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At midseason, the Boston Red Sox are offering something different this year — hope

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At midseason, the Boston Red Sox are offering something different this year — hope


BOSTON — The Red Sox ended the season’s first half with a thud.

All isn’t lost, of course. Boston shouldn’t be judged solely on one rancid sample against the San Diego Padres.

A perfect June weather night at Fenway Park was about the only highlight after the top of the fifth inning on Friday. San Diego unleashed a stunning barrage to key a 9-2 victory. Each of the first nine Padres who came to the plate reached safely and scored.

There have been more good evenings than bad for the Red Sox to this point. They sat at 43-38 entering Saturday’s second half — a far cry from any last-place predictions in the American League East. Boston is also within striking distance of a wildcard berth, entering the day just a half game behind the Kansas City Royals for the third spot.

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“We’re in the mix to make it to the playoffs,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We have a good baseball team that can do a lot of good things.

“There’s other stuff where we have to get better, but at the same time I’m very pleased with the way we went about our business in the first part of the season and the way some guys progressed.”

More: New team, new role, new home — how Hendricken alum Michael King has handled it all

One of the standouts from the last time Boston reached the postseason was in the building. Xander Bogaerts was honored with a video tribute after the first inning and treated to a warm standing ovation. The former Red Sox shortstop stepped out of the visiting dugout and tipped his cap, currently an injured member of the Padres offering thanks to his former home.

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Bogaerts delivered one of the last truly worthwhile swings this ballpark has seen in recent years. His two-run homer against Gerrit Cole in the 2021 wildcard matchup sent an electric shock through the grandstands. The Red Sox dismissed the New York Yankees, blitzed the Tampa Bay Rays and had the Houston Astros on the ropes before falling in the A.L. Championship Series.

Since then? Disappointment. Underperformance on the field and a lack of boldness in the front office. John Henry’s organizational pivot to less aggressiveness in free agency and former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom’s inability to chart a definitive course at the last two trade deadlines has created festering frustration here.

How will Craig Breslow fare a month from now? The crowd on this particular night was short of a sellout, and more than a few San Diego fans were able to purchase their tickets of choice in the field boxes. It’s a scene that’s repeated itself when the Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies or any other big-market franchise has visited town, and it needs to be stopped.

More: These overachieving Red Sox are making a fan out of John Rooke. How about you?

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That only happens by creating a real reason to believe in the home team. Per Cot’s Contracts, Breslow has more than $19 million in available Competitive Balance Tax space before he incurs any penalties. Boston should have the finances and prospect capital to buy if it makes the long-overdue choice to do so.

“We’ve shown we can play really good baseball,” Red Sox catcher Connor Wong said. “We’ve got to keep defending and keep pushing.

“It’s a long season. Anything can happen.”

Masataka Yoshida and Rob Refsnyder are the only current position players seeing regular time who are over 30 years old. A tight race into September and October could be invaluable for further developing younger options like Wong, Jarren Duran, David Hamilton, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and others. Refusing to support them and selling off pieces — with Cora already in the last year of his contract, no less — would send a rather different, more discouraging message.

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Nick Pivetta cruised through his first four innings before getting crunched in the fifth. His earned-run average is up to 4.52, and that’s all too common in a rotation that’s taking on a bit of water. Brayan Bello has rocketed to a 5.55 ERA in what to this point has been a disappointing 2024 season and Kutter Crawford seems to have hit a wall — a 5.97 ERA in his last six starts and a 4.54 ERA through his last 12.

That’s obviously a primary area the Red Sox should look to reinforce. A right-handed bat to offer some balance in the lineup wouldn’t hurt either. As for shedding veteran pieces like Pivetta, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin and Tyler O’Neill, consider this: you’re not losing them for “nothing” in free agency if they can somehow help you reestablish credibility as a franchise genuinely trying to play deep into the fall every year.

“I do believe — I truly believe — there are going to be meaningful games here in September,” Cora said.

Let’s hope. We’ve waited long enough. One bad night shouldn’t spoil the hope of what could be to come over the next month — and, maybe, the next four.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

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On X: @BillKoch



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Boston, MA

Stormy Saturday, slightly sunnier Sunday – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

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Stormy Saturday, slightly sunnier Sunday – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News


It’s been a stormy start to the weekend, and we’re not even close to done just yet!

As a storm moves south through New England, we’ll have more rain, wind and March-like temperatures. Let’s start with the timing and the rain. Showers and some heavy rain will come in waves from north to south, and leave in the same direction. That means, the further north you live, the earlier you saw the rain this morning, but the sooner you’ll see the rain leave this afternoon.

In fact, folks in areas like Worcester County could even see some sunshine before sunset.

On the flip side, if you’re on the South Shore, South Coast, Cape & Islands, the rain takes longer to reach you, but won’t be gone until 3-5 PM or so, and the clouds will take longer to break as well. 

Now for the wind. We’ve already seen gusts in the 20s, 30s & 40s. But with the strength of this storm, we could see more up to 55 mph for most of the coast, and 65 mph for the Cape and Nantucket.

For that reason, we have a Wind Advisory and a High Wind Warning until 8 PM this evening. We could even see a few power outages because with the potential of winds blowing weak tree limbs onto power lines. 

Finally, the chill. Temperatures early this morning were largely in the low to mid 50s. Not the worst start for this time of year.

But as the cold air associated with this storm kicks in, temperatures go down instead of up. We’ll be in the 40s for most of the afternoon. 

If there’s a bright side to this forecast, it’s that the storm is gone and clouds clear in time for us to see the only blue moon of 2026! It will rise tonight, and peak illumination will be at 4:45 AM tomorrow morning! It will be a micromoon, meaning it’ll look smaller than normal, as the moon is at or near apogee, its farthest point in orbit from the earth. 

On the note of tomorrow morning… it’ll be beautiful! It’ll be a cold start with temps in the 40s. However, we’ll have some beautiful sunshine as well, and by the afternoon, temperatures will reach the mid to upper 60s and low 70s– not far from normal! That said, clouds increase in the afternoon and we’re keeping an eye out for a few spotty showers as well. 

We’ll keep a few showers around on Monday, though they’ll stay spotty. Temperatures will be cooler as a front comes through with highs in the low 60s. We’ll keep a shower around on Tuesday, with a mix of clouds and sun and a shower or two remaining. 

The weather finally takes a turn on Wednesday! We’ll be mostly to partly sunny, and the chance of a shower is incredibly slim. Highs will be in the upper 60s. Thursday is mostly sunny and even warmer, with highs in the mid to upper 70s!

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Boston, MA

Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony suffers another injury setback

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Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony suffers another injury setback


It’s going to be a little while longer before Roman Anthony returns to action.

The Red Sox outfielder has suffered another setback in his recovery from a sprained right hand and will be shut down from swinging for a couple of days.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters in Cleveland that Anthony tried hitting off a tee Thursday for the first time since suffering his injury on May 4, but that he found doing so to be painful.



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Saturday storm will bring bursts of rain, strong winds, and… snow?

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Saturday storm will bring bursts of rain, strong winds, and… snow?


Surprise: Another weekend and there’s more rain on the way. It’s bad enough we’ve had to post a First Alert.

For now, we’ll watch as clouds thicken today. We’ll squeeze out some drops later this afternoon and evening.

A weather maker is winding up in Canada, wrapping in cold air. All of that is going to dive down to New England.

We’re in the thick of it tomorrow. Rain will be coming at us in bursts with some dry time in between. Winds will likely push past 50 mph in Boston.

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Those winds will eat away at temperatures; with wind chills barely above freezing. And no – not just in the morning – but the afternoon, too!

It’s so cold there’s the threat of snow as that rain bumps into colder air over the Berkshires, Worcester Hills and southern New Hampshire right up to Mount Washington.

The snow isn’t going to pile up but just know there could be some flakes flying over our highest hills.  

The blue on our Futurecast map marks the spots where snow could mix with rain.

Rain spins out by Saturday evening but not before dumping about half an inch over Boston.

We’ll try to salvage the rest of the weekend with temperatures in the upper 60s by Sunday. Still, there’s the threat of bits and pieces of rain.

By the way, this isn’t any weekend, it’s the last weekend of spring. Meteorological summer starts on June 1.

The first day of summer remains drab and dreary with more rain chances and temperatures in the low 60 on Monday.

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