10-3 loss. Bello's been improving since then, lowering his ERA from 9.00 to 5.63, his WHIP from 2.27 to 1.64, and his BAA from .374 to .307. Still, the City of Boston collectively holds its breath every time he's on the mound. 

Fortunately, he'll be up against Baltimore's Trevor Rogers (2-6, 6.84), who lasted just 1⅔ innings after giving up three runs on four hits in a Red Sox 17-1 home-run derby in Baltimore (remember that game? They fired Cora after it was over). The key thing to watch today is which starting pitcher melts down first. Or the fastest. Or the worst. It won't be pretty, but welcome to Red Sox baseball, 2027!  

      

Orioles 4, Red Sox 2

 

The Boston Red Sox are playing three-dimensional, possibly four-dimensional, chess. The front office has apparently made a business decision that Fenway Park at this point is just a tourist attraction and a luxury perk for corporate managers, and will make money no matter the quality of the team they put on the field. The luxury suites are already sold out for years in advance, and college students, the Fenway faithful, and tourists will still buy tickets regardless of the quality of the team, so why pay more money for superstar players or big-salary pitchers? That just eats into the profit margin.

But the players - and here's the 3-D chess move - recognize the owners' gambit and are countering by winning as few games as possible in Fenway. The team can go 2-1 against the first-place Guardians in Cleveland and are 16-14 on the road this season, but haven't even won 10 games at home all season. Their 9-20 home record is the worst in all of baseball. They're deliberately sabotaging the attraction of attending  Fenway, tanking the home games, while still maintaining a barely competitive overall win-loss record. Eventually, the front office will be forced to spend some money to shore up their investment in the Fenway cash cow. Genius!

Case in point: last night, the Red Sox, fresh off winning their road series in Cleveland, fell, 4-2, to the Orioles in Fenway. Both Boston runs were off sac flies, and the promising young Connelly Early gave up six hits and four runs in 5⅓ innings. Orioles pitched Shane Paz entered the game with a 3-5 record and a 4.29 ERA, but went seven full innings with only two runs on four hits and got the win.

Entering this series, Boston (25-34) had a chance of moving out of last place in the AL East. Now, the best they can hope for is to finish the home stand at one game back from Baltimore and Toronto. And as far as first place?  Fuhgeddaboudit.

Today's starter for Baltimore, Chris Bassett (4-3, 5.06), is a career 2-3 against the Sox in nine starts. The last time he pitched at Fenway (June 28, 2025), he was with the Jays and lasted only two innings, giving up eight earned runs in a 15-1 Boston beatdown of Toronto.

Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.61) makes his first career start against Baltimore tonight. Tolle not only has Boston's best ERA for a starter, he also owns the best WHIP (0.90) and the lowest BAA (.176) of any pitcher on the team with more than three starts. Statistically, he's our best hope for a win - even at home - and if Bassett would be kind enough to repeat last year's performance, we might have a chance.

AC Shadows

 

The last time I posted about video games (e-sports), the Red Sox season was just starting, both the Celtics and the Bruins were starting their ill-fated and short playoff runs, and I had completed my first playthrough of Assassins Creed: Shadows after about 250 hours of playtime. 

Today, the Sox are off and may or may not be at a turning point of their as-of-now historically awful season. The Celtics and Bruins seasons are now but memories and the teams subject to rumors about trades and management changes. And last night, I completed my second run through Shadows after another 150 hours. According to my Steam statistics, my official total is at 408.5 hours, the fifth most time spent in any game. 

My all time leader is Fallout 4 (1,094 hours) and nothing's likely to ever break that record. The only game that even comes close is No. 2 Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (934 hours). No. 3 is Cyberpunk 2077 at 563 hours, and No. 4 is Horizon: Forbidden West (426 hours).  

I must be a fan of the Assassins Creed franchise, because Origins (351) is in my Top 10 at No. 7, behind No. 5 Shadows and No. 6 Far Cry 6 (396 hours). I've also got 99 hours in on Assassins Creed: Valhalla and 66 hours on AC: Mirage.        

It took me 100 less hours to complete my second playthrough of Shadows because I played it as a New Game +, so my character was at full strength throughout (I started the second run at Level 66 and finished at Level 88). Also, I had finally figured out the game mechanisms and fighting styles, so I didn't have to repeat each boss fight a half dozen times before I finally won.

Before you ask, no, I'm not about to start a third playthrough. However, I haven't played the game's one official DLC yet, Claws of Awaji, so that will be my next move. Shadows has received many criticisms, many of them justified, and one is that the story "ends" on a very tentative, unresolved note. In fact, the final missions bring up more new questions than answers to the plot up to that point. Awaji reportedly provides a proper ending to the story, or to put it another way, Ubisoft, the game developer, put the end of the story behind a paywall after you've already purchased the game.

The DLC supposedly adds another 10 hours of gameplay, so it will probably take me about another 25. Then after that, on to something new, finally. I've been playing Shadows since February 13 (three and a half months!) and it's more than time to finally move on to something else!

Red Sox 9, Guardians 4

 

Two straight, back-to-back wins! A series win in Cleveland! Eighteen runs in the last two games! The mighty Boston Red Sox are the best 25-33 team in all of baseball!

Jarren Duran didn't get a ninth-inning home run in this game but that's okay - he homered in the first, during the first at-bat in the game. Connor Wong didn't hit a homer off Bibee again, but he still scored twice. In fact, no one homered after Duran's first-inning blast, but the Sox still scored nine runs and Caleb Durban hit a two-run, seventh-inning triple, which is arguably more of an accomplishment than a home run.  In all, the Sox scored six runs in the seventh on RBIs from Abreu, Yoshida, Kiner-Falefa, and Durban's triple. 

The win and the runs total are all the more impressive considering that both Contreras and Rafaela were out of the lineup, and the Sox started three catchers - Gasper (who played first base), Wong (DH), and Narváez (who actually caught). Contreras covered first for Gasper in the bottom of the 9th inning for defensive purposes, but never batted.

Ranger Suarez gave up four runs, but struck out 10 over five complete innings. The bullpen added five more K's, including two by Chapman in the bottom of the ninth.

The Sox are still in last place in the AL East, but are now only three back in the Wild Card race.

The Red Sox are off today, and then have three at home against the Orioles (28-32) at Fenway.  Boston is two back from Baltimore in the standings, and the three-game series is a chance to pull out of last place before a nightmare road trip to New York and Tampa Bay.      

Red Sox 9, Guardians 1

 

I saw this one coming. Sox pitcher Sonny Gray continued to feed off of Cleveland batting, getting seven strikeouts over a full six innings and giving up only one run on four hits. It took the Sox a while to wear down Cleveland's starting pitcher, Parker Messick, but once they finally got him off the mound after five innings, Wong scored a run in the sixth and Durbin scored his second of the game in the eighth.

But let's talk about that ninth inning. Cleveland reliever Will Dion loaded the bases with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and a single, and then walked Yoshida on five pitches to bring home a run. Wong hit a two-run single, giving him three RBIs on the day. Duran then tied Wong's three RBIs with a three-run blast into deep right center. It was Duran's ninth homer of the season, and five of them have come in the ninth inning. 

The Red Sox win, 9-1, and tie up the road series at one game each. What a team! I love these guys! 

Tampa Bay lost yesterday, so the Sox bounce from 13 games  back to "only" 12 in the division. Toronto lost as well, so the Sox are now four back in the Wild Card standings, with five teams ahead of them in the race. Yesterday was apparently a tough day for the AL East, and I can't pass up the opportunity to point out that the Yankees lost, too.

Ranger Suarez (2-3, 3.02) takes on Tanner Bibee (0-7, 4.57) in this afternoon's rubber match. Suarez is 1-1 against Cleveland in three career games, giving up 11 hits and getting 11 K's. He's yet to give up his first homer to the Guardians. Bibee's had 10- and 12-win seasons, but he's off to a terrible start this year, taking the loss in seven of his 12 starts. He's  1-0 against the Sox in two career starts, striking out five over 10 innings and giving up nine hits, including a two-run homer by Connor Wong in 2024 (Wong's in the game as the DH today).

Let's go, Boston! Let's go, Wong! Let's go, Duran! Let's go, Suarez! Let's beat these Guardians!  

   

Guardians 4, Red Sox 3

 

So how did that jack-assy strategy of putting in a reliever to start the first inning for Bello work out yesterday? Well, the reliever, Tyler Samaniego, gave up four runs on six hits in the first inning and cost us the game, while Bello shut out Cleveland over seven innings, striking out three and giving up only four hits. 

I don't know, what say we use our starting pitchers to start games and our relievers for relief when necessary, and stop this cutesy bullshit  of putting in a reliever as a "short starter" for the first inning of games? Just spitting out ideas here, but what do I know - I'm not managing a .411 ball team.

The Sox got a little bit of offence going in the fifth inning, getting three runs on a Mayer single, a Durbin double, and a Duran sac fly, but that was all we got. We're now an unlucky 13 games back from first place.

This afternoon, Sonny Gray (5-1, 3.27) will see what he can do for the Sox against Cleveland. Gray had a career 95 strikeouts against Cleveland in 103 innings, his third highest count against any other team. In his last game against the Guardians, a masterful performance for St. Louis back on June 27 of last year, he struck out 11, went the full nine innings, and was but one single short of a no-hitter.

He'll be up against The Guardian's Parker Messick (6-1. 2.24). He's only faced the Sox once before, striking out two but giving up three runs on nine hits in a short start in Fenway back on September 1 of last year. 

If past performance is any indicator of future results, this matchup is favorable for Boston and we've got a chance. Carpe diem, motherfuckers! Let's beat these guys!

Braves 10, Red Sox 2

Last night, Tolle and the Boston bullpen essentially provided batting practice for the Braves, giving up 10 runs on 11 hits. As a rule of thumb, if a Braves batter got on base, he got home. The Sox pulled a couple of runs out of their ass in the bottom of the fourth on a walk, single, and double, but otherwise let Sale cruise for five innings and then let the Atlanta bullpen pad their stats.

Man, I hate this team. In 50 years of cheering for the Red Sox, this is the worst I've ever seen.

Now the last-place Sox (23-32) are off to Cleveland (33-25), the first-place team in the AL Central. Rookie reliever Tyler Samaniego (0-2, 1.04) will be making his first career start. The team sent Samaniego down to the minors early this week, but had to call him right back after more pitching injuries. However, he's thrown 13 K's and allowed only two earned runs in 17⅓ innings of relief, so we know he's got good stuff, but I don't know if he'll be expected to go long tonight, or if he's in just as a short starter for some other pitcher. I give up. Who knows, and just as importantly, who cares?

The Guardians will be starting pitcher Slade Cecconi (3-5, 5.18), who's only faced the Sox once before, going 5⅓ innings last September 2 with eights K's but seven earned runs. 

100 more days until college football.

Red Sox 8, Braves 0

 

Well, I'll be. The Boston Red Sox, the best 23-31 team in all of MLB (they're better than the Tigers, Royals, Angels, Mets, Giants, and Rockies) beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-0, the team with the most wins (37) in baseball this year, one third of the way through the long season.

Supposedly good Atlanta pitcher Bryce Elder, who gave up seven hits including a home run to Willson Contreras back on May 16, gave up nine hits last night, and completely melted down in the fourth inning, giving up four runs and leaving two on with one out when he finally got pulled. He had faced 20 batters in the game and managed only one strikeout.  

Meanwhile, young Connelly Early, a legitimately good pitcher, went seven full shutout innings, striking out seven and giving up only four hits. 

Everyone on the Boston lineup got at least one hit last night. Duran got four of them, including an eighth inning homer against Braves reliever Carlos Carrasco. Rafaela got three, including a two-run single in the fourth to make the game 4-0, and then stole second base before Abreu brought him home on a single. 

Wins like this are few and far between for the Red Sox - hell, any win is a rare occurrence this season - so we'll celebrate when we can. The win changes nothing - the Sox are still cellar dwellers, 11½ back from Tampa Bay (who, interestingly, are on a four-game losing streak right now) and three games back in the Wild Card standings with five teams ahead of them. Still, it feels good to win one.

I love the Red Sox - always have, always will. In 50 years of cheering for them, I've seen worse seasons.

Unfortunately for Boston, though, it's Sale Day. The Sox managed to avoid him down in Atlanta, but he's scheduled to take the mound in Fenway tonight. He's a career 3-1 against the Red Sox with 41 strikeouts and is 7-3 overall this season with a 1.89 ERA. He'll be facing Boston's Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.45), who may not have Sale's stats but is nonetheless one of the bright spots in this cursed season. He pitched a winning game against the Braves in Atlanta on May 16, going eight innings and allowing only two runs of four hits. If Tolle can repeat that effort and the Boston bats stay hot, we have a chance at winning this series.