Red Sox 1, Tigers 0 (10)

 

Fenway, baby! The Sox are back, both back at home and back in the swing of things!

The Boston Red Sox win a second straight game, the third time this season they put together back-to-back victories. They're 6-3 in their last nine starts. The bats are finally coming alive and the pitchers are locking down. We're going to the World Series, baby!

Last night was a pitcher's duel - nine scoreless innings before Boston finally broke through in the 10th. Ranger Suarez went 8 full innings with no runs and only two hits, the same number of hits as Aroldis Chapman got in his 9th inning relief. Garrett Whitlock went three up and three down in the top of the 10th.

Finally, in the bottom of the 10th, with one out and Jarren Duran on third on a wild pitch, pinch-hitter Macho Man Masataka Yoshida knocked a single into right center, bringing Duran home. Red Sox win, 1-0, in 10 innings.  

Shout it from the mountaintop: THE RED SOX ARE NO LONGER IN LAST PLACE IN THE AL EAST! Not only are they not the worst team in MLB any longer, they aren't even the worst team in their division. That would be the Blue Jays, but that's another matter. Right now, the Red Sox are 8-11, one ahead of Toronto and three back from first-place Tampa Bay. The Red Sox have a better record than the White Sox and the Royals, than Houston and Seattle, then the Mets, the Giants, and the Rockies. 

Can they make it three in a row for the first time this season? This afternoon (4:10 pm), Brayan Bello (1-1, 6.14) takes the mound to face Detroit's Tarik Skubal (2-2, 2.22). Speaking of twos, the Sox are 2-2 against Skuball in five starts with 29 hits, including four home runs. Skubal's career ERA versus Boston is 4.91, tied with the Dodgers for the fourth highest of any team.  Unfortunately, Bello has yet to beat the Tigers in three attempts, with one loss, an ERA of 5.74, and 14 strikeouts.

Shadows

 

The Red Sox comeback was on pause yesterday and the Bruins and Celtics aren't starting their playoff series until Sunday, so the Gaming Desk gets a word in today. Because video games are e-sports, right? 

We finally finished Assassins Creed: Shadows! It took me 250 hours, but I finally got to the end credits. That's the longest, by far, I spent in a single playthrough of any video game. I spent nearly 99 hours on Assassins Creed: Valhalla, a notoriously bloated game, and 100 hours on God of War. I completed Death Stranding in 150. On the other end of the scale, completing BioShock Infinite took me 15 hours, and I knocked off the indie game Everyone's Gone to the Rapture in 10 hours.  The closest I've spent to 250 hours in any video game was The Witcher 3 (274 hours), which I've played more times than I can recall.      

According to the Google AI bot, it should take approximately 35–40 hours to complete the Shadows main story, while side quests can add 15 to 30 hours. Significant time can be consumed customizing gear and clearing map content, with some players logging over 100 hours and those aiming for 100% can spend over 100–140 hours exploring the open world. 

So it took me over 100 hours more than most OCD completionists need to complete every main and side quest and to check off every achievement, and I haven't even downloaded the DLC. I'm not sure why it took me so long, as I didn't even complete everything. There are some "search" quests where you're supposed to find certain objects across the map, and I never fully completed some of those searches. For example, Mayu's Offering requires you to find 69 randomly located statues. I found a lot of them, most of them even, but not all 69. Even more frustrating, another quest requires you to find 10 assorted "valuable objects" - I found nine, and the effort it would take to retrace my route through the entire game to find the one object I missed is incalculable.   

I lost some time because I'm apparently a dumb ass with slow reflexes who kept getting myself  killed and had to start some castle sieges and battles over and over again, but I'm pretty damn confident I didn't spend 100 hours repeating those quests. 

I think the lost hours were most likely spent in just slowing down and enjoying the game's world. I spent a lot of time travelling, traversing the countryside on horse or on foot, rather than fast-travel teleporting across the map. A lot of time taking selfies in photo mode. Many hours fidgeting with equipment, trying out new armor or weapons, and upgrading said equipment. 

So, after two calendar months in real time and 250 hours of playtime, I finally got to the end, and what did I do? Why. immediately start a New Game Plus, of course! Now that I know what I'm doing and fully powered up (I finished the first game and started the new game at Level 61), let's see how long it takes to actually complete all of the game, including those missing statues and objects and all.

Red Sox 9, Twins 5

 

Yeah, baby! The Boston Red Sox are so BACK! A rough start to the season, but yesterday, on an April afternoon, the team turned things around, avoided a sweep, and started a comeback of historic proportions. 

We're going to the World Series, and that's a guarantee!

It was Trevor Story, fittingly, who sparked the fire that lit the comeback. In the third inning, following a Yoshida two-RBI fielders' choice, Story hit a three-run homer 428 feet into deep left center. 5-1, Boston. Then in the sixth inning, Story hit a two-RBI double to deep right center. 7-1, Boston. 

And Story wasn't alone. In addition to Yoshida's RBIs, Andruw Monasterio got an RBI double in the fifth (8-1, Boston), and then came home on a Connor Wong sac fly. 9-1, Boston.

And then, the pitching! The pitching! Connelly Early lived up to his potential by going six full innings with one run on only two hits, striking out five and walking only two. Danny Coulombe was excellent in the seventh - three up and three down - while Garrett Whitlock got two K's in the eighth. Ryan Watson apparently didn't get the memo as he made things unnecessarily interesting in the ninth by giving up five runs on three hits, including a three-run homer, but worked his way out of it with a pair of fly balls to end the game. 

The Red Sox (7-11) are still in last place in the AL East - FOR NOW - but only 3½ back from . . . (looks at the current standings) . . . Tampa Bay. The Sox are no longer the worst team in MLB - they're a game ahead of the White Sox in the AL and the Rockies and the Giants in the NL. They're even a half-game ahead of the Mets.

One team at a time. Boston trails Toronto by a half game in the AL East - we need to catch them first, then Baltimore, then the stinkin' Yankees, and then Tampa Bay. And then the pennant and then the World Series.

The Red Sox are off today to travel back home and then will play a four-game home series starting Friday against the Tigers (9-9). Ranger Suarez (1-1, 5.02) will start the first game against Casey Mize (1-1, 3.94). 

Not to look too far ahead, but after the Detroit series, the Sox have a three-game home stand against da Jankees (10-8), and then a road trip to Baltimore and Toronto. One game at a time. When the smoke finally clears in May, we'll see the Sox at the top of the AL East where they belong.       

Twins 6, Red Sox 0

 

Yeah, we really suck, don't we?

The Red Sox join the White Sox, the Rockies, and the Giants in the .353 Club - the four teams with the losingest records in baseball. Even the Houston Astros won last night (to be sure, they were playing the Rockies), and are now a half-game ahead of the gruesome four.

If it's any consolation - and we'll take solace wherever we can find it - the fucking Yankees are on a 3-7 skid and are in third place, three games ahead of Boston.

This road trip and three-game stand in Minnesota comes to an end this afternoon (1:40 pm). Connelly Early (0-0, 2.63) pitches against the Twins' Simeon Woods Richardson (0-2, 4.60). Young Mr. Early hasn't faced the Twins before in his seven career starts, while Woods Richardson gave up three runs on five hits, including one homer, in his only career start against the Red Sox. 

We're probably going to lose and get swept in Minnesota because it's that kind of year, but hope still springs eternal. 

  

Bruins 4, Devils 0

 

After a disturbing 0-5 losing streak near the end of the season, the Bruins snapped out of it and put together a back-to-back pair of wins. Last night, in the final game of the regular season, they beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-0. All the scoring occurred in the first period when Kastelic scored twice, Geekie scored his 39th goal of the season, and Arvidsson scored just before the period ended. Swayman made 21 saves for the shutout.

So what now? The Bruins (45-27-10) end the season in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and the No. 7 seed and top wild-card team in the East. They'll play a seven-game first-round series with the No. 2-seeded Buffalo Sabres (50-23-8), schedule yet to be announced.

The Bruins won their season series against Buffalo, going 3-1-0. The three wins included two overtime games, both with final scores of 4-3, and a 3-1 win in regulation. The Sabres' sole win was a 4-1 victory back in December. 

In Round 2, the winner of the opening round will face the winner of Montreal-Tampa Bay. The Bruins had better hope that the Canadiens persevere against the Lightning, because they were 2-2-0 against Montreal this season, but 0-4-0 against Tampa Bay, their new kryptonite.  

  

Twins 13, Red Sox 6

 

WFT? It was Crochet Day! And one thing Garrett Fucking Crochet doesn't fucking do is give up 11 fucking runs in the first two fucking innings!

In the worst start of his career, the Red Sox ace gave up 11 runs on nine hits, including two home runs, in 1⅔ innings. He threw 55 pitches to 18 batters and his season ERA ballooned to 7.58. 

It's that kind of season. In a game where Duran homered and Abreu went 2-for-3 at the plate, the Sox lost by seven runs. 

The Red Sox (6-10) are tied with the White Sox and the NL's Rockies and Giants as the second-worst team in MLB. Thank God for the Astros (6-11). 

The day after your ace gets booty-blasted out of the ballpark, all you can do is get back on your feet and play the next game. Today, veteran pitcher Sonny Gray (2-0, 2.76) goes against the Twins' Mick Abel (0-2, 6-08). It might seem like Boston has the statistical advantage here, but if we learned anything from yesterday's debacle it's that anything can happen and besides, Gray is a career 1-5 against the Twins in eight starts. Gray's fifth-highest team ERA is against the Twins (5.14) and Minnesota has nine HRs against him, his fifth highest total. It will be Boston's fist time facing Abel. 

Red Sox 9, Cardinals 3

 

The Red Sox earn another trophy by winning their first road series of the season after beating St. Louis, 9-3, yesterday and taking the series, two games to one. 

Willson Contreras hit a two-run homer in the first and an RBI single in the fourth, Roman Anthony earned an RBI on a ground out in the second, Jarren Duran hit a three-run double into deep left field in the fourth,  and Trevor Story hit a two-run double in the ninth. Brayan Bello earned the win by going 6⅔ innings with two runs on six hits, two K's, and two walks. 

There are now four teams in Major League Baseball with worse records than the Red Sox (6-9). Boston is tied with Toronto for the fifth-worse team in the league, and both are only two games back from Baltimore and New York for first place in the AL East.

And it's Crochet Day! The Sox travel up to Minnesota for a four-game series, starting with Garrett Crochet (2-1, 3.12) against Bailey Ober (1-0, 5.27), who's 1-2 in four starts against the Red Sox.    

Bruins 3, Blue Jackets 2

 

The Bruins finally break their five-game losing streak and win the penultimate game of their regular season with a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kuraly, Jokiharju, and Kastelic scored the goals, all even-strength, and Korpisalo made 33 saves in the net.

Ottawa has pulled up to within one point of the Bruins (44-27-10) in the Wild Card race. Should Boston hang on to their lead and beat the New Jersey Devils (42-36-3) on Tuesday night, they'll play the No. 2-seed Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Bruins are 3-1-0 against the Sabres this season. Should they lose and Ottawa passes them in the standings by beating Toronto on Wednesday, the Bruins will face the No. 1-seed Carolina Hurricanes. The season series with Carolina is tied at 1-1-0.

    

  

Celtics 113, Magic 108

 

Last game of the season, playoff seed clinched, so the Celtics bench Tatum for a meaningless game. And Brown. And White. And Pritchard, Queta, Hauser, and Vučević. Even González.

No problem. The Celtics still won, beating  Orlando by five points.  Baylor Scheierman led the team with 30 points, Luka Garza scored a double double with 27 points and a dozen rebounds, and Ron Harper, Jr. dropped 27 as well. John Tonje (who?) played 29:36 off the bench, and we have a player named Dalano Banton? 

The Boston Celtics finished the regular season at 56-26, first in the Atlantic Division, three games ahead of the Knicks, and second in the Eastern Conference, four back from the Pistons. 

As the No. 2 seed in the NBA Playoffs, they'll face the winner of Wednesday's Philly-Orlando Play-In Tournament. Game 1 will be on Sunday, April 19, at 1:00 pm. 

Red Sox 7, Cardinals 1

 

Leading 2-1 after eight innings, the Red Sox could surely have used an insurance run before turning the mound over to closer Chapman for the win. While that sounds like the lead-in to so many of this season's losses, instead the Sox scored not one, not two, but five 9th-inning runs, and won the game 7-1, tying the road series and not even needing to give the ball to Chapman.

Way to go, boyos!

The ninth started with a Trevor Story walk. Marcelo Mayer advanced him to second with a fly ball (first out), and Carlos Narváez got him to third with a single. Another single by Ceddanne Rafaela brought Story home (3-1, Boston) and advanced Mayer, and Roman Anthony loaded the bases with a third single. A Caleb Durban single brought Narváez and Rafaela home - Boston 5, St. Louis 1. Jarren Duran brought Anthony home to make it 6-1. Then Wilson Contreras made it 7-1 with the sixth single of the inning. The Sox wound up going the full cycle at bat, and the inning finally ended with a Trevor Story fly ball. 

Hurray! With the win, the Red Sox (5-9) are now only the second-worse team in Major League Baseball,  a half-game ahead of the White Sox (5-10). 

Brayan Bello (0-1, 9.00) takes the mound today in the rubber game. He's up against Andre Pallante (1-0, 1.80). Bello lost his only career start against the Cards back in 2024, giving up three homers and a total of five runs over 4⅔ innings, while Pallante is 1-1 in four games with two starts, and has given up only two runs in 12⅔ innings.

It doesn't bode well for Boston.

Lightning 2, Bruins 1

 

Back on March 31, the Bruins were 43-24-8, two points behind Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division and an automatic playoff bid. They were six points ahead of Columbus for the first Wild Card berth and eight points ahead of Ottawa. 

Since then, they've lost five straight games, including last night's 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay. The Bruins are now 43-27-10, eight points back from Montreal and tied with Ottawa in the Wild Card race. However, with only two games left to the season, they've clinched a playoff spot, so they've likely lost all motivation to win the last two. Yeah, let's end the season on an 0-7 losing streak!

The current standings after last night's loss have Boston entering the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the East and playing No. 1 seed Carolina (52-22-6). The Bruins are 1-2-0 against the Hurricanes this season.

Tonight, they play the penultimate game of the regular season against Columbus (4-28-12), who are fighting for their lives to qualify for a playoff spot. The Blue Jackets are eliminated from the Wild Card race but are only two points behind Philly for third and a playoff berth in the Metropolitan Division. Their post-season lives depend on winning their last two games and Philly losing at least one.

Celtics 144, Pelicans 118

 

Mazzulla brought Jaylen back in for last night's game but sat Jayson, but no worries: the Boston Celtics beat New Orleans, 144-118 to secure the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. 

Sam Hauser was hot outside the line, hitting all of his team-leading 24 points on three-pointers (8-12 from downtown). White scored all of his 9 points on threes as well, and Walsh scored all 6 of his on threes, too. Brown scored 23 points total, including 2-3 shooting outside the line, and Pritchard scored 21, racking up the double double with 10 assists.

The Celtics (55-26) have only one game left to the regular season, a Sunday matchup with the Orlando Magic (45-36) in the TD Garden. The game may be a playoff preview, as the current standings have the Celtics facing the winner of a Magic-Sixers play-in round.