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Bobby Scales on Colt Keith’s move to first base and player progression
Detroit Tigers radio analyst Bobby Scales talks what fans could expect with Colt Keith’s new role and what other players he’s keeping an eye on.
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers lost, 6-5, to the Boston Red Sox in Thursday’s split-squad game at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Tigers played against the Tampa Bay Rays in the other split-squad game at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida.
The Tigers are 2-3 in Grapefruit League play.
The Red Sox, led by manager Alex Cora, put three of the best prospects in baseball at the top of the lineup: left fielder Roman Anthony (ranked No. 2 on MLB Pipeline’s top-100 list) batting first, second baseman Kristian Campbell (No. 7) batting second, and third baseman Marcelo Mayer (No. 12) batting third.
“I told AC he’s flexing a little bit by bringing those three,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said before Thursday’s game. “Those kids are good players.”
The prospects went 4-for-8 with four RBIs, one walk and two strikeouts in nine plate appearances against right-handers Jack Flaherty and Kenta Maeda.
Mayer — whom the Tigers passed on in favor of right-hander Jackson Jobe at No. 3 overall in the 2021 draft — led the way with three hits in three trips to the plate: an RBI triple off Flaherty in the first inning, a leadoff single off Maeda in the fourth inning and a two-run home run off Maeda in the fifth inning.
All three prospects could start the 2025 season in Triple-A Worcester.
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Flaherty made his first start of spring training.
The 29-year-old allowed one run on one hit and two walks with two strikeouts across two innings, throwing 15 of 28 pitches for strikes. He felt good about the way his pitches moved, but he struggled with his command at times.
The Red Sox tagged him for the lone run in the first inning, when Mayer made Flaherty pay for an eight-pitch walk to Campbell by driving a hanging slider to center field for an RBI triple.
Flaherty threw 15 four-seam fastballs, six sliders, four sinkers, two changeups and one curveball. He generated three whiffs on 11 swings (for a 27.3% whiff rate). His fastball averaged 93.5 mph.
The Tigers threatened in the first inning against right-hander Quinn Priester, with a double from Riley Greene (hit with a 111.9 mph exit velocity), a nine-pitch walk from Gleyber Torres and an infield single from Kerry Carpenter.
But Colt Keith grounded into a double play.
The Tigers scored one run in the fourth inning and three runs in the seventh.
In the fourth, Jake Rogers hit a solo home run off right-handed reliever Josh Winckowski’s first-pitch 96.1 mph sinker, located middle-middle in the strike zone. The wind was blowing to right-center, and the ball kept carrying.
After Flaherty, Maeda came out of the bullpen for the third, fourth and fifth innings. The 36-year-old allowed three runs on five hits and zero walks with five strikeouts across three innings, throwing 32 of 50 pitches for strikes.
Maeda retired all three batters in the third and worked around a pair of singles in the fourth, but he ran into trouble in the fifth with three extra-base hits.
The big swings: Trayce Thompson’s leadoff double, Anthony’s RBI double with one out and Mayer’s two-run home run with two outs. The homer from Mayer was significantly aided by the wind blowing out to right, as he hit Maeda’s 91.3 mph fastball with a 94.9 mph exit velocity.
Maeda, whose fastball averaged 91.8 mph, generated seven whiffs on 23 swings for a 30.4% whiff rate on four splitters, two sweepers and one fastball.
Right-handed reliever Will Vest surrendered two home runs in the sixth inning. Jason Foley, a fellow right-handed reliever, shut down all three batters he faced with one strikeout.
1. Rogers; 2. Greene; 3. Foley.
Friday (1:07, no TV or radio) vs. Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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Boston Red Sox
No games have been played, but the Red Sox’s series against the New York Mets is already off to a rocky start.
That’s thanks to a series of travel issues that caused a 17-hour delay from the time Boston was supposed to depart Chicago to the time it actually took off. The Red Sox should have left Illinois at 9:45 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday night, landing in New York around midnight.
Instead, the team took off at approximately 3 p.m. ET on Friday. They’ll land around 5 p.m., making it to New York just barely in time for their 7:15 p.m. game against the Mets.
The Boston Globe‘s Tim Healey and Alex Speier reported the delay, and their sources didn’t give any specific reason for the issues, just that Boston “encountered multiple plane issues in trying to continue to New York.”
As of 4 p.m. ET, the Red Sox-Mets game will continue as scheduled at 7:15 p.m. Friday. Sonny Gray is set to take the bump for Boston, which enters Friday an undefeated 6-0 on its recent road trip.
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BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Downtown Crossing that occurred Thursday night.
Officials said the shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. near Tremont and Temple Streets.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a man with a gunshot wound; he is expected to survive.
Police have not said if any arrests have been made.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Local News
An East Boston father is suing ICE, alleging immigration agents unlawfully stopped, arrested, and detained him because of his race and national origin despite having his legal status, his lawyers said.
Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Jose Pineda, a 62-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades and is authorized to remain and work through humanitarian relief, the nonprofit legal organization said in a press release.
The suit is seeking damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, and severe emotional distress.
“I came to the United States to escape the civil war that devastated El Salvador. I worked hard, started a family, and built a life here,” said Pineda, who works as a landscaper and lives with his wife and 13-year-old daughter. “I never expected to feel that kind of fear again, much less in the United States.”
According to the 30-page complaint, written by LCR senior attorneys Victoria Miranda and Mirian Albert, Pineda has been a recipient of Temporary Protected Status, which allows certain foreign nationals from designated countries to live and work legally in the U.S.
Pineda also had a pending asylum petition and had been granted a T visa, which provides immigration protections to trafficking victims, the complaint states.
“We will not stand idly by as ICE wreaks havoc on immigrant families. Through racial profiling, ICE agents are carrying out an unquestionably discriminatory agenda,” Miranda said in the release. “The law exists to protect people like Mr. Pineda, and it must be enforced against ICE.”
The lawsuit stems from a May 2025 encounter in Weymouth, where Pineda was driving a landscaping truck to a job site when agents in unmarked ICE vehicles surrounded him, according to the complaint.
“The aggressive nature of the questioning made it clear to Mr. Pineda that he was not being judged based on any evidence of unlawful conduct, but rather on his identity, race, ethnicity, and/or national origin,” Pineda’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit alleges ICE officers then “forcibly” handcuffed and shackled Pineda before taking him to the agency’s field office in Burlington.
Officers searched Pineda’s belongings during the stop and again at the field office, allegedly confiscating $600 in cash that he intended to use to pay his family’s rent. The money has not been returned, according to the complaint.
Pineda spent two days in ICE custody under what the lawsuit describes as “cruel and inhumane conditions.”
“After what ICE did to me, and after everything my family has endured, I don’t know if I will ever truly feel safe again,” Pineda said.
According to the complaint, he was held in severely overcrowded cells containing more than 40 people — at times as many as 60 — leaving little room to sit and forcing him to remain standing for much of his detention. Detainees also allegedly shared a single toilet and sink without soap or toilet paper and were not provided toothbrushes, clean clothes, or showers.
Fluorescent lights remained on around the clock, making it difficult to sleep, while temperatures became “extremely cold” overnight and some detainees received only aluminum blanekts for warmth, the complaint states.
Pineda was given only a two-minute phone call during his detention and received two bottles of water each day, along with “inadequate and limited” food and water, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Pineda has suffered devastating and ongoing physical and emotional harm that has impacted all aspects of his life,” his attorneys wrote. “Mr. Pineda brings this action to seek accountability for these violent and traumatizing tortious acts of the ICE officers and to address the harms inflicted upon him.”
According to LCR, Pineda was released following advocacy by Centro Presente, a Massachusetts immigrant rights organization.
After his release, ICE initiated removal proceedings against him depsite his humanitarian protections, the organization said. Those proceedings were ultimately dismissed.
“ICE targeted Mr. Pineda based on nothing more than his perceived national origin and the nature of his work,” Albert said in the press release. “Our laws prohibit this kind of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Through this lawsuit, we seek to hold the federal government accountable for the violence and harm inflicted on Mr. Pineda.”
ICE referred questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
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