Red Sox 3, Braves 2

 

Well, will you look at that. The last-place Boston Red Sox drag their sorry, losing asses into Truist Park, the home of the Braves and the team with the most wins in MLB, and won a game. Who'd a thunk it?

It wasn't easy. Payton Tolle pitched an outstanding game - eight innings (a career long for him) with only four hits, but one of those hits was a solo homer in the first inning to give the Braves a 1-0 lead in their home park.

Macho Man Masataka Yoshida tied it up in the fourth with an RBI single that scored Mickey Glasper from third, but the Braves took the lead back with an RBI single of their own in the fifth. Then, late in the eighth inning with two already out, Willson Contreras homered 436 feet into deep left center, bringing Wilyer Abreu home from second and giving the Sox a 3-2 lead with one-and-a-half innings left.

Tolle made short work of the Braves in the bottom of the eighth, getting all three batters to fly out. The Sox didn't add any insurance in the ninth, and the reliable Aroldis Chapman came on in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game.

But damn, did he ever make it unnecessarily interesting! After getting two quick fly outs, the Braves got a runner on base on a Boston fielding error. And then Chapman loaded up the bases with two walks on eight straight pitches outside the zone. The Sox were still technically one out away from winning, but now the tying run was on third and the winning run was on second, our pitcher appeared to be melting down, and the home crowd was going wild.

Red Sox Nation felt an all-too-familiar sinking in their stomachs when the sixth Braves' batter of the inning hit an infield grounder and the baserunners were heading for home. Chapman, however, was able to field the ball and threw it to first just in time to get the batter out with mere nanoseconds to spare and won the game. It's the fastest I've ever seen Chapman move, and I've seen him throw 100-mph speedballs. A collective sigh of relief was heard around the world as the miracle win in Atlanta turned out not to be another painful loss in this nightmare of a season.

As if to congratulate the Sox for their unlikely win, both the Rays and the Yankees lost last night, so Boston (19-26) picks up a game in the AL East standings and are now "only" 10½ games out of first. Perhaps more importantly, Seattle lost last night, too, their second straight loss, so the Sox are now unbelievably a mere two games back from a potential Wild Card berth. Crazy, right?

It's a battle of the righties this afternoon (1:35). The Sox will relay on right-hander Brayan Bello (2-4, 6.46), and no Braves hitter has faced Bello more than nine times. He's a career 1-1 against Atlanta in three starts, striking out 12 while also giving up a dozen earned runs in 16⅓ innings. Seven of those earned runs were in his last start against the Braves, a 10-4 disaster in Fenway on May 18 last year. Let's hope he atones for that performance today.

The Braves will counter with righty Grant Holmes (2-1, 4.35), who hasn't yet beaten the Sox and took the loss in one of two games against Boston. The Sox beat the Braves, 5-1, in Truist last year (May 30) in Holmes' last start against Boston, so let's hope that streak continues.

Braves 3, Red Sox 2 (10)

 

Classic Red Sox: game's tied in the tenth inning, Yaz comes to the plate, and hits a game-winning double. The only problem is "Yaz" is Mike Yastrzemski,  Carl's son, and for some reason he's playing for the Braves.

In all, though, I'm not surprised the Red Sox lost, playing on the road against the team with the most wins in MLB. I'm surprised the game was that close and that the Boston offense, such as it is, came back from a 2-0 deficit to force extra innings.

Mickey Gasper singled in the sixth, bringing home Carlos Narváez, and Marcelo Mayer homered to deep right center in the seventh. After that, the bullpen held on, giving up only one hit while earning five K's., and then Yaz stepped to the plate in the tenth . . . 

For the record, young Connelly Early got more strikeouts (6) than hits (5) and lasted five innings, but both Atlanta runs were scored against him.

And with that, the Sox are unsurprisingly down 0-1 in this three-game road series in Smyrna, Georgia (the Braves don't play in the City of Atlanta, and for that this Atlanta urbanite will never be a fan).

We may be in last place, back 11½ from Tampa Bay, but we're still only three games back in the Wild Card chase (the Boston Red Sox: still better than the Houston Astros and L.A. Angels).

Tonight is Payton Tolle (1-2, 1.99) versus Bryce Elder (4-1, 1,81). Last year, the Sox got three runs off Elder on six hits, but three of the four batters who had hits are now gone, and no one is expecting Trevor Story to get two hits again off Elder tonight (not least because they just put him on the IL). Tolle will be facing the Braces for the first time tonight. 

How did we not acquire Yaz? 

Phillies 3, Red Sox 1

 

Sox lose again, Phillies take the series, 2-1, in Fenway, and Boston is 10½ back a quarter of the way through the 2026 season. Amazingly, they're only three games back from Seattle for the last wild-card slot, and wouldn't it be fitting to see them make the postseason just to get eliminated in the first round like the Celtics and the Bruins?. 

What can one say? Ranger Suarez had a no-hitter going against his old team through four innings, and between him and the bullpen, kept the Phillies scoreless through seven. But in the same old, sad song as the rest of the season, the Sox batters failed to score during that stretch, and when the Phillies finally broke through with three runs in the eighth, Boston could only answer with a Wilyer Abreu one-RBI single in the bottom of the inning. 

Oddly enough, the Red Sox have a higher team batting average (.235) than the Yankees (.234), but are second to last in MLB in slugging, total runs, and homers, and third from last in RBIs. Prognosis: they can hit, sometimes, but when they do it's usually weak-ass singles and they can't get the base runners home. I don't anticipate things getting better this long, hot summer.

To add injury to insult, the Sox (18-25) head down here to Atlanta for three games against the Braves, the team with the best record (30-14) in baseball. Tonight, young Connelly Early (3-2, 3.16), who's never pitched in Truist Park, takes the mound against Spencer Strider (1-0, 2.89). The Sox have faced Strider only once before - July 26, 2023 - and struck out 10 times but also got three homers, but those were by Devers, Duvall, and Casas, none of whom are in the Red Sox lineup now. Casas is on the IL, Duvall was traded - to the Braves - and we're still wondering WTF they were thinking when Devers got traded.

Devers, who was the lone remaining player from the team’s 2018 World Series team, was dealt to the Giants last season for Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs, and Jose (not Brayan) Bello, none of whom are still with Boston this season. It's little consolation that Devers is underperforming for the woeful Giants (18-26), who are struggling to trade him away. I've always liked Rafi . . . and he was able to take Spencer Strider 409 feet into deep right in Fenway. 

Red Sox 3, Phillies 1

The wind must have been blowing out to left field last night. All four runs scored by both teams were on homers hit into deep left-center or center field. Trevor Story hit one in the second inning and the Phillies in the third. Rafaela hit a two-run homer into left center in the sixth. 

Three runs were enough for Boston to pick up a win with Sonny Grey going six full innings with only two hits (including that third-inning HR) and six Ks, and the "good" bullpen (Slaten, Whitlock, and Chapman) giving up only one hit and no runs. Chapman made it interesting by walking two, but ultimately struck the side out, getting his third K with runners on second and third.

Tampa Bay and New York both lost last night, so the Sox (18-23) move back to 10 games out of first.

Former Phillie Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.77) pitches tonight against his old team. He'll be pitching against the Jesus Lizard, Jesús Luzardo, who struck out seven but gave up a grand slam home run to Romy Gonzalez in an 11-inning thriller on July 23 of last year.

First Everest Summit of 2026

 

Wednesday morning (10:25 am, Nepali time), a team of 10 to 15 Sherpas completed the first summit of Mount Everest this year. There is some disagreement about which team of the various trekking companies working the mountain made the first summit, so precisely who it was that first set foot on the mountaintop this year remains unclear, not that it matters (it's not a competition).

Hakon Andreas and Hanne Nicole Hyttedalen of Norway and Chinese national Li Yitong, clients of the outfitter Imagine Nepal, followed the Sherpas and were the first foreigners to summit this year. 

With the ropes now fixed all the way to the top, the route is now open for the hundreds of other climbers waiting at the lower camps.

Phillies 2, Red Sox 1

 

Off-fence, we need some off-fence, boyos. Do you know what I mean by the word, "offence"? Hit the ball. Get some runs. 

After an 18-run streak in three games earlier this month, the Red Sox have scored only four runs in the last three games. That's 0.15 runs per inning in the last three, incidentally all home at Fenway. Boston's slugging percentage (.351) is second lowest in MLB, on-base plus slugging (.664) is third lowest, and total runs on the season (157) is fourth lowest. The pitching isn't the problem - the team ERA is 3.95, 12th of 30 in MLB. But our hitting stinks.

Last night, the Sox only managed one run against the Phillies, an RBI single to right center by Raefela in the seventh inning. Other than that, bupkis.

Brayan Bello gave up one run over 6⅓ innings (opener Jovani Morán gave up the other run) and even Zach Kelly didn't allow any runs. But even the best pitching isn't going to win many games when the batting only gets one run, or 0.15 runs per inning.

The Sox are now 11 games out of first place, the furthest back in their division of any team in MLB except the Mets (12½). 

Sonny Gray (3-1, 3.54) pitches tonight, if it even matters. Gray is a career 2-2 against the Phillies, striking out 46 while allowing only five home runs over 40⅔ innings, although he did get roughed up in his last two starts against them with the Cardinals in 2025 and '24. He'll be pitching against rookie Andrew Painter (1-4, 6.89), who's given up 25 runs on 44 hits this season, including six homers.

Statistically, if pitching matters, the odds would favor the Red Sox, but unless the offence improves ("off-fence") a Little Leaguer could pitch for the Phillies and probably still win.

Everest Update

 

Preparations for the final summit push on Everest have been hampered by bad weather. Ropes and supplies have only been set as far as Camp 4, although a team of Sherpas plans to attempt a summit on Wednesday, possibly along with some clients, to complete the ropes up to the top. 

Meanwhile, a Nepali climber fell sick on his way to Camp 2 and died near Camp 1 on Sunday, the first death on the mountain this season. The climber, Bijay Ghimire Bishwakarma, age 35, had previously summited four times and was the first from Nepal’s Dalit community to summit. Although not officially on the mountain, a Sherpa guide died last week while approaching Base Camp.

A Polish climber who goes by the name Lucas Extreme had cycled all the way to Everest from sea level at the Bay of Bengal and was planning a no-oxygen ascent of the mountain. He arrived in Base Camp back on April 16, but was only able to make a single acclimatization rotation. With the route to higher altitudes not yet ready, he was forced to cancel this year’s attempt and will postpone the expedition until next year. Another Polish mountaineer, Bartek Ziemski, completed an acclimatization climb up to Camp 3 and then skied back down to Base Camp.

Meanwhile, Back in the Bering Sea, Capt. Ella Reunites With the Yeva

 

After some seven moths or so, Capt. Ella Hibbert has returned to the tiny Pribilof island of St. Paul (population, 413) in the Bering Sea and has reunited with her sailboat, the Yeva. Once she gets her ship back into operating condition and out of dry dock, she will resume her solo voyage around the Arctic Ocean, sailing across the northern coast of Russia, over Scandanavia, and on to her original starting point east of Iceland.

It will be the first known solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle in a sailboat. Completion of the voyage was delayed last year due to a combination of bad weather, malfunctioning navigation equipment, and a grounding off the North Slope of Alaska.

Bon voyage, Captain! We look forward to tracking your progress again here.

Rays 4, Red Sox 1

 

The Red Sox played Saturday's game on Sunday because of the rain and delivered a Mothers' Day loss to the Fenway Faithful assembled. 

Tolle pitched a pretty good game - five innings and four Ks but three runs on seven hits, including  one solo, first-inning homer.  Zach Kelly gave up another run because that's what he does, but after that, the bullpen was flawless - no runs, no hits, two walks, and one K.

But the lack of any sustained offense killed the Sox once again. Despite getting eight hits, the same as the Rays, and four of them extra-base hits, four times as many as the Rays, the Sox left 18 runners stranded on base and only scored one run on an RBI single in the sixth. You don't win many games like that.

The Rays win the rain-shortened series, 2-1, with the missing game to be made up at some future date - hopefully when Boston has some hitters at the plate.

With the loss, Boston (17-23) is once again all alone in last place in the AL East, while the Rays take a one-game lead for first over the Yankees, who have now lost three straight. The Sox are 9½ back from Tampa Bay. 

The Sox are off today and will host the Phillies (19-22) for three starting Tuesday. No idea who'll start that series.

 

Rain Delay/Yankees Suck

 

The Red Sox game got rained out last night, but they still picked up a game on first place because yesterday the Yankees lost to the Brewers, 4-3, their third loss in their last four games. Tampa Bay's now in first place, and Boston trails them by nine games.

The Tolle-Martinez pitching matchup scheduled for yesterday will occur today (1:35), so everything I said yesterday applies today. The forecast today is for partly to mostly cloudy skies, but with only a 15% chance of showers, so the show should go on.

Red Sox 2, Rays 0

 

A bright spot in this Super El Nino-influenced summer of our discontent: Abreu and Rafaela homer and Early strikes out eight as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays,2-0, in Diamond City.

It was Abreu's sixth home run of the year and Rafaela's third. The only other Boston hit all game was a Jarren Duran single in the seventh, but he stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error to capitalize on his hit. However, with two out already that inning, the Sox weren't able to bring him home.

Early lived up to his potential and hype, and went seven full innings with no runs, only four hits, and eight Ks. Whitlock and Chapman were immaculate in relief and didn't give up a single run. 

Also, DA JANKEES LOSE!, 6-0, to Milwaukee last night, so the Sox pick up a game on their lead. They're still nine games back, but at least Baltimore also lost, 4-3, to the Angels last night, so Boston is no longer all alone in last place in the AL East. Both teams are 17-22 (.436), which is more than the Twins, Astros, and Angels can say, or for that matter, the NL's Mets, Rockies, and Giants.

This afternoon (4:10 pm), Payton Tolle (1-1, 2.04) is slated to take the mound for Boston against the Rays' Nick Martinez (3-1, 1.71). Statistically, it might appear that Martinez has the advantage, but he's started seven games this season for Tampa Bay, while Tolle has started only three. Martinez is a career 1-3 against Boston in five games (nine starts) and has given up eight homers, while the Sox have earned a total of 23 runs against him in 35⅔ innings.

But who knows? This game probably won't happen - there's currently a 100% chance of rain forecast for Boston between 4:00 and 7:00 today, so we're most likely looking at a rainout to be made up at some future date.      

Rays 8, Red Sox 4

 

No four-in-a-row. Following their sweep of the Tigers in Detroit, the Boston Red Sox broke their three-game win streak and also their 3-0 streak of games back in Fenway following a road trip. Last night, the Red Sox got three runs in the second inning to tie up the game, but then gave up five more runs to lose. 

Greg Weissert came on in relief in the sixth inning with the game tied, 3-3, one on and one out, and promptly loaded up the bases and then gave up a two-run single before getting yanked.

Boston falls to 16-22, last in the AL East. The Jays were off last night, so the Sox are only a half-game back from Toronto, but once again 10 back from first-place New York.

Connelly Early (2-2, 3.79) pitches tonight. He faced the Rays once before in a 7-3 loss in Tampa last year, when he got four strikeouts and gave up two earned runs on three hits. He'll be up against the Ray's Jesse Scholtens (3-1, 3.18), who's a career 1-1 against the Sox in two relief appearances, once with Tampa Bay and once with the White Sox.     

Also, Roman Anthony is now officially on the 10-day IL.