[jksander]

April 18, 2025: Jonathan Cannon (0-2, 4.15 ERA, 13.0 IP, 8 K’s, 1.54 WHIP) started against Garrett Crochet (2-0, 1.78 ERA, 25.1 IP, 28 K’s, 0.75 WHIP) in game one at Fenway, and Boston took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run slam by Rafael Devers. But we tied it up in the top of the fifth -- Vargas scored off a wild pitch, and Lenyn Sosa hit a sac-fly to drive in Luis Robert Jr. Cannon got us through the fifth, ending that inning when Abreu hit into a 4-6-3 double play, and Kimbrel took over in the bottom of the sixth, keeping us tied up. Penn Murfee came out in the bottom of the seventh, getting out of the inning when Ceddanne Rafaela hit into another fantastic 3-6-3 groundball double play, but he had a rougher go in the eighth ... still tied up with the bases loaded and one out, Mike Clevinger took over, and he let Devers walk in the go-ahead, a sac-fly by Triston Casas adding on moments later. Trailing by a pair as we came up in the top of the ninth, Tauchman riled up the crowd when he hit a leadoff homer over the Monster to cut the lead to one ... and Sosa damned near did it back to back, though his ball dropped just shy of the green wall and fell into the glove of Rob Refsnyder. We had no pop from there, and they held tough to beat us 4-3. Cannon had a great start, five innings with three hits, two walks, four strikeouts and two earned runs, but it was Murfee (0-2, 3.65 ERA) who took the loss, with two hits, a walk, a strikeout and two unearned runs. We outhit them 8-5, led by Tauchman with two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI, while Vargas added two hits, two walks and a run scored.

April 19, 2025: Ryan Weber (0-2, 3.24 ERA, 16.2 IP, 13 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) pitched against Garrett Whitlock (1-3, 3.42 ERA, 26.1 IP, 23 K’s, 0.84 WHIP), Boston took the lead in the bottom of the third with a solo homer over the Monster by Ceddanne Rafaela, but they had to pull Abreyu after sliding into second with a double in the bottom of the fourth, leaving with an undisclosed leg injury, and in the top of the fifth our offense came alive ... Chase Meidroth walked in a run after Teel, Julks and Grenier hit consecutive singles on one out. Starling Marte then hit an RBI single to put us in the lead, and Luis Robert Jr reached on an error, driving in a third run. Grenier hit a two-run homer to add on in the sixth. In the top of the seventh with one out and men on second and third, Kimbrel came out of the pen with a four-run lead, getting back to back outs to strand the runners. But with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, he gave up a two-run blast to Rob Refsnyder, so we went into the top of the ninth with just a two run advantage. Brandon Eisert came out to defend that lead in the bottom of the ninth, and he ended the game when Romy Gonzalez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, letting us out of there with a hard-fought 5-3 victory! Weber got his first win, improving to 1-2 with a 2.74 ERA thanks to three hits, one walk, three strikeouts and one earned run. Kimbrel got a hold, his second of the year, lasting 1.2 innings with two hits, a strikeout and two earned runs, giving him a 7.56 ERA through 8.1 innings, while Eisert saved his third game and kept his ERA unblemished. He hasn’t been utilized a lot this year, but when he’s pitched, he’s pitched incredibly well. We outhit Boston 8-5, led by Kyle Teel with two hits and two runs scored.

April 20, 2025: Sean Burke (0-3, 5.79 ERA, 18.2 IP, 19 K’s, 1.02 WHIP) pitched in game three against the Red Sox, facing Tanner Houck (0-2, 8.15 ERA, 17.2 IP, 15 K’s, 1.87 WHIP) who has been on a cold streak to start the season. Boston got the early lead in the botom of the first when Triston Casas hit an RBI single into left, and Cedanne Rafaela hit a grand slam moments later to kick us square in the balls. Burke has had TERRIBLE luck all year, and tonight was no different -- three hits, a walk and a strikeout in that inning, and ALL FIVE runs were unearned. But he threw 35 pitches and looked shaken up as he came off the field. His night came to an end with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the third inning, as Tyler Gilbert took over. They added on a run before we could get out of the inning, and another scored in the fourth, though we did finally get on the board in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Marte. But the game was a rout from there as we would go on to lose badly, 10-4. Burke took the loss and fell to 0-4, finishing with six hits, two walks, three strikeouts and six runs (one earned) during his 2.1 innings. They outhit us 14-10, Marte leading the way with three hits and an RBI, while Grenier added two hits, a run and three RBIs.

April 21, 2025: We trail the Red Sox two to one in this series, so it would be nice to get out of the four-game set with a split. Trevor Bauer (0-0, 7.94 ERA, 5.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) got the start, facing Lucas Giolito (1-2, 7.78 ERA, 19.2 IP, 15 K’s, 1.58 WHIP). Boston took the lead with two outs in the bottom of the second when Ceddanne Rafaela (who has been a thorn in our side the entire series) hit an RBI double to drive home Refsnyder. Another run scored in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to an RBI double by Roman Anthony, and our bats did Bauer no favors though we did get on the board with a homer by Tauchman in the top of the sixth to get within a run. Penn Murfee took over in the bottom of the sixth, as Bauer had thrown 100 pitches and was clearly gassed, and the right field corner continued to give us fits ... with two outs, Rob Refsnyder hit one to that spot and legged out an RBI triple as they increased their lead to 3-1. Mike Clevinger came out in the seventh, and he gave up a rare run with an RBI double into left field by Wilyer Abreu, Clevinger’s first run surrendered since April 9th and just his second of the season. He stranded Abreu to get us into the eighth trailing by three, and Josh Dunn came out in the botom of the eighth and kept the game from getting any more out of control. Aroldis Chapman came in for Boston with five saves already under his belt, but he wasn’t sharp ... we were able to load the bases with a walk by Brandon Drury, and the crowd was getting nervous. With two outs, Miguel Vargas came up to hit, and they pulled Chapman for Justin Slaten, who got Vargas to ground out, capping the 4-1 Red Sox win. So close to a comeback,and yet so far. Bauer took the loss, falling to 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA, allowing just four hits with three walks and six strikeouts, though the two earned runs were enough to do him in. We were outhit 9-5, our bats led by Tauchman’s fifth homer of the season.

Next up: Minnesota (12-10), who swept us at home in just the season’s second series.