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.

Braves 7, Red Sox 6

 

Well, at least it was close, but it's now four straight losses (and counting) for the third time this season. 

It all started so good. The first two batters on the first inning, Duran and Rafaela, both hit solo homers to give the Sox an early 2-0 lead. Suarez gave up a two-run homer in the fourth to let the Braves tie the game and gave up another run in the sixth for an Atlanta lead. Weissert came on that inning with two on and no outs and brought both base runners home before ending the inning at 5-2, Atlanta. 

Boston got to within 5-4 until Guerrero gave up a two-run homer in the eighth. The Sox managed to scrape together two more runs in the bottom of the ninth to get to within one run of the Braves, but ended up with a final score of 7-5, Atlanta. 

Boston (22-31) is now two full games back from the fourth-place Orioles, and 12½ back from Tampa Bay in the AL East. While they were recently two games back in the Wild Card standings, they're now four back.

Connelly Early (4-2, 3.33), who got six strikeouts against the Braves back in a losing effort on May 15, starts tonight. He'll be facing Bryce Elder (4-2, 1.97) who gave up three runs, including a two-run Contreras homer, in the Sox only win this season against the Braves on the 16th. 

Friendly reminder that the Braves don't actually play in Atlanta. Their current home, Truist Park, is actually out in suburban Smyrna, Georgia, where their racist fans can go to see a game while encountering fewer negroes than at the former downtown Atlanta Turner Field. Fuck them both, both the team and their fans.

Twins 6, Red Sox 5

 

We got swept. The Twins, a sub-.500 team a game-and-a-half back from qualifying for a Wild Card berth, came into Fenway, sacred ground, and won three straight games, sweeping the Red Sox. When they left Boston, the Twins were in the third and final Wild Card spot. 

Boober ("that's B. Ober," etc.) got the win for Minnesota. Guerrero took the mound in the sixth for Boston and gave up two runs, sparing Gray, who gave up three, from suffering yet another career loss to the Twins.

Offensively, this was far from the worst Boston performance this year. Yoshida and Contreras both homered, and Mayer brought Yoshida home with a single in the fourth. Sogard tripled in the ninth, and Kiner-Falefa brought him home with a double and advanced on a balk before the inning ended with the tying run on third and the winning run on first.      

It's all the more frustrating when you look at the team stats - the Sox had more extra base hits than the Twins (7-3), more homers (2-0), threw more Ks (12-7), and left fewer on base (15-24). It should have been a Boston victory, but instead was a one-run home loss and a series sweep.

The Sox are now all alone in last place in the AL East. Even the Orioles looked at our 22-30 record and said, "Nah, fuck that shit," and moved a half-game ahead of us. Boston's fallen from two back in the Wild Card standings to 3½ back.

Red Sox management has Memorial Day off to reflect on what they have and haven't done to this team. Then on Tuesday, it's Sale Day, but unfortunately Sale (7-3, 1.89) will be pitching for the Atlanta Braves, the National League's first-place team (36-18). The Sox will be starting Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.40). Both Sale and Suarez managed to miss a start in this month's series down in Atlanta, but Sale is a career 2-0 against the Sox since leaving Boston and Suarez is a career 4-4 against the Braves. 

After they get swept by the Braves, the Red Sox have road trip to Cleveland (32-23) and then a tour of the AL East, with a home series against Baltimore (23-30) and then a brutal road trip to New York (31-22) and Tampa Bay (34-16). 

We're toast.

Twins 4, Red Sox 2

 

See? I told you I don't like one-inning openers! Jovani Morán started the game, gave up two runs in the first inning, and took the loss. Bello could have done that much, and he "relieved" Morán in the second inning only to give up two more runs in the fifth. Meanwhile, Boston's offense disappeared once again, with only one RBI base hit the entire game and a gifted run on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth. 

Back to last place, where we're now tied, 22-29, with the Orioles. We even fell to 2½ back in the Wild Card standings.

The Twins have clinched the series, but we can still at least avoid a sweep this afternoon (1:35). Sonny Gray (5-1, 2.93) will be taking the mound today for the Sox. Over the years, Gray's struggled against the Twins, going 1-6 in nine starts with a career ERA of 5.67 versus Minnesota. He's given up 11 home runs to the Twins, the most to any team other than the Rays (15), but he's pitched 30 more innings in his career to Tampa Bay than to Minnesota. He gave up two homers and five runs to the Twins in Boston's 6-0 loss back on April 14. 

The Twins  will be starting Boober ("Actually, it's B. Ober, for Bailey Ober, but that new guy, Ronald, in back, he drew in that other "O" and made it "Boober,' fucking asshole"). (IYKYK) Anyway, Boober (5-2, 3.63) is a career 2-2 against the Sox in five starts and an ERA of 2.48 versus Boston.

Twins 8, Red Sox 6

 

Heading into the seventh inning with a 6-3 lead last night, it looked like the Red Sox were really going to do it - win their first four-game streak of the season. They had just swept the Royals and were back home against a team, Minnesota, only a mere half-game ahead of them in the Wild Card standings. They were nine outs away from their fourth straight win, and after striking out the Twins' Alex Jackson, eight outs away. 

That's when Justin Slayton gave up a pair of home runs, both with runners on first. Four quick runs, and the Twins lead, 7-6. 

A Boston throwing error, a Minnesota single, and a hit-by-pitch loaded up the bases in the ninth, and then reliever Tyron Guerrero walked in the Twins' eighth run. The Sox were hitless in the bottom of the ninth, although Jarren Duran did get on base on a wild pitch, but a Minnesota double play ended his chances to advance and ended the game and ended the winning streak. 

Sadly, the bullpen wiped out a great start by Payton Tolle. He gave up three runs in the second inning, but otherwise struck out nine and gave up only four hits over six innings. 

So the Sox now find themselves out of their former tie for third place with Toronto and all alone in fourth, 1½ back from the Jays and 12½ back from the first place Rays. They're still two back in the Wild Card standings, though - it seems like nothing can change that. 

This afternoon (4:10 pm), the Sox will use Jovani Morán (0-1, 2.81) as a short-game opener for Brayan Bello (2-5, 7.16). They'll be facing the Twins Taj Bradley (4-1, 2.07), who's a career 4-1 against the Sox with 42 Ks over 26 innings. Today will be the first time this season either Bello or Bradley face their opposing teams, although Morán shut out the Twins over 2⅓ innings in relief on April 13 following a disastrous, 11-run start by Crochet (remember that game?).  

I don't understand the logic of  a short reliever opening a game. On the one hand, if the starter can go only so many innings, it doesn't matter if it's the first innings or middle innings. But if the problem is that a starter tends to be a little wild in the first inning before settling down, it's the start that throws him off, not the skill of the first-inning batters, and delaying that wild start by one inning shouldn't make any difference.

But what do I know? I'm not managing a 22-28 MLB baseball team.

Red Sox 4, Royals 3

 

Sweet! A sweep! The lowly Boston Red Sox entered this three-game road series a half-game back from the Royals in the Wild Card standings, and leave Kansas City 2½ games ahead of them. 

Nick Sogard, back up from the minors to replace an injured Roman Anthony, hit an RBI single in the first inning, and Carlos Narváez hit into a double play that same inning but still managed to score Ceddanne Rafaela. 

Jarren Duran, who hit a two-run homer in the ninth on Tuesday night, hit another two-run homer last night in the seventh, launching the ball 383 feet into deep left center. Duran has a double, a triple, and two homers in this series, and also stole a base, becoming the 11th player to reach 35 career triples and 100 stolen bases in Red Sox history, and the first to do so since Carl Yastrzemski. He also singlehandedly saved the game last night with an incredible leaping catch in foul territory in the bottom of that same seventh inning in which he hit the home run. 

Young Connelly Early picked up his fourth win of the season. He went 6⅓ innings with five K's and three runs on six hits and only one walk. The bullpen shut out the Royals with three more K's and Chapman got his 12th save of the season. 

This is a miserable season but it's hard not to feel good right now. The Sox improve to 22-27 with three straight wins and the second series sweep of the season. The Rays and the Jays both won last night so Boston is still tied with Toronto for third place in the AL East, 11½  back from Tampa Bay (but at least the Yankees lost last night). Texas, the latest team to cling to the third and final Wild Card spot, also won, so the Sox are still tied with the Jays at two games back in the Wild Card standings.

More reasons to be cheerful: the Sox are off today, but their next series is back home in Fenway against the Minnesota Twins (23-27), another team like Kansas City entering the series a mere half game ahead of them in the standings. This is another fortunate matchup, one we can win, even though the Sox are 1-2 against the Twins so far this season. Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.05) will start tomorrow against rookie Connor Prielipp (1-2, 2.88). Neither pitcher played in last month's series in Minneapolis and neither has ever faced tomorrow's opposing teams. 

Can the Sox make it four straight for the first time this season? They will be returning to Fenway on a three-game winning streak in front of a friendly (hopefully) home crowd to play a team almost as pathetic as they are, and are starting the series with one of their best pitchers. They have a chance, and while it may not be all "field of dreams," highlight-reel material, we should still be excited.

Red Sox 7, Royals 1

 

Two in a row! The Red Sox beat the Royals a second straight time in a 7-1 rout in Kansas City. 

Starter Ranger Suarez gave up one run and struck out three in 4⅓ innings and lowered his ERA to 2.40. However, disregarding a rough start to the season, his ERA over his last seven starts is 1.12, the best for a Red Sox starter over a seven-game span within a single season since Chris Sale in 2018 and Luis Tiant in 1972. 

The bullpen gave up only two hits in the remaining 4⅔ innings while striking out seven. Whitlock got outs on the three straight batters he faced in the eighth with only seven pitches and picked up the win.  

But the real hero last night was Willson Contreras, who went 2-5 at bat, getting an RBI on each of his hits. He even scored a run on a groundout in the eighth, bringing Rafaela home from third. Durbin hit an RBI in the second and Durran launched a two-run homer to deep right in the ninth.

The pitching seems to be coming into focus for this year's sorry-ass Red Sox, and it's nice to see the offense come alive last night, although Boston still has the second fewest runs this year (177) in MLB. 

Winning has benefits - after two straight wins, the Sox (21-27) move out of the AL East basement and are now tied for third with Toronto. However, while the Sox were going 2-0, the Rays have been 3-0, and Boston is still 11½ out of first place. On the other hand, Boston is still only two games back from qualifying for a Wild Card berth. 

Lefty Connelly Early (3-2, 3.21) pitches tonight versus righty Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.83). It will be the young Early's first time facing the Royals. His last start was May 15 against the hard-hitting Braves, the team with the highest batting average (.263) in MLB, yet he managed to strike out six but also gave up two solo homers. Wacha is a career 3-1 against Boston. In his last start against the Sox back on August 6 of last year, Romy Gonzalez hit a double to deep right center in the first for two runs, but Wacha gave up only two more hits and no runs over the next five innings.

Can the Sox complete their second series sweep of the season? Can they break the tie in the standings with Toronto and take sole possession of third? And will Early be able to take advantage of the Royals low batting average (.238), or will Wacha exploit Boston's .239? Stay tuned and see!    

Everest Update

 

Bartek Ziemski of Poland summited Everest today without bottled oxygen, the first no-oxygen ascent of Everest this season. Despite the crowds, he then completed only the second nonstop ski descent all the way back to Base Camp, including through the Khumbu Icefall, without O₂. Amazingly, he accomplished all this without any Sherpa or other support, carrying his own equipment, tent, and supplies up and down the mountain. 

One week ago, Ziemski performed the same feat on Lhotse and his descent of Everest today completed the first double ski descent of Lhotse and Everest in the same season. On both mountains, he carried up and retrieved his own gear and didn’t rely on supplemental oxygen or anyone else to accompany him. 

Incidentally, his climb to the summit today was the first no-oxygen ascent of Everest this season and his climb last week was the first no-oxygen ascent of the season on Lhotse. The ski descent of Lhotse was the first from the summit all the way down to Base Camp, and the first ever without oxygen.

Everest, on the other hand, was climbed without oxygen and skied down completely once before. In the fall of 2025, Andrzej Bargiel accomplished that feat, but he had a team fixing the route, setting the camps, and breaking trail. Ziemski had no support except for the packed trail and fixed ropes established by the commercial outfitters for their clients. He didn't rely on Sherpas or anyone else to carry his equipment, had no drones, and no support team. Bargiel had a team to film the climb and the descent.  Ziemski had to ask another climber to take a photo of him while on the summit of Everest. Finally, Bargiel hadn't accomplished the same feat the week before on Lhotse. 

Meanwhile, it's full tourist client season on Everest. Several small groups outfitted by Nepalese outfitters summitted on Sunday and the numbers multiplied on Monday. The peak summit days could be today and tomorrow, the day chosen for summit attempts by many of the groups that left Base Camp on Sunday. The Lhotse Face is reportedly a traffic jam from top to bottom in an endless line of climbers intending to summit tomorrow.

Red Sox 3, Royals 1

 

Finally, the Red Sox faced a matchup they could win: Sonny Gray entered last night's game 9-0 against the Royals, who started Seth Lugo, who was 0-4 against Boston. The Sox entered the game a mere half-game back from K.C. 

Now, after a 3-1 Boston victory, Gray is 10-0 against the Royals, Lugo is 0-5 against the Sox, and Boston is a half-game ahead of Kansas City.

Contreras hit a two-run homer in the sixth and Duran brought Wong home with a sac fly in the seventh. Gray continued to own the Royals and went a masterful six innings with nine K's and only one run on five hits. Chapman closed out the game, earning his 378th career save. Chapman passed Joe Nathan to move into 10th place on the all-time saves list and is now closing in on Dennis Eckersley, who is 12 saves ahead of him for the ninth most saves in MLB history. We'll cheer for whatever we can in this sorry-ass season. 

With the win, the Sox move past the Royals in the Wild Card standings and are now two games back from Seattle for a qualifying spot. They're still 11½ back in the AL East, however. 

We have another favorable pitching lineup scheduled for today: Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.44) versus Bailey Falter (0-0, 10.13). Suarez has limited experience against K.C. (six innings in one start) but got six strikeouts against only one earned run. Falter is 1-2 against the Sox with 12 earned runs, including one HR, and nine Ks.

Braves 8, Red Sox 1

 

What'd ya expect? The 2026 Red Sox were lucky to get out of Truist Park with one win in this series.

For five innings yesterday, starter Brayan Bello was giving out runs like an Atlanta traffic cop issuing parking tickets. By the time he was relieved in the bottom of the sixth, the score was already 7-0 and the Braves had two home runs off him. They got another run in the eighth without a single hit on a combination of walks, a fielder's choice, and a sac fly. It wasn't until the ninth inning that Nick Sogard, called back up again from the minors to replace an injured Trevor Story, hit an RBI double scoring catcher Conner Wong.

Tampa Bay won last night, so the Sox (19-27) are back to 11½ out from first place in the AL East. Hilariously, they're still only three back in the AL Wild Card race.

The Red Sox are off to Kansas City for a three-game series against the Royals (20-27), a team only a half-game ahead of them in the Wild Card standings. Sonny Gray (4-1, 3.18) starts for Boston against Seth Lugo (1-3, 3.76). Gray has basically owned the Royals up to now, going 9-0 in 11 starts, striking out 63 and giving up only one home run in 68 innings. Lugo, on the other hand, is 0-4 against the Sox and has given up five homers to Boston. 

We might actually have a chance in this game.      

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?