Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has shown his worth yet again this season. The Red Sox struggled to consistently perform during much of the first half, leading some fans to grow frustrated with Cora and point the finger at the 49-year-old manager. Now that Boston has turned things around and sits atop the American League wild-card standings with a 74-60 record (entering Thursday), the narrative around Cora has returned to something resembling its usual state: Cora is in the top tier of MLB managers. Cora’s performance in 2025 should be lauded for his capacity to deal with roster changes,…
Author: BostonSportsNews
Ask anybody involved with the Red Sox in any way whom they believe to be the best center fielder in baseball, and they won’t hesitate. It’s Ceddanne Rafaela. It was downright shocking, then, to see Rafaela make not one but two defensive gaffes on Wednesday night in Baltimore. Both were costly, too, as Rafaela dropped a ball while diving to allow a run to score in the bottom of the second and later didn’t take charge as a fly ball fell directly between him and left fielder Jarren Duran in the seventh, allowing another run to score. Both plays should…
At his introductory news conference back in February, Mike Vrabel detailed a simple but important goal for his first season as Patriots head coach: His team needed to be “good enough to take advantage of bad football.” Up the road in Chestnut Hill, a former New England coach is preaching a similar message. Bill O’Brien, whose maiden season at Boston College was derailed by a string of crippling late-game errors, is making “eliminate bad football” a top priority as he enters Year 2 with the Eagles. BC opens its season at 2 p.m. Saturday against Fordham at Alumni Stadium. “(We…
FOXBORO — It’s time for Efton Chism to find a permanent residence in New England. Chism’s inclusion on the Patriots’ 53-man roster didn’t come as a massive surprise after his breakout summer, but that didn’t make it any less sweet for the undrafted rookie. On Tuesday, during roster cuts, Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf called Chism into his office to deliver the good news that he had made the roster. “It was pretty surreal, pretty sweet,” Chism said. “Give him a couple hugs. Man, I couldn’t thank him enough. So pretty special moment.” Chism had an…
Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman is about as automatic as it gets these days. Chapman hasn’t allowed a hit in over a month, and it’s beginning to feel like he never will. The 37-year-old closed the door yet again on Wednesday night for the Red Sox as Boston defeated the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, 3-2, behind a ninth-inning, two-run blast from Ceddanne Rafaela. Here’s a question sort of out of nowhere: does Chapman deserve Cy Young consideration in the American League? It’s not impossible for relievers to win the award, although it rarely happens. Los Angeles Dodgers closer…
That game went differently than we all anticipated! The game had started with a bang, thanks to our Young Gun Roman Anthony hitting another leadoff home run. But then the Orioles were able to tie the game on a bloop hit that the outfield couldn’t quite get to, and then they took the lead on an RBI single that should’ve been an easy out, but Duran and Rafaela failed to communicate. The offense had only put up 5 hits all game and had failed to bring runners home in the top of the eighth, when Wong and Hamilton were on…
Wednesday was shaping up to be a night Ceddanne Rafaela would have preferred to forget. Earlier in the evening Rafaela uncharacteristically came up empty on a diving attempt, allowing an RBI double to fall in and nearly hurting his wrist in the process. Then in the bottom of the seventh he and Jarren Duran tracked down a deep fly ball at the warning track, but nobody called for the ball, allowing it to fall in and the go-ahead run to score. Fortunately, Rafaela made the most of his last opportunity to make things right. Trailing by one with Duran on…
BALTIMORE (AP) — Ceddanne Rafaela hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.After Keegan Akin (4-4) worked out of a jam in the eighth to preserve a one-run lead, the left-hander couldn’t contain Boston in the ninth.Jarren Duran led off with a single and Rafaela followed with a towering fly that cleared the wall in left-center.An apparent miscommunication between Duran and Rafaela helped Baltimore take a 2-1 lead in the seventh. After Baltimore’s Dylan Beavers drew a two-out walk, Dylan Carlson hit a liner that…
The Boston Red Sox will look a little different when they close their series with the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. Per MassLive’s Christopher Smith, reliever Justin Slaten and veteran bat Rob Refsnyder will be activated from the Injured List. Additionally, recent acquisition Nathaniel Lowe will be out on paternity leave, and the Red Sox are demoting lefty Jovani Moràn to Triple-A Worcester. After missing nearly 80 games, Slaten returns to consolidate a Red Sox bullpen headlined by All-Star Aroldis Chapman. Slaten’s right shoulder inflammation has kept him off an MLB diamond since June 1, but all signs indicate that he’s…
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