For much of this season, the playoffs have felt like a pipe dream for the Boston Red Sox, who sank to the worst record in the American League last week.
After a five-game winning streak, however, the Red Sox are suddenly very much alive. Despite being nine games below .500, they enter play on Tuesday 4.5 games out of a wild card spot and with a roughly 20 percent chance of making the postseason, according to FanGraphs.
Given how weak the American League is this year, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal thinks Boston is still a playoff contender despite the team's rough first half.
The Red Sox have a long way to go, but you can't write them off in a watered-down American League. pic.twitter.com/BXWHpS65s8
"When a team like the Red Sox suddenly plays a little bit better, their roster is in a little bit better place...they're four and a half games out of the wild card in a bad league, yeah, they can dream," Rosenthal said on Tuesday's episode of "Foul Territory." "The team holding the third wild card spot in the American League right now is a .500 team... Anything is theoretically possible here."
Entering play on Tuesday, only five AL teams are above .500. Six teams are within five games of the third wild card spot, so most of the league is still in contention, including the Red Sox.
Boston has underperformed thus far relative to its talent level and expectations. Based on run differential, the Red Sox should be one game over .500 instead of nine games under.
They also have a soft schedule until the All-Star Break, which could help them stay hot and make up some ground over the next two weeks. If they do that and get some help at the trade deadline, it's not hard to envision them going on a run in the second half and potentially snagging a wild card berth.
BOSTON — Like many of his Venezuelan countrymen, Willson Contreras is living a waking nightmare and has been since last Wednesday when two earthquakes struck his homeland, killing thousands with tens of thousands more still unaccounted for.
During the day, he makes phone calls and texts family and friends. Sometimes, before games, he ventures outside Fenway Park and personally collects contributions for the relief efforts.
When game time comes around, the Red Sox first baseman seeks an escape, hopeful that the next two and a half hours can serve as a distraction. It is, after all, just a game.
But Contreras can’t separate the harsh reality from the competition. Sometimes they can’t help but intersect.
Contreras was the absolute focal point of the game between the Red Sox and Washington Nationals Monday, a game in which he participated for just two innings.
In the first, Contreras launched a three-run homer in what would turn out to be a 6-3 Sox victory, their fifth straight. After making contact, Contreras flung his bat skyward and looking at his home dugout, pounded his chest repeatedly, energizing his teammates.
“I wasn’t feeling good the whole day. I was really kind of down, sad,” said Contreras. “I hit the homer and the first thing that came out of my mouth (on the way to first base) was ‘Venezuela,’ ‘’
Minutes later, TV cameras caught Contreras sobbing in the dugout, alone with his thoughts about his home country and the tragedy that struck there.
Some people can grieve in private. In uniform, on the field, Contreras isn’t allowed that luxury.
“It’s not easy to hide,” conceded Contreras. “It’s not easy just to show up and play with everything that’s going on.”
Contreras was asked why the homer — majestic as it was, belted over everything in left — triggered that sort of emotional outburst upon his return to the dugout.
“Because I feel like I could be there helping people,” said Contreras, “and I can’t do that. The homer just represents something that I prayed to God to happen because that’s the only thing I can do for Venezuela right now, physically.
“So many people have died and it’s not easy to be dealing with.”
From the first week of the season, Contreras has been the Red Sox’ best hitter, which might sound to some as faint praise. But Contreras is legitimately enjoying the best season of his career. He leads his team in homers, RBI, slugging percentage and virtually every significant offensive category.
Without apology, he later admitted that he was trying to spark his teammates and turn up the intensity of a rivalry gone flat.
Particularly in the absence of the injured Trevor Story, he has assumed the role of team leader — after all of three months tenure.
And now, he finds his emotions being split between his obligation to his country and his duty to his teammates. It is not an easy path to navigate. His loyalties are inexorably divided.
“Of course I like to help the team win and that’s good,” he said. “But I think every homer from now on is going to be for the Red Sox and Venezuela.”
Occasionally, the emotions boil over. When Contreras came to the plate in the second inning, he was rung up on a check-swing. First base umpire Nic Lentz denied the appeal, and when Contreras tapped his helmet repeatedly on his way to the dugout, Lentz saw it as a sign of disrespect and ejected Contreras from the game.
In the confusion, Contreras was unaware that he had been thrown out, only learning it from teammates in the dugout well after the fact.
By then, the Red Sox were comfortably ahead 5-1 and on their way to another victory. But for the final seven innings, Contreras, in the home clubhouse, found himself without the distraction of the game.
This spring, during the World Baseball Classic, Team Venezuela helped serve as a salve for a country dealing with political turmoil.
“Everybody was happy, even though the situation was bad,” he said.
Now, the stakes are far greater, literally an everyday matter of life and death. Contreras finds himself with one foot in his job, another back home.
“It’s my country,” he said. “I can’t turn around and look in a different direction just because I live here. That doesn’t make any sense to me. That’s why I’ve been outspoken from Day One because that’s the place that I was born and that’s the place I would like to go back to in the future.”
Contreras allowed that the games in which he plays can act as something of an escape for him, however briefly.
“But the thoughts about Venezuela are not going away,” he said. “At the same time, I have a responsibility to perform, to be there for my teammates and do the best I can help to the Red Sox win.”
The games continue. So, too, does real life. Willson Contreras tries to pay his respects to both.
“That’s really nice and I’m thankful for that,” Tolle said.
Beyond Rafaela’s support, there’s been buzz about Tolle’s All-Star candidacy on Boston sports radio and social media.
Tolle himself said he has thought about it.
“I have but it’s also I think that we have some incredible guys on this team that deserve it,” Tolle said. “So it’s cool. And just being in that conversation is amazing, but that’s kind of far out of mind for me.”
Tolle’s All-Star candidacy is remarkable considering he began this season at Triple-A Worcester. Boston promoted him April 23, when it needed a starter after placing Sonny Gray on the IL.
If all five starters in Boston’s Opening Day rotation had stayed healthy and performed well, Tolle might still be at Worcester.
“It is crazy. It’s a whirlwind,” Tolle said. “A little bit less of a whirlwind than it was last year.”
Last year was a whirlwind, for sure, with Tolle earning three different promotions from High-A Greenville to the majors in his first professional season.
“I think it’s just nice to be in the conversation,” he said. “I guess it doesn’t mean anything until it actually happens.”
So could it actually happen?
The 23-year-old lefty has a 2.78 ERA and 1.02 WHIP while holding opponents to a .203 batting average in 12 starts. His peripherals are also impressive. He ranks in the 90th percentile in expected ERA (2.91), the 86th percentile in chase percentage (34.3%) and 84th percentile in expected batting average (.209).
He’s had an absolutely electric fastball, throwing it 48.2% of the time and holding opponents to a .150 batting average and .233 slugging percentage against it. His fastball run value (nine) is in the 92nd percentile while his pitching run value (10) is in the 87th percentile.
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However, there’s a case against his selection. Because he was in the minors for the first few weeks, he ranks 104th among major league pitchers in innings pitched with 71 ⅓ innings. There are 105 pitchers who have made more starts than him.
But there is precedent for star rookies being selected despite limited sample sizes.
Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski made the 2025 NL All-Star team after just five major league starts.
Paul Skenes made the 2024 NL All-Star team just 11 starts into his major league career.
Like Skenes and Misiorowski before him, Tolle brings star power and personality that MLB can market to younger fans.
Tolle has one of the league’s best personalities both on and off the field.
Tolle’s playful approach on the mound carries over into his postgame interviews. For example, he leaped — comically — for a ball about 30 feet over his head during a start against the Orioles on June 4, then jokingly told reporters, "That was close. I gave it an attempt."
Tolle also had an unusual balk during that same game. After being called for the balk, instead of holding onto the ball, he threw it to the backstop. He turned a balk into one of the better quotes of the season. He told reporters, “There was no brain there. ... I didn’t have a balk all year so I thought this was the perfect time for it. Yeah, I was in disbelief at myself. It creates good TV I guess. I don’t know.”
While Tolle is deserving, a case could be made that two other Red Sox starters, Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez, are even more deserving.
Tolle named several teammates he thinks are All-Star worthy.
“Chappie (Aroldis Chapman),” he said. “I think Sonny should be up there. I think Willson (Contreras), Rafa (Rafaela), Wilyer (Abreu) are having great years. Whit (Garrett Whitlock) is having a good year. Ranger is having a great year. Like, there’s so many guys, especially just in this pitching staff that are having great years, and you can’t just choose one.”
BOSTON — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Monday at Fenway Park:
1. The Red Sox won their fifth straight game to improve to 37-46 overall and 17-25 at Fenway Park. The Nationals dropped to 43-43 overall and 26-18 on the road.
2.Willson Contreras got ejected in the second inning but not before putting Boston ahead in the first inning. He blasted his 18th home run, a three-run shot that gave Boston a 3-1 lead. He connected on a 94.5 mph fastball down the middle from Nationals starter Miles Mikolas and sent it 421 feet to left field. Contreras is on pace for 35 home runs.
3. Contreras was emotional in the dugout after hitting his first-inning home run. He said a couple days ago that he’s been thinking about his native Venezuela constantly after a devastating earthquake struck the country.
Contreras tapped his helmet several times while walking back to the dugout after he struck out swinging. Lentz ruled that Contreras swung at an outside slider to end the at-bat while the first baseman thought he checked his swing. Lentz reacted to Contreras by tapping his own head and throwing him out of the game.
5. Ranger Suarez allowed three runs on six hits and one walk while striking out eight in six innings. He threw 58 of his 95 pitches for strikes (61%). He induced 12 swings and misses, including six with his curveball and four with his slider. He settled down after allowing a home run to James Wood to lead off the game.
6. Suarez’s quality start marked Boston’s 12th consecutive quality starts, the longest such streak by the club since 1988.
7. Caleb Durbin belted his sixth home run in 24 games during June. His 338-foot blast just cleared the Green Monster and put Boston ahead 4-1 in the first inning. He connected on a sweeper from Mikolas that hung right over the middle of the plate.
8. Wilyer Abreu’s RBI sac fly in the second inning put Boston ahead 5-1. Carlos Narváez’s RBI sac fly in the third inning made it 6-1.
9. Gold Glove center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela made a leaping catch on CJ Abrams’ 367-foot, 106.7 mph line drive in the eighth inning.
10. Nationals starter Miles Mikolas gave up four runs in the first inning and six runs in the first three innings. But he retired the final 14 straight batters he faced.
11. With Aroldis Chapman unavailable, Garrett Whitlock recorded the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
12. The Red Sox and Nationals will play the second game of their three-game series Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. Rookie left-hander Connelly Early (7-5, 3.59 ERA) will start for Boston while righty Cade Cavalli (4-4, 4.00 ERA) will start for Washington.
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The Boston Red Sox got off to a very slow start to the season, but are still hanging around in a very weak American League.
On the eve of July 1, only five teams in the AL have a winning record. The Red Sox sit 4 1/2 games out of a wild card spot, with five teams ahead of them. There is still plenty of season left, and the Red Sox have some hope after showing life and winning five straight games, including a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees.
The Red Sox still have plenty of ground to make up, but their postseason chances have gone from 9.7% on June 18 to 20.6% entering play on Tuesday, according to FanGraphs.
While their chances are still slim, they have a few reasons to believe they can make a push. For one, the starting rotation has been lights out. Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle and Sonny Gray have all been phenomenal, and Garrett Crochet should return at some point.
Additionally, the offense could get Roman Anthony, Trevor Story and Romy González back at some point. González is more of a utility player, and Story was struggling before his injury, but Anthony could genuinely turn the entire season around. He was not playing great before his injury, but he is the face of the franchise now and has the potential to go on a tear.
He was amazing last year and was a superstar in the World Baseball Classic. If he can come back and provide some more power, the Red Sox could be set up with elite pitching and a scary offense.
Not to mention, if they can pull within three games of a wild card spot in the next couple of weeks, they could be serious buyers at the trade deadline.
BOSTON — Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras was ejected by first base umpire Nic Lentz during the second inning Monday.
Contreras tapped his helmet several times while walking back to the dugout after he struck out swinging. Lentz ruled that Contreras swung at an outside slider to end the at-bat while the first baseman thought he checked his swing.
Lentz reacted to Contreras by tapping his own head and throwing him out of the game.
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy left the dugout to speak with Lentz after the ejection, then Contreras returned to the field with bench coach José Flores to join the discussion.
Contreras went 1 for 2. He blasted his 18th home run, a three-run shot that put Boston ahead 3-1 in the first inning. He connected on a 94.5 mph fastball right down the middle from Nationals starter Miles Mikolas and sent it 421 feet to left field. Contreras is on pace for 35 home runs.
Andruw Monasterio replaced Contreras at first base.
Contreras was emotional in the dugout after hitting his first-inning home run. He said a couple days ago that he’s been thinking about his native Venezuela constantly after a devastating earthquake struck the country.
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Mercedes Formula 1 team principal Toto Wolff says Kimi Antonelli will never make the same mistakes again, which lost him a better shot at Austrian Grand Prix victory.
The Italian saw his world championship lead trimmed to 40 points following George Russell’s win at the Red Bull Ring, as he controlled proceedings from pole position, holding off a late attack from Max Verstappen as Antonelli closed on them both in third.
But Antonelli missed his chance to take pole position when he bailed out of his final qualifying lap, mistaking a double-waved yellow flag when it was a just a single-waved yellow flag for Verstappen's crash, which Russell interpreted correctly to secure pole with his final lap.
With Antonelli starting fourth behind Russell and both Ferrari drivers, the 19-year-old was overly aggressive in the opening laps trying to get by Charles Leclerc, which cost him a position to Verstappen as he dropped to fifth.
“The first few corners, this is where the race got lost,” Wolff summarised. “Full attack mode, missing braking in Turn 1, missing braking in Turn 3, missing braking in Turn 4.
“But, as I said, this is exactly what I expect from him. Like yesterday [in qualifying], the yellow, that's never going to happen to him in his life again. To not see whether it's a double yellow or a single yellow.
“In the same way today [in the race], he just wanted to be right there on George. He wanted to be right behind him and that cost him a position or two.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Antonelli held his hands up for the errors immediately after the race, accepting his aggressive driving cost him a better result.
“I was a bit too excited in the first few laps and definitely didn’t drive well,” Antonelli said. “I did too many mistakes. And even in the first stint on the medium [tyres], I lost three, four seconds with mistakes.
“I was struggling with the brakes, but then I think after I changed tyre, I reset, and the pace was again very strong. And it was a shame that I joined the party a bit too late.”
Antonelli put the errors down to relaxing too much as a result of topping both Friday practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring and then being too tense in qualifying.
“It was a weekend where I started very strong, and I think because of that I kind of lowered the intensity a bit too much,” he explained. “And coming to qualifying, I just felt a bit tense, driving-wise. We were still up there, but I felt like I wasn’t driving that well and not as free.
“Of course, the last lap, it went like that, but I was a tenth behind George, so it probably would have been P2, very close, but P2.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Mercedes
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Mercedes
“Starting from P4, the first lap was really bad for me. And then I really struggled with brakes, and I just lost a lot of time because I started to do mistakes. But then second stint was a bit better, and then third stint was really, really strong. The pace was just there but of course fell a bit short.”
He later added: “The mistakes were made and definitely without them, probably could have had the chance to fight for P2 or even P1. But of course, easy to say now, and need to make sure they don’t happen again.”
Contreras tapped his helmet several times while walking back to the dugout after he struck out swinging during the second inning. Lentz ruled on an appeal at first base that Contreras swung at an outside slider to end the at-bat and that the slugger did not check his swing.
“I called him out on appeal for the check swing, and as he was walking back to the dugout, he started gesturing, tapping his helmet, like he wanted to challenge something that is not a challengeable call,” Lentz said to a pool reporter. “And so disrespect, and again gesturing towards what he thought was an incorrect call, got him removed from the game.”
Lentz — who tapped his own head while throwing out Contreras — said it is an automatic ejection if a player makes that gesture in a mocking way.
“It’s a lot like drawing a line in the dirt,” Lentz said.
Lentz added the gesture is “on the list for items for removal from the game.”
“You can have a little bit of discretion,” Lentz said. “But in a situation like this, where it’s pretty immediate and showing disagreement or trying to gesture in that sort of manner, it would be immediate.”
Lentz confirmed that it was only the gesture — and nothing Contreras said to him — that led to the ejection.
“Nic and I have a really good relationship,” Contreras said. “We had a really good talk right before the game. He also mentioned Venezuela, which is good for him to know about it. ... I think it kind of surprised me because I never made eye contact with him.”
Contreras said the only time he looked at Lentz was to see his decision on the check swing. Contreras said he didn’t look at Lentz while returning to the dugout and the tapping “wasn’t directed at” Lentz.
“He (Lentz) felt like he showed him up and threw him out of the game,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said.
Tracy left the dugout to speak with Lentz after the ejection. Contreras then returned to the field with bench coach José Flores to join the discussion.
“To be honest with you, when it happened, I didn’t know what was going on,” Tracy said. “I kind of looked up and saw him throw somebody out. I thought somebody maybe had said something from the dugout. So if you guys saw me go out there, I was kind of trying to figure out what was happening.”
Contreras didn’t know Lentz ejected him until he returned inside the dugout and teammate Marcelo Mayer told him.
“And then I went out there to ask him why he threw me out,” Contreras said. “He told me, ‘Because you tapped your helmet.’ Yeah, but I didn’t make eye contact with you. I didn’t argue. I didn’t yell. I didn’t do nothing wrong. And he told me, ‘Yeah, but I have to throw you out.’”
Contreras added, “You didn’t have to, but you made that choice.”
Tracy said Contreras acted calmly when he left the dugout to speak with Lentz, telling the umpire he meant nothing by the gesture.
“He didn’t get heated at him or anything like that,” Tracy said.
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Paraguay fans packed into a bar to watch their country’s biggest World Cup match in years were left screaming after the venue’s TV suddenly slipped into sleep mode just as defender Jose Canale stepped up to take the kick that would eliminate Germany from the tournament in a gripping penalty shootout.
The interruption came after an absorbing contest between Paraguay and four-time World Cup champion Germany finished 1-1 after extra time.
Paraguay took the lead late in the first half through a Julio Enciso header before Germany’s Kai Havertz equalized in the 52nd minute, forcing the match beyond regulation.
After both teams converted three of their first five penalty attempts, the shootout remained tied and moved into sudden death, where each side takes one penalty at a time until one team scores and the other misses in the same round.
Germany failed to convert its next attempt, leaving Canale with the chance to win the match.
Just as Canale prepared to take his penalty, however, at the height of the drama, the bar’s screen suddenly displayed a Spanish-language “Automatic Suspension” prompt.
— Santiago Ravidlas (@SantiRavidlasPy) June 30, 2026
The message, hiding the view of the goal line, warned viewers that automatic sleep mode would begin in 114 seconds unless it was canceled, prompting groans and screams from supporters gathered inside the bar.
It was the worst possible placement at the worst possible time.
As Canale kicked the ball, the screen went black, leaving panicked fans roaring in frustration.
Fans scrambled to check their phones, but within seconds, the TV booted up again, showing the scenes after Canale’s winning goal, sealing Paraguay’s knockout victory that will go down in soccer history.
The crowd cheered as the euphoric realization spread throughout the bar in a moment that immediately went viral online, drawing 2.8 million views in just 12 hours.
One of the greatest things about sports is the ability to take our minds away from whatever is happening in the world and get behind a common goal for three hours.
But for the players on the field, it is a lot easier said than done.
The Boston Red Sox roster is chock full of Venezuelan talent. The country of Venezuela was rocked by an earthquake over the weekend, and 50,000 people are still missing.
On more than one occasion, right fielder Wilyer Abreu has used his platform to raise awareness about the crisis.
After Boston's fifth straight win, he told NESN's Jahmai Webster that it has not been easy for him and his teammates.
"It's very hard to play right now with everything that is going on in Venezuela," Abreu said. "We are doing everything we can to stay focused on the game. It's very emotional.
"We feel like we're there trying to support everything we can. We are trying to do whatever it takes to stay focused on the game, but it's hard to play like that."
Abreu had a run and an RBI in the Red Sox's 6-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Wilyer Abreu gives @WebsterOnTV a very honest answer about playing baseball right now 💔
"It's very hard to play right now with everything that's going on in Venezuela, but we're doing everything we can to stay focused on the game."
Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras has been playing with a heavy heart this week after earthquakes rocked his home country of Venezuela. More than 50,000 people remain missing as the death toll rises every day.
Contreras has been vocal in his activism for his home country, but has not missed a game since the crisis unfolded.
On Monday night, he stepped into the batter's box in the first inning and launched a 421-foot home run.
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It was a moment he said he prayed to God for. After barreling up the Miles Mikolas pitch, Contreras sent his bat sky high with a two-handed bat flip.
He made sure to tell reporters that he was not trying to show up Mikolas or the Washington Nationals.
"It was nothing against the Nationals. I apologize to them if they felt the bat flip was wrong," Contreras said. "And to Mikolas. He is a great friend of mine, I don't think he took it personally. But I apologize to them anyway.
"I was thinking of my country. Thinking of so many kids that have died. So many people that have died. And it's not easy to be dealing with."
Mikolas and Contreras were teammates for three years in St. Louis.
Willson Contreras with a powerful postgame scrum 🇻🇪💪
Contreras, who homered in the first inning, struck out on a check swing. When the home plate umpire went to the first base umpire to appeal the K, Contreras disagreed with his decision.
On the way back to Boston's dugout, Contreras simply tapped his head so as to signify he would like to challenge the call.
This act alone got him tossed from the game with seven innings to play.
Tim Healey of the Boston Globe did some digging on umpire Nic Lentz, and as it turns out, Lentz has a history of quick hooks.
Umpire Nic Lentz, who ejected Willson Contreras for tapping his helmet tonight, also ejected the Rays' Taylor Walls for tapping his helmet earlier this season. https://t.co/BN5T5TtBN5
In this instance, on June 1, 2025, Walls was ejected for "tapping his helmet" during his at-bat before the implementation of the ABS Challenge.
Contreras took it a lot better than Walls did. The Tampa Bay Rays batter had to be held back by multiple members of the coaching staff after being caught on the hot mic saying his fair share of expletives.
All fans agree that there needs to be some sort of punishment for an umpire who takes over the game like Lentz did tonight. No one is there to watch him.
The Boston Red Sox signed Venezuelan native Franklin Primera to a minor league contract two years ago when he was just 17 years old.
Primera played 45 games of rookie ball in 2025. He batted .333, averaging one hit every game, but never showed the slugging.
That is not the case this season for Primera, who turned 19 this month.
The Venezuelan catcher has played 32 games in the Florida Complex League, a rookie-level Minor League Baseball circuit. He's batting .427 on the season with an OPS of 1.267 and eight home runs.
Primera's efforts have earned him a trip out of rookie ball after being promoted to the Red Sox's Low-A affiliate, the Salem RidgeYaks, as reported by Chris Hatfield of SoxProspects.com.
"Primera, the SoxProspects.com Player of the Week in the last two editions of this post, continues to dominate the Florida complex league," a SoxProspects.com article posted before his promotion read. "In 28 games, he is hitting .461/.581/.798 with eight home runs, leading the circuit in all three of the slash categories. During his current 16-game hitting streak (excluding Saturday's suspended game), he is an astonishing 26 for 55 with 22 runs scored and 25 RBI, with seven home runs, four doubles, and twice as many walks (eight) as strikeouts (four), adding up to a .509/.592/.964 surge."
The RidgeYaks season lasts well into September, so Primera should have every opportunity to continue his farm system climb.
The Boston Red Sox may have saved their season by completing a four-game sweep over the New York Yankees. Marc Bertrand doesn't seem convinced that the series will spark a midseason turnaround.
Boston is just 4.5 games away from the American League's last wild-card spot after beating the Yankees four straight times at Fenway Park. They're one of only five AL teams with a positive run differential (+5) after outscoring their long-time rivals 21-9.
Red Sox fans are riding high from a successful weekend, but Bertrand tried to temper any excitement during Monday's "Zolak & Bertrand" on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
"The Red Sox sweep the Yankees, and it means absolutely nothing," Bertrand claimed. "It doesn't mean anything."
Bertrand appears to see the latest hot streak as too little, too late for the Red Sox. The radio host doesn't think they should start planning to buy before the trade deadline because they swept the Yankees.
"They've won seven of 10. It doesn't mean they're back in it," Bertrand continued. "It doesn't mean they're capable of competing for a playoff spot. It doesn't mean they're getting themselves back into the wild-card race ... It changes absolutely nothing."
Or it could change everything for a team scuffling to build momentum throughout the first half.
The Red Sox had gone 6-17 against the American League East before snatching four straight wins over the Yankees, who began the series boasting the AL's best record. Boston was also 12-25 at home to start the series and 5-12 in one-run games before Sunday night's 5-4 victory in extra innings.
FanGraphs now gives the Red Sox an 18 percent chance of making the playoffs, up from 9.7 percent after the Jays completed a sweep over them on June 18.
Boston's work remains far from finished, but sweeping the Yankees could prove the catalyst to a second-half run. The Red Sox will try to sustain that goodwill during a three-game series against the Washington Nationals.
BOSTON — Instant reactions as Sonny Gray pitches 7 ⅓ no-hit innings, the Red Sox (36-46) blow a late lead — and then rally for a crazy, dramatic 5-4, 10-inning win to finish off a four-game sweep of the Yankees on Sunday night:
Shortly after Justin Slaten allowed two Yankees runs in the top of the inning, Anthony Seigler led off with an RBI single to make it a one-run game, scoring the automatic runner. Pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida then jumped on the first pitch Fernando Cruz threw him to put two runners in scoring position with a double into right field. Then, Tsung-Che Cheng’s sacrifice fly tied it before Duran — who didn’t start the game against lefty Carlos Rodón — ended it by shooting a 1-1 slider into right field, finding green grass with the Yankees playing with five infielders.
Cruz allowed three runs while recording just one out. It was Boston’s second walk-off win of the year and the first since April 17. Duran now has two walk-off hits, with the other coming in 2024.
2) For much of the night, Gray looked like he was going to make history, dominating the Yankees lineup for 7 ⅓ hitless innings in his best outing of 2026. With one out in the eighth, Amed Rosario laced a single up the middle, ending Gray’s no-hit bid — and his night.
Gray allowed just one baserunner (he walked Rosario in the fifth) in the first eight innings and struck out nine batters. He threw 97 pitches and received a very loud ovation from the crowd at Fenway Park. Gray tipped his cap to the fans and was greeted with hugs from various teammates as he approached the dugout.
It was the longest no-hit bid of Gray’s 14-year big league career, beating a seven-inning effort when he was with the A’s back in April 2015. The last Red Sox pitcher to have a bid that long was Garrett Crochet last April in Chicago. Crochet also went 7 ⅓ no-hit innings in that game.
3) The crazy win allowed the Red Sox to do something they hadn’t done all season: win a fourth game in a row. Boston now has its longest winning streak of 2026 after stalling out at three straight wins on three separate occasions, with the last coming May 20 after a sweep in Kansas City.
The Red Sox had not swept a four-game series against New York since August 2018. They’ve now won five of their last six against the Yankees this season after dropping the first three. The rivalry will be renewed in the Bronx in late August.
4) Gray’s part of the game came easy for the Red Sox. Once Aroldis Chapman entered for the ninth, things went off the rails as the closer blew his second save in six days.
Chapman allowed a leadoff single to José Caballero, then walked Anthony Volpe before Ben Rice lifted a deep fly ball to Abreu. With Caballero trying to advance to third, Abreu threw into the infield but airmailed second baseman Anthony Seigler with no Sox in position to back up.
The ball got all the way to the backstop as Caballero scored and Volpe got all the way to third. Volpe then scored the tying run on a Paul Goldschmidt chopper to shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng, sliding under Connor Wong’s tag at the plate.
5) More aggressive Yankees baserunning and sloppiness by Abreu led to the Yankees taking a 4-2 lead in the 10th. Facing Slaten with automatic runner Max Schuemann on second, Rosario lifted a fly ball into shallow left. Schuemann — for some reason — was off on contact and right fielder Wilyer Abreu failed to make the catch, dropping the ball. Schuemann aggressively went home to score as Rosario took second. The Yankees then went up two runs when Rosario broke for home on an Austin Wells swinging bunt and beat Slaten’s flip home.
At that point, it looked like the Red Sox were staring down the barrel of their worst loss of the season — and recent memory, really. But the bats ensured that wouldn’t happen against a flustered Cruz in the 10th.
6) Despite blowing the save, Chapman made a bit of history with two strikeouts. His inning-ending punch-out of Schuemann was the 1,363rd of his career, tying Hoyt Wilhelm for the most by a reliever in MLB history. Chapman will have that record all to himself with one more strikeout the next time he pitches.
Gray also had a personal milestone, notching his 2,000th strikeout when he got Spencer Jones to lead off the eighth. He’s the seventh active pitcher to get to that mark.
7) Gray’s deep bid came after a series of no-hit flirtations by his Red Sox rotation mates. Last Friday in Seattle, Ranger Suarez went 6 ⅓ innings before giving up a hit. The two games before Sunday’s saw Payton Tolle throw 5 ⅓ perfect innings Friday night and Jake Bennett take a no-hit bid into the fifth Saturday.
Gray’s attempt, though, felt more real than the others. If he had gotten the final five outs without allowing a hit, he would have been the first Red Sox pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Jon Lester in 2008 (and the first major league starter to do it since Los Angeles’ Blake Snell in 2024).
“I legitimately thought he was gonna do it,” said interim manager Chad Tracy.
8) The Red Sox took the lead with some timely hitting in the fourth. Facing a staunch Carlos Rodón, Abreu worked a one-out walk, then Willson Contreras reached on a fielding error by Oswaldo Cabrera at third base. With two outs, Caleb Durbin dumped a two-run single into shallow center field. Durbin had the go-ahead hit in two of Boston’s four wins in the series.
Durbin’s hit was the only hit of the game until the bottom of the seventh, when Wong went the other way with a one-out single. It was a sleepy offensive effort until the late-inning fireworks, and there were just nine total hits between the clubs.
Gray tipped his cap toward his right fielder after the play. It was a night of high highs and low lows for the two-time Gold Glover, who had a two-error game.
10) Chad Tracy went to Tyron Guerrero — and not Garrett Whitlock — to replace Gray in the eighth. Whitlock had already pitched twice in the series (Thursday and Saturday) and was not available, according to Tracy. In any case, Guerrero got the call before passing the baton to Chapman.
11) The Red Sox couldn’t get much going against Rodón, who allowed just the one hit in five innings. But four walks drove up the lefty’s pitch count and he left the game at 96 pitches after five innings.
Both of Boston’s runs off him were unearned.
12) Romy Gonzalez went 0-for-4 in his return to the lineup (and season debut), grounding out all four times he came to the plate. He grounded into a double play in the bottom of the ninth after Willson Contreras led off with a single.
13) The frustrations of a long weekend in Boston boiled over for the Yankees after the sixth inning when Jazz Chisholm Jr. took exception to home plate umpire Adam Hamari ruling that he swung on a pitch in the dirt for strike three. Chisholm threw his helmet and was ejected as manager Aaron Boone ran out to calm things down.
14) The hot-hitting Nationals are next up on the schedule for the Red Sox. Here’s the schedule (with pitching probables) for the three-game series, which starts Monday night at Fenway:
Monday, 7:10 p.m. ET — RHP Miles Mikolas (2-6, 5.24 ERA) vs. LHP Ranger Suarez (3-3, 2.83 ERA)
Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. ET — RHP Cade Cavalli (4-4, 4.00 ERA) vs. LHP Connelly Early (7-5, 3.59 ERA)
Wednesday, 1:35 p.m. ET — LHP Andrew Alvarez (1-1, 3.44 ERA) vs. LHP Payton Tolle (4-5, 2.78 ERA)
Prior to Sunday, the 2026 Boston Red Sox didn't have much in common with the 2018 Red Sox, but they do now.
Boston completed a stunning four-game sweep of the New York Yankees at Fenway Park over the weekend, overcoming a 4-2 deficit in extra innings on Sunday to win the series finale on Jarren Duran's walk-off single.
Not only was it the Red Sox's first four-game winning streak of the season, but it was also their first four-game sweep of the Yankees since August 2-5, 2018.
Boston went on to win a franchise record 108 regular-season games that year and the World Series, capping off the greatest season in team history.
The 2026 campaign has not been as successful for the Red Sox, who have no active players remaining from that 2018 squad. Even after sweeping their top rivals, they are still last in the AL East at 36-46.
There's still time for them to turn things around, however, and their thrilling sweep could be the spark they need to finally get their season back on track.
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 8: Pitcher Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox tips his cap to the fans as he leaves the game during the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park on April 8, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 28: Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox throws in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on June 28, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 12: Starting pitcher Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox throws in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park on June 12, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images)
On Sunday evening, the Boston Red Sox are looking to sweep the New York Yankees in their four-game series.
The Red Sox got an incredible start from Sonny Gray.
He took a no-hitter into the middle of the 8th inning.
MLB World Reacts To Gray Nearly Throwing No-Hitter
GettySonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox throws in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on June 28, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Here’s what people were saying on social media:
Tyler Milliken: “The no-hitter is over, but the night ends with the Fenway Faithful showing Sonny Gray some love. 18 years since the last Red Sox no-hitter. The drought continues.”
David Borges: “Remember when Sonny Gray couldnât handle New York? He did tonight.”
Just Baseball: “Sonny Gray, WOW! 7.1 IP 1 H 0 R 1 BB 9 Kâs The only hit he allowed was to the final batter he faced”
@pamsson: “Sonny Gray was serving up meatballs all game but the lineup is so cold right now it looks like he did this amazing job. This reminds me of the Luis Gil start in Fenway back in April. He was bad but got away with it.”
GettyStarting pitcher Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox throws in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park on June 12, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Chris Cotillo: “Amed Rosario singles up the middle and Sonny Gray’s bid at a no-hitter is over. The Fenway faithful gives him a nice hand and his night is over.”
Adam Kaufman: “There are like four good things about this miserable Red Sox season and Sonny Gray is certainly one of them”
@BOSSportsGordo: “Sonny Gray was masterful against the Yankees: 7.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 Ks Dude no-hit the Yankees into the 8th and put the boys in position to four game 𧹠the Yankees. His ERA for the season is down to 2.69 ð³”
The Boston Red Sox's bench is getting a major boost for the rest of the season with versatile infielder Romy González's return from injury.
González has been out all season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March, but made his season debut on Sunday against the New York Yankees. Though Boston will enjoy having González back from injury, the team had to unfortunately option third-year catcher Mickey Gasper to open room on the roster.
The Red Sox called up Gasper in early May, and the 30-year-old catcher has made his impact with the team, slashing .243/.305/.308 with five doubles and a triple across 34 games.
Though Gasper has performed well this season, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy revealed that the team optioned the veteran catcher to avoid having three catchers on its roster and have more versatility.
“Obviously, he has cooled off a little bit with the bat,” Tracy said on Sunday, per MassLive's Chris Cotillo. “The quality is still really good. It’s more about with Romy active -- and you know Romy’s not going to be able to run out there and play five or six games in a row at second base -- so you’re gonna have to take him down some DH at-bats.
"You’re going to have Masa (Yoshida) take down some DH at-bats. The need to get away from three catchers and have more versatility on the bench was just imperative at this point. We rode that for a while.”
Last season was the most impressive year of González's career, as the versatile infielder slashed .305/.343/.483 with nine home runs and 53 runs batted in across 96 games. In addition to providing Boston with a reliable right-handed bat, the 29-year-old offers plenty of defensive versatility with his ability to play multiple infield positions.
Gasper has played well this season, but having three catchers on the roster does not make sense for Boston. As the Red Sox strive to improve down the stretch, having a versatile player like González coming off the bench is important.
Speaking at his locker at Fenway Park on Friday, Crochet said he’s not concerned that there’s anything more serious than anticipated going on with his shoulder after a recent strength test showed that his strength had not improved enough for him to restart a throwing program. Instead, Crochet said, it’s a matter of following protocols and making sure he’s good to go after a mild lat strain interrupted his progress as he ramped up late last month.
Crochet has been throwing with plyometric (lighter) balls but has not played catch with a baseball since throwing a one-inning live batting practice session on May 26, then being shut down with lat issues a few days later. He hopes he takes that step soon.
“I hope to have a ball — a real baseball — in my hand here soon,“ Crochet said. ”The plyos that I’m doing, though, are not far off. I’m throwing seven ounces, so it’s not like I’m afraid to get close to baseball weight. It’s moreso just the protocol.
“Just still just throwing plyos, doing a lot of (isometric) work. When the team was on the road and I stayed back, I made some good headway. Been trending up for a while. I think that let setback is making us be extra cautious this time, naturally. Just in that situation where it’s like, wait until you feel great, then wait a couple more days.”
Crochet was hopeful to restart his throwing program last week when he stayed back in Boston as the team traveled west to Seattle and Denver. Tests Monday revealed less-than-desirable strength numbers in his shoulder, so the team decided to continue with a cautious approach. Still, there’s no structural damage in the area and Crochet doesn’t believe surgery is on the table. The goal for the past 10 days or so has been trying to avoid overcompensating while throwing.
“When one thing gets weak, something else takes over and that’s kinda what we were doing when the team was on the road, just trying to get out of the compensation as much as possible,” Crochet said. “I’ve never had crazy strength numbers when doing testing with the training stuff. For me, it’s moreso just that I operate really well within certain limits and when I fall out of those ranges, my mechanics get off and things start to compensate. Then, that weakness is exploited.”
“I have target dates I won’t share,” Crochet said, laughing. “I have target dates in my mind but I don’t know what the team’s target date is. I just want to get back as soon as I can.”
For Crochet, the downtime has allowed him to re-examine his mechanics, which he felt were out of whack during a six-outing start to the season in which he logged a 6.30 ERA. It has also allowed him to retroactively re-think how he prepared for 2026 after pitching a career-high 213 innings (including the postseason) last year.
“Disappointing,” Crochet said. “It’s not like I was throwing the ball great, so to go on the IL on top of that kinda sucks. When I initially went on the IL, it was like, ‘Well this is an (expletive) feeling. I was throwing the ball well, then I had a good one and started to feel like I’m making ground (up). Then go on the IL.
“You try to find the bright side in it. For me, this is a good chance to get my mechanics in a good spot. I think I was still just kinda dealing with a little bit of a hangover from the previous year. Just formed some bad habits once the fatigue hit, and even in the offseason. I took some time off but then because of the (World Baseball Classic), we’re getting ready for spring a little earlier. I took more time off, but that made the ramp-up have to be quicker. Just things I hope to learn from.”
Boston activated Romy Gonzalez from the injured list and optioned Gasper before Sunday’s game against the Yankees Gonzalez will make his season debut Sunday night against the Yankees and lefty Carlos Rodón as the designated hitter. To re-add Gonzalez to the 40-man roster, the Red Sox transferred Roman Anthony to the 60-day injured list in a paper move that will not impact his timetable because he has already been out nearly two months.
Gasper, who was called up from the WooSox in early May when Anthony first hit the IL, has appeared in 34 games since May 10, starting 27. He. hit .328 with a .789 OPS (19-for-58 with three doubles and a triple) in his first 19 games but has struggled since. In 15 games since June 5, Gasper has hit just .143 (7-for-49) with two doubles, six strikeouts and a .406 OPS. The Red Sox have hit him either first or second 15 times in the last six weeks. Now, he’s off the roster because Gonzalez and Masataka Yoshida are expected to get most of the at-bats at DH in the coming weeks.
“Obviously, he has cooled off a little bit with the bat,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “The quality is still really good. It’s more about with Romy active — and you know Romy’s not going to be able to run out there and play five or six games in a row at second base — so you’re gonna have to take him down some DH at-bats. You’re going to have Masa (Yoshida) take down some DH at-bats. The need to get away from three catchers and have more versatility on the bench was just imperative at this point. We rode that for a while.”
Gonzalez appeared in 96 games for the Red Sox last season and hit .305 with nine homers, 53 RBIs and an .826 OPS. He was particularly effective against left-handed pitching, batting .331 with a .978 OPS against southpaws. Gonzalez hurt his shoulder during the final week of the season and played hurt during Boston’s brief trip to the postseason. He thought the issue would subside by the beginning of spring training but experienced continued discomfort when he arrived in Fort Myers. After further testing, Gonzalez underwent an “arthroscopic debridement” procedure on his left, non-throwing shoulder on March 12.
“Obviously, I didn’t think this would be this serious,” Gonzalez said Sunday. “I’m happy it got it done. Just super excited to be back.”
Gonzalez is expected to see time at both DH and second base now that he’s healthy while also serving as a depth option behind Willson Contreras at first base. The Red Sox believe he can add an element to their lineup that has been missing all year. That begins Sunday against Rodón, though Gonzalez is just 1-for-16 against the veteran in his career.
“It’s been a while,” Gonzalez said. “Obviously, I haven’t played since October. I’m excited.”
BOSTON — Facing New York’s Carlos Rodón on Sunday night, the Red Sox will welcome back lefty-masher Romy Gonzalez and hold the struggling Jarren Duran out of the lineup.
Gonzalez, who missed the first half of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March, will hit fifth as the designated hitter Sunday night. Duran is not starting and the Red Sox will instead use Nate Eaton as their left fielder and leadoff man. Boston will start seven right-handed hitters — including switch-hitting second baseman Anthony Seigler and catcher Connor Wong — against the veteran Rodón as it looks to cap off a four-game sweep over the Yankees.
Duran had started 73 of Boston’s first 81 games, including 14 against left-handed starters. With Gonzalez back and Eaton on the roster, it’s possible the Red Sox will look to be more selective with how they use Duran against left-handed pitchers.
“The lefty’s out there, Romy’s back,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “It allows us, by doing that, to keep Seigler in the lineup, get Romy in the lineup and get Nate in the lineup. It’s very logical (for Duran) to take a breather and we’ve got two righties coming up with Washington the next two days. He’ll be right back in there.”
“His timing’s a little mixed up,” Tracy said. “When he got hot in May, he was locked and the timing was locked. Everything was squared up and there were balls going over the fence. His timing’s off and mixed up and he’s searching for it.”
The return of Gonzalez gives the Red Sox a potent right-handed bat against left-handed pitchers. In 2025, the utility man hit .331 with a .978 OPS in 143 plate appearances against lefties. Boston is 9-10 against southpaws so far this season.
BOSTON, MA - JULY 25: Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated in the dugout after scoring against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Fenway Park on July 25, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) GettyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 25: Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox watches after hitting a RBI against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning at Fenway Park on June 25, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
On Sunday, the Boston Red Sox will finish their four-game series with the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.
They are coming off a 4-1 victory Saturday (and are looking to go for the sweep).
Boston Red Sox Announce Jarren Duran Decision
GettyJarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox watches after hitting a RBI against the New York Yankees during the fifth inning at Fenway Park on June 25, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts.
For Sunday’s game, the Red Sox have announced their starting lineup.
Via Underdog MLB: “Red Sox 6/28 N. Eaton LF C. Rafaela CF W. Abreu RF W. Contreras 1B R. Gonzalez DH C. Durbin 3B A. Seigler 2B C. Wong C T. Cheng SS S. Gray SP”
Red Sox 6/28
N. Eaton LFC. Rafaela CFW. Abreu RFW. Contreras 1BR. Gonzalez DHC. Durbin 3BA. Seigler 2BC. Wong CT. Cheng SS
New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole's perfect game bid lasted all of two pitches on Saturday afternoon before Boston Red Sox leadoff hitter Masataka Yoshida deposited a lazy 93-mile-an-hour fastball down the middle into Boston's bullpen.
Yoshida is no slugger. It was only the 5-foot-8 Japanese native's second home run of the season, and sixth since 2024. But hey, that's Gerrit Cole at Fenway Park for you.
The next inning, he gave Triple-A call-up Anthony Seigler his first career home run. The inning after that, the entire Red Sox lineup ate with back-to-back singles from Yoshida and Ceddanne Rafaela coming to roost after Willson Contereas doubled to the deepest part of the ballpark.
It was another loss for Cole at Fenway, which has hilariously become his Yankees' legacy.
In seven starts in Boston, Cole has pitched 35 1/3 innings, allowed 39 hits, and a whopping 27 earned runs. He has given up 14 home runs and boasts an ERA of 6.88.
According to ESPN Insights, his career ERA against the Red Sox as a member of the Yankees is not much better.
"Cole has a 5.87 ERA in 14 career starts against the Red Sox as a member of the Yankees," ESPN Insightswrote. "Among the 67 Yankees pitchers with at least 75 IP against their rival, only Tommy Byrne (6.10) has a higher ERA than Cole."
Gerrit Cole will take the hill against the Red Sox today. Cole has a 5.87 ERA in 14 career starts against the Red Sox as a member of the Yankees.
Among the 67 Yankees pitchers with at least 75 IP against their rival, only Tommy Byrne (6.10) has a higher ERA than Cole 😮 pic.twitter.com/hdE2nmQ1dJ
Red Bull's Max Verstappen says it was satisfying to finally be in the hunt for victory at Formula 1's Austrian Grand Prix, as he detailed the car issues that prevented him from taking the fight to winner George Russell.
In a heavily revised Red Bull RB22, Verstappen and his team cut a much more competitive figure at the team's home race in Austria, with the four-time world champion on course to qualify second or third behind polesitter Russell until a crash in the penultimate corner kept him in fifth.
But Verstappen rebounded in the race to take the fight to the leading Mercedes cars. After clearing Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton in an extended wheel-to-wheel battle, Verstappen was able to put pressure on Russell, prompting the Briton to expedite his final pitstop to avoid being undercut by Red Bull.
Verstappen delayed his final stop to build a tyre advantage, but lost too much time doing so to mount a real challenge at the end of the 71-lap race.
Handling issues with the rear axle of his car further played a part in not being able to fully push for his first win of the season, though the Dutchman was still pleased to take his best result of 2026 and his second podium of the campaign.
"What was satisfying is that this was the first time I felt like actually I could fight for the win," Verstappen said.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
"In the first half of the race we were more competitive, because for whatever reason in the second half something felt off on the rear of the car. Everything was just extremely difficult from bumps, kerbs, traction - it was just completely gone.
"That's a bit of a shame, but to be that close to a win I think is a great effort from the team. They have worked really hard to get these upgrades on the car here and this is the first time in the race where I felt really competitive and I could push a bit more."
At the time Verstappen told his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on the radio that staying out longer before his final pitstop was "not the right call", and in hindsight he hadn't changed his mind.
"I do think I had the degradation [advantage] over George, but I also knew it was going to be a very long stint to the end," he explained.
"I personally felt that during the laps I stayed out I probably lost a little bit too much compared to what I gained back from those extra laps on new tyres.
"But it's easy to say now. We still had a very good race to be honest. It's been a pretty long road to be here [on the podium] and have a real shot at it. That is already [positive]."
George Russell finally claimed his second victory of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign by winning the Austrian Grand Prix from pole ahead of Max Verstappen.
The Mercedes driver crossed the line 1.6 seconds clear of the Red Bull world champion with Russell’s team-mate and title rival Kimi Antonelli completing the podium.
This has given Russell his first win since the Melbourne opener after an underwhelming start to 2026, as Antonelli ha taken five victories during that time to claim the championship lead.
But the 19-year-old’s retirement in Barcelona last time out, which was won by Lewis Hamilton, gave Russell the perfect opportunity to claw back his deficit after finishing second in Spain.
The 28-year-old followed that up by snatching pole from Charles Leclerc at the Red Bull Ring after Verstappen’s late crash, with Hamilton and Antonelli behind on the second row.
All four started on the medium rubber and it was a frantic opening lap that saw Russell hold firm, Antonelli go wide at Turns 1 and 3, before Hamilton overtook Ferrari team-mate Leclerc at Turn 5.
That put the Monegasque immediately under pressure from Antonelli, who’d still managed to keep fourth, and the championship leader launched his attack at Turn 1 on the second lap.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Although he briefly got ahead, he went off in the process much like lap one, so was forced to hand third back heading into Turn 3 but this opened the door for fifth-placed Verstappen.
The Red Bull driver therefore wasted no time in making progress by overtaking Antonelli at Turn 5, before passing Leclerc the following corner, and subsequently closing in on Hamilton.
This set up an aggressive fight between the former title rivals with Verstappen lunging down the inside of Turn 3 on lap 11, before Hamilton fought back at Turn 5 and completed his move the following corner.
It put Verstappen onto the gravel at the exit, prompting complaints from the four-time world champion, before the fight resumed after the first pit window where drivers all kept position.
On this occasion, however, Verstappen finally took second from Hamilton by again going down the inside of the Turn 3 hairpin on lap 22, before the Ferrari driver reclaimed position at Turn 5.
But having learnt from the previous occasion where he was on the outside into Turn 6, this time Verstappen moved down the inside of that corner to finally end the wheel-to-wheel battle.
It was only three laps later that Hamilton made his second pitstop though, moving from hards to softs, after Carlos Sainz suddenly lost power and stopped next to the pit wall to cause a VSC.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Yet Hamilton’s rivals stayed out - though Antonelli pitted seconds before the VSC - and in clean air Verstappen began to close on leader Russell while drivers squabbled behind.
On lap 30, for example, Antonelli overtook Leclerc for third at Turn 5 before the Ferrari driver dropped into sixth behind Oscar Piastri and Hamilton just seven tours later.
By this point Ferrari had resigned to fighting in the mid-points positions, as the Mercedes pair and Verstappen had streaked clear come the second pit window.
It saw Russell stop for hards again on lap 44, just as Verstappen had got within two-seconds, but instead of instantly reacting, Red Bull opted to keep its Dutchman out for five extra tours.
That was ultimately the wrong decision though as Verstappen left the pitlane 10s behind Russell, who’d benefitted from fresher tyres during that window to all-but end hopes of Red Bull victory.
The Austrian outfit was therefore left ruing what could have been and despite the Dutchman closing the gap across the final stages, Russell had done enough to take victory.
But Antonelli wasn’t far behind Verstappen either, just 0.3s, after late pressure, while a further 19.823s off the podium was fourth-placed Piastri with Hamilton completing the top five.
This leaves Antonelli top of the championship on 171 points, 40 clear of second-placed Russell, who has now moved ahead of third-placed Hamilton with 125 points.
Mercedes weathers storm as Russell returns to form
Mercedes' rivals have thrown their proverbial kitchen sinks at the Silver Arrows in recent weeks with barrages of upgrades. But while Lewis Hamilton's pace towards the end of the Barcelona race may have been alarming, Mercedes swiftly re-established its lead in Spielberg to dampen hopes of a genuine title battle stretching beyond Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
That is especially good news for Russell, who found himself with his back against the wall following a string of bad luck combined with Antonelli's superior form. Antonelli's own misfortune in Spain brought the gap down to 50 points and Russell's faultless pole-to-flag win made another dent as he aims to get his title campaign back on the rails.
Given he had to lift for a yellow flag, Russell's pole lap on Saturday could have been a lot quicker still, likely stretching beyond four tenths on the very short Red Bull Ring. That's ominous news for Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull, who are going to need a lot more to challenge on a regular basis.
- Filip Cleeren
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Red Bull's upgrades delivered the desired step
For a couple of months it had been clear Red Bull was targeting a major step forward with a significant upgrade at its home race in Spielberg - not only to close the gap to Mercedes and Ferrari, but also to show its star driver it still has what it takes to fight for victories.
Team boss Laurent Mekies never suggested the package would eliminate the deficit to its rivals in one go, but he did expect it to bring Red Bull much closer. Featuring multiple aerodynamic revisions, the upgrade is also believed to have reduced the car's weight further, bringing it down to the minimum permitted by the regulations.
It's fair to say it delivered exactly what Red Bull had hoped for - if not more. Max Verstappen was in contention for pole before crashing in qualifying. Starting only fifth, he was still able to fight the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers and, whenever he had clean air, consistently lapped quicker than them during the race.
Victory was on the cards - and while it did not happen, Red Bull clearly achieved the goal of starting to close the gap. Verstappen is perhaps satisfied with the progress, too. To make him truly happy, though, Red Bull will need to take one more step.
- Oleg Karpov
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Ferrari's power unit upgrade wasn't enough
Barcelona wasn't the start of a new trend, after all. Ferrari hasn't suddenly become the team to beat in 2026, and Austria - despite similarly scorching temperatures - came as something of a cold shower for the Scuderia's supporters and perhaps even for the team itself, despite Fred Vasseur's efforts to manage expectations after Lewis Hamilton's victory in Spain.
Finishing behind both Mercedes drivers, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri was not the result Ferrari had hoped for in Spielberg - especially after introducing an upgraded power unit.
A strategic misstep with Hamilton didn't help, but Ferrari simply wasn't quick enough on Sunday to keep its fans dreaming of a title fight.
- Oleg Karpov
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren
Piastri limits damage but McLaren faces reality check in Austria
McLaren looked like the second best team during Friday's long runs, but the papaya squad flattered to deceive when it mattered, being the fourth quickest team in qualifying.
Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were also well off the pace during the first stint of the race, with it telling that Norris couldn't up his pace in clear air after Piastri had pitted.
As Ferrari ran into overheating issues and found out the hard way that the hard tyre was the one ideal compound to be on, its mid-race collapse somewhat let McLaren off the hook as Piastri, who drove a very strong race, claimed fourth.
But crucially, Red Bull appears to have leapfrogged McLaren on pure pace. With Ferrari bringing a huge upgrade package in Spain, and Red Bull transforming the RB22 in Austria, it is clear that McLaren will have to up the ante as well if it is to keep up with its rivals, never mind reclaim ground on the leading Mercedes. As team boss Andrea Stella said, the team will have to up the "intensity" of its development plan back at the factory.
- Filip Cleeren
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin's B-spec will have to be a real game changer
To the surprise of nobody, Aston Martin endured an especially difficult weekend at the Red Bull Ring.
On one of the shortest laps on the calendar, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were once again a long way off the pace, qualifying almost a second behind the slower of the two Cadillacs, a team that introduced a substantial upgrade package in Austria.
The race offered little encouragement either. Alonso was unable to match the pace of a struggling Alex Albon even after switching to a fresh set of soft tyres, while Stroll retired after running at the back throughout the race.
Aston Martin has made it clear that its focus is not on bringing small, incremental updates. Instead, the team is pinning its hopes on a major upgrade package scheduled to arrive at Spa in mid-July.
However, judging by the current performance of Adrian Newey's AMR26, further compromised by Honda's power unit, there is little doubt those upgrades will have to deliver an enormous step forward if its drivers are to challenge anyone other than each other.
The Boston Red Sox have won three straight games against the New York Yankees, and things are starting to look up for them.
The season has not gone as anyone had expected for the Red Sox, but they still have time to go on a miraculous run. They have talented players, but everything has not clicked at once. Injuries have played a role, as the Red Sox have been without Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony all season.
Crochet was one of the best pitchers in the league last season, and even though he has been out for a while, Ceddanne Rafaela thinks one of the Red Sox's offseason additions has filled his role nicely. Rafaela noted that Sonny Gray's start days are like Crochet's in the sense that the team is confident they will win.
“He’s been really, really good and I think he’s like when (Garrett) Crochet was last year out there — we feel we’re going to win that game,” Rafaela said to MassLive's Christopher Smith. “It feels like that.”
Gray has a 2.95 ERA in 14 starts this year. He has certainly pitched like an All-Star, and being compared to Crochet is no small feat. The Red Sox are 10-4 in his starts. Through 14 starts last year, Crochet had a 2.35 ERA and the team was 8-6 in his starts.
McLaren Formula 1 team boss Andrea Stella says the team needs to step up its development program if it is to catch Mercedes and keep up with the other top teams.
McLaren has been consistently behind the leading Mercedes cars this season and in recent races it saw both Ferrari and Red Bull make bigger swings with rafts of aerodynamic upgrades. McLaren didn't bring significant upgrades to this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri qualifying sixth and seventh respectively - four tenths behind polesitter George Russell over the Red Bull Ring's short lap.
Team principal Stella acknowledged McLaren is two to three months behind Mercedes regarding its aerodynamic development and has called on his team to step up the intensity of its upgrade programme to keep up with what he called the highest level he's ever seen in F1.
"We talk about three months of development that we need to catch up. There's only one way of doing so, which is to out-develop competitors," Stella acknowledged on Saturday night. "We need to rev our engine higher. We need to have more intensity in the business. We need to be good at delivering effective solutions.
"What I see in the pipeline is very promising, especially in terms of aerodynamic upgrades, but at the same time we need to land with these upgrades trackside as soon as possible.
"I think what we see in 2026 is Formula 1 operating at a level that has never been the case before. If we see the upgrades that Red Bull did, they are quite voluminous. So, the overall game in terms of pure performance development, but also performance delivery to track, is to a higher level than I've ever seen before. These are the conversations we are having internally, and we need to make sure that at McLaren we can, if possible, out-develop and out-deliver our competitors, and this will allow us to close the gap."
Lando Norris, McLaren
Lando Norris, McLaren
When quizzed specifically about where McLaren's MCL40 is lacking, he said the Spielberg weekend didn't uncover anything the Woking squad wasn't already aware of, further exposing its general lack of aerodynamic load and efficiency. Stella also suggested his team is still trying to figure out how to get the same performance out of its Mercedes power units as the works team.
"Our gap to Mercedes has always been between three and four tenths," Stella explained. "It comes in the corners predominantly, probably 70% in the corners and 30% in the straights.
"In the corners, it's very clear why that is the case, it's the fact that their car generates more downforce than our car, and this is something that we are working on. The 30% happening in the straights might have to do with some additional aerodynamic drag that we have on our car, but we are also looking at the way we exploit the power unit, because the speed deficit is quite significant.
"Certainly, the power unit is the first [factor], and we are looking into why we are somehow in a position of deficit, but also you have the drag of your car, the straight mode efficiency. There's probably one and a half tenths, one tenth at least that we lose in the straights, and definitely we need to go and look into why that is the case."
Ferrari exceeded expectations in qualifying after lagging significantly behind Mercedes in practice, but its drivers benefitted from setting their lap before Max Verstappen’s late crash.
That forced provisional polesitter Antonelli to abort his final lap, while Russell managed to just sneak his in, so the Scuderia is aware that it still holds a pace deficit to the Silver Arrows.
It is for said reason that Hamilton is hoping to team up with Leclerc to topple Russell, with a two-stop strategy on medium and hard rubber looking optimal for Sunday’s hot race.
The seven-time world champion said: “This weekend we’ve not been confident that we could fight for a win. These guys have been six tenths quicker than us most of the weekend.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
“We closed the gap overnight, but we still are three tenths down, or two-and-a-bit tenths down, today. It’s going to be very tough to challenge them tomorrow, but with a long run down to Turn 3, hopefully together we can.
“It’s great having Charles here as well, because we can hopefully work together in a strategy and try to apply pressure to them.”
So Hamilton is aware that the high-speed Austrian track will suit Mercedes more with its superior engine, making a repeat of his Barcelona win last time out quite unlikely.
But Russell knows that if his former Mercedes team-mate and Leclerc do work together, he’ll have a tough job of securing his second win of the campaign - particularly with championship leader Antonelli also on the second row.
“These guys are super-fast and it’s going to be a challenge having the two of them nearby,” said Russell. “We saw Lewis in Barcelona, how great his pace was.
“I think it will be challenging for them to overtake us in the straights because we’ve got the straight-line advantage, but they’ve got the advantage in the corners.
“And if they’re splitting the strategy or putting us under pressure, it may be difficult to hold on to. And, of course, Kimi is going to be super-fast.”
George Russell starts Sunday’s Austrian grand prix from pole after a chaotic qualifying finish at the Red Bull Ring.
The Mercedes driver avoided an investigation after completing his fastest lap under yellow flags following Max Verstappen's crash, while Charles Leclerc secured second ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli starts fourth after losing his chance to improve when the session was disrupted.
With hot, dry weather expected and the FIA’s Heat Hazard still in effect, tyre life, cooling and driver management could all play a role in the race - that is if the field manages to make it cleanly through an often chaotic first lap in Spielberg.
In the United States, Apple TV is broadcasting the entire Austrian GP weekend free for viewers in the US as a one-race promotion.
Apple TV is the primary broadcast partner for the 2026 season, with all sessions available on the platform following a multi-year deal. F1 TV remains the series’ global subscription streaming service.
Broadcast coverage of Formula 1 varies by region. For viewers in the United Kingdom, Sky Sports continues as the championship’s exclusive broadcaster, showing every session live throughout the 2026 season. F1 coverage can also be streamed via Sky Go or NOW, with highlights available free-to-air on Channel 4.
Sunday, June 28 — 2026 Austrian Grand Prix — 3:00pm CEST
For UK viewers:
Sunday, June 28 — 2026 Austrian Grand Prix — 2:00pm BST
For US Eastern Time viewers:
Sunday, June 28 — 2026 Austrian Grand Prix — 9:00am ET
F1 Austrian GP full weekend schedule
All times local to Austria:
Friday, June 26 — free practice 1 — 1:30pm CEST
Friday, June 26 — free practice 2 — 5:00pm CEST
Saturday, June 27 — free practice 3 — 12:30pm CEST
Saturday, June 27 — qualifying — 4:00pm CEST
Sunday, June 28 — 2026 Austrian Grand Prix — 3:00pm CEST
Austrian GP Sunday weather forecast
George Russell, Mercedes
George Russell, Mercedes
Sunday is expected to stay hot, sunny and dry at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian grand prix.
With the FIA’s Heat Hazard still in effect, cooling and tyre life will be key concerns for teams across the race. The high temperatures could also make the grand prix more physically demanding for drivers, especially if they spend long periods in traffic.
Rain is not expected to play a major role, so the main weather factor should be heat rather than disruption.
* Circuit: Red Bull Ring * Location: Austria * Event: Austrian GP * Circuit type: permanent road course * Friday sessions: free practice 1 and free practice 2 * Saturday sessions: free practice 3 and grand prix qualifying * Race: Sunday, June 28 * The Red Bull Ring is a short, fast Formula 1 lap, with long straights, heavy braking zones and a final sector where traffic and track limits can quickly become important.
Jan 1, 2026; New Orleans, LA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart reacts after a play against the Mississippi Rebels in the third quarter during the 2025 Sugar Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Georgia Bulldogs are still in a decent position in terms of their recruiting, even after losing out on Sean Fox.
The Georgia Bulldogs lost out on one of the top linebackers in the 2026 recruiting class when four-star linebacker Sean Fox committed to Kentucky over Georgia, Clemson, and Notre Dame.
The 6’5″, 225-pound Fox, a top-150 player on 247Sports and the No. 10 linebacker in the class, picked the Wildcats in a decision that stings for a Georgia program that needed his size and athleticism. Fox holds a 90.37 composite rating on Rivals Industry and ranks as the No. 2 player in the state of Indiana, where he plays at Warren Central.
BREAKING: Four-Star LB Sean Fox has Committed to Kentucky, he tells me for @Rivals
The 6'5 225 LB chose the Wildcats over Clemson and Georgia
Fox chose Kentucky, a school relatively close to his home compared to the other finalists. Clemson and Georgia finished second and third, with Notre Dame fourth and Kansas fifth. He took two visits to each of Kentucky, Clemson, and Georgia, meaning the Wildcats clearly nailed their pitch on the same number of opportunities the Bulldogs had.
Kentucky lands a program-changing defender
For Kentucky, this is a significant recruiting win. The Wildcats currently hold the 22nd-ranked class nationally and the ninth-best class in the SEC. Fox becomes their fourth-highest-rated commit and the best defensive player in the class. They already had linebacker Drew Williams and Ty Ashley committed, so adding Fox gives them serious depth at the position.
Whether Kentucky won this recruitment on fit, proximity, or NIL, the result is the same. That’s how recruiting works now.
Georgia feels the sting despite a solid class
The Bulldogs have Joakim Gouda committed at linebacker, so this isn’t a devastating loss. Georgia also has Temorris Campbell Jr. in the fold. But the program still needed one more linebacker, and Fox’s combination of length and athleticism had Georgia written all over him.
Georgia’s 2026 class sits at No. 14 nationally and No. 7 in the SEC with 17 commits. The Bulldogs have two five-stars and six four-stars, and 47% of their class comes from in-state recruits. Those are solid numbers. But landing Fox would have pushed the class further up the rankings and filled a clear need on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bulldogs weren’t able to close the deal here, and that’s going to leave a mark when you consider the caliber of player they missed. Georgia still has time to address the linebacker position, but opportunities to add a top-150 talent don’t come around every day.
Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton ended up second and third in Formula 1 Austrian GP qualifying, beaten only by George Russell, who set the fastest lap of the session at the very end despite passing through a yellow flag zone following Max Verstappen's crash.
Leclerc and Hamilton completed their final laps just before the Dutchman lost control of his Red Bull and hit the barriers at Turn 9 in the closing moments of qualifying. Had race control immediately deployed double yellow flags instead of single yellows, Ferrari could well have secured a front-row lockout.
Both Mercedes drivers were still on flying laps when they reached Turn 9 under single yellow conditions. While Kimi Antonelli aborted his lap, Russell only lifted before the braking zone, then resumed pushing after Turn 9 to complete his lap and secure pole position.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur believes it risks encouraging drivers to keep pushing in similar situations.
“First, I'm a bit surprised that they didn't put double yellow,” he told Sky Germany. “When you deploy the medical car, you can imagine that you need to have the double yellow… but it's another story.
“And George did a fantastic lap and nothing to do with the performance of George. And then there is a rule that you have to slow down by 5% in the mini sector and we don't have access to the data. I think that race control did it.”
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing crash
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing crash
Vasseur stressed he has no issue with Russell's lap itself and trusts the FIA correctly judged that the Mercedes driver had complied with the yellow flag regulations.
“I trust them. If you are not able to trust the race control, it's a disaster,” he said. “If they took the decision of no further action, it's because they checked. The point is for me that I don't understand why we don't have a double yellow in this case.”
He believes the bigger issue is the message the incident sends to the rest of the field.
“I think the negative side of this is that next quali, if you have a crash, everybody will push,” he said.
Stella: Rules are working as intended
The rule automatically deleting qualifying lap times set under double yellow flags became part of Formula 1's sporting regulations in 2022. It followed several controversial incidents in which drivers kept their lap times despite passing through double yellow zones after the stewards judged they had slowed sufficiently. During 2021, under then race director Michael Masi, the FIA first introduced the automatic lap deletion through the event notes before making it a permanent regulation the following season.
Under single yellow flags, however, drivers may still keep their lap times provided they reduce speed sufficiently.
“I think because there is an option to go for double yellow flag, it's useful to retain the distinction between what you are allowed to do on a single yellow flag,” McLaren boss Andrea Stella said.
George Russell, Mercedes
George Russell, Mercedes
“The double [yellow] itself and the deletion of the lap is a relatively recent change, and I think this [rule] is very welcome. Definitely any driver will have to be absolutely disincentivised to push in a section with a double yellow flag, but if there's a distinction between double and [single] yellow, eventually the stewards will have, or the marshals will have retained, or the race director will have deemed that this only requires the single yellow flag, therefore this is left to the judgement of the driver. And if the driver pushes too much, it will be penalised.
“So, I personally think that we are in a good situation from this point of view.”
Stella also believes Russell judged the situation perfectly from his side.
“For what I saw from the GPS overlays, I think Russell has done a good job of executing a lift,” he said. “I can only see that the speed reduces before braking, losing a little bit of time through corner 9, at the same time losing little enough to actually be in pole position.
“This, I think, is subject to the interpretation of the stewards as to the fact that this action complies with the requirements of a yellow flag, but there is action. And I think we have to recognise that while drivers are incredibly able and good in executing the standard driving, sometimes they are also good at executing some manoeuvres that may be required in yellow flag, may give you justification and a rationale that the stewards can interpret like they did.
“So I think it was a kind of a case on the edge, but no particular concern with the fact that this has been accepted by the stewards.”
The Boston Red Sox have been recipients of outstanding pitching on all three nights of the series against the New York Yankees.
On Saturday night, it was Triple-A call-up Jake Bennett, who was pitching in just his fourth game since replacing Brayan Bello, who put together a career night.
Bennett carried a Red Sox no-hitter into the fifth inning for the second night in a row. It wasn't until Max Schuemann squared up a first-pitch fastball and deposited it into the batter's eye in straight-away center field that the slumping Yankees were able to record their first and only run of the night with two outs in the fifth inning.
The home run was the only hit Bennett allowed in the first six full innings of his start.
Interim manager Chad Tracy made the decision to send Bennett out in the seventh. He allowed a weak infield single to the first batter before giving Cody Bellinger a pitch to hit as well. He struck out Jasson Dominguez in what would be the last at-bat of his outing.
Bennett's final line read: 6.1 innings pitched, three hits, one earned run, three strikeouts and two walks.
More impressively, Tim Healey of the Boston Globe reported after the game that Saturday was the first time in Bennett's pro career, Majors or minors, that the rookie had pitched into the seventh inning of a start.
Bennett's ERA was lowered to a respectable 3.27 on the season as the Red Sox pulled off a third consecutive victory over the first-place Yankees.
Unfortunately for Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran, it has become a trend during his career for lame fans to hurl insults his way from the safety of the stands.
On Saturday, Duran and interim manager Chad Tracy teamed up with a Fenway Park security guard to get an unruly fan removed during the eighth inning of Boston's third-straight win over the New York Yankees.
Tracy confirmed that the fan had been removed for "chirping for a few innings and chirping toward Jarren again."
However, Duran had no part in discussing the incident when reporters asked him about it after the game. Greg Dudek of the Boston Herald chronicled Duran's testy response.
Reporter: "Jarren, obviously, there was that exchange with the fan."
Duran: “Nothing happened.”
Reporter: “Tracy was saying…”
Duran: “Nothing happened.”
Reporter: “You guys were…”
Duran: “Nothing happened.”
Reporter (continuing previous question): “Frustrated over something chirping-wise?”
Duran: “Nope. Nothing happened”
Duran has famously had a few interactions with fans in the past that undoubtedly play a part in the rambunctious spectators targeting the 29-year-old when they feel like getting kicked out of a game.
Duran is still the everyday starter in left field, but his June hitting slump came to a head Saturday against the Yankees when he went 0-4 after registering a hit in each of the first two games of the series.
Duran is now 13-88 in June, with 30 strikeouts and only three extra base hits.
Compare this to May, when Duran caught fire and batted .261 on the month, ending with at least one hit in 12 of the final 14 games.
The Boston Red Sox became winners of three straight on Saturday afternoon during a rare 1:00 PM first pitch at Fenway Park against the New York Yankees.
But it wasn't all smiles during the Red Sox's trouncing of their rivals. Reports emerged late in the game claiming that interim manager Chad Tracy was forced to involve security to remove a few fans sitting near the Red Sox dugout.
"Just some people who were chirping, had been chirping for a few innings, and started chirping toward Jarren again," Tracy said. "We grabbed him, and we got him down (into the dugout) and told them, 'Can you get him (the fan) out?'"
Tracy's request resulted in a single fan being removed just before the start of the ninth inning.
The chirps came after Duran grounded out in the bottom of the eighth inning to fall to 0-4 on the day at the plate.
Tracy declined to expand on what the fan said.
"I don’t want to get into the details, just enough for us to say, 'Can you please get him out?'" Tracy said.
Toto Wolff has attempted to pour cold water on the Formula 1 driver market rumours, firmly stating that Mercedes has no desire to alter its current pairing of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. However, F1 fans have been left divided over the Mercedes chief's comments.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 ahead of qualifying in Austria, Wolff was strong in his support for his current drivers. "We don’t want to change things. We’ve said that also to George, I think it’s a line-up that is good for us. I’m very happy with the two of them," Wolff said.
Wolff's comments became the subject of debate on social media. For a large portion of fans, Wolff's reluctance to dip into the driver market, which could include four-time champion Max Verstappen, makes perfect sense.
"Makes sense, ideal scenario for Toto is Kimi dominates and George hangs around. He won’t fancy another 2016, and Max is a very expensive way to relive those years," one fan wrote on Reddit, while someone else posted: "He's got a good first and second driver, no need to change things up."
Someone else wrote: "Yes, no s***. They are both very good drivers and have been a part of Mercedes for yonks. I don’t want Kimi to leave, and I don’t want George to leave. Wish people would rein it in a bit tbh."
George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
But others argued that while Wolff has dismissed the rumours for now, he has not completely closed the door to a driver change.
"'We have no plans to change' isn’t the same as 'we won’t make a change'. I’m sure they are not actively planning on replacing Russell, but if unplanned things happen, they still will," one fan commented, while another added: "'We don't want to change things, but we will if a driver becomes available.'"
Others echoed these opinions. "They don’t want to change things, but they will if both drivers don’t perform," another fan commented. Someone else posted: "Translation: As long as Max is not available, we don't want to replace George."
Max Verstappen believes his crash in one of the fastest sections at the Red Bull Ring should have triggered double yellow flags earlier, with the FIA explaining that the standard procedure was followed.
Verstappen lost control of his RB22 on the entry to Turn 9 after already experiencing a significant snap three corners earlier.
The rear of the Red Bull stepped out immediately on turn-in for Turn 9, resulting in a sizeable impact. Speaking in the media pen, Verstappen said he was physically fine, although he added with a smile: “Well, as good as it can be.”
Aside from Verstappen’s own result, the crash also had consequences for the closing stages of qualifying.
The Dutchman believes he would otherwise have finished third behind both Mercedes drivers, although Andrea Kimi Antonelli abandoned his flying lap following Verstappen’s crash.
The championship leader described that in the media pen as “a mistake”, as he had expected to pass double yellow flags. Verstappen, however, believes that should indeed have been the case.
Asked what he thought of initially just a single yellow flag being shown after a crash in one of the fastest sections of the circuit, the four-time world champion replied: “I only heard about that now. That's quite crazy.”
The FIA has explained that the standard procedure was followed and at the moment the marshals saw Verstappen lose control while he was still on the track, a single yellow flag was immediately displayed.
Race control then takes some time to assess the situation and the level of danger – once the car has actually hit the barrier – to determine whether the situation needs to be upgraded to double yellows or a red flag.
According to the FIA, that also happened in this case, some 15 to 20 seconds after the first yellow flag was shown. During that intervening period, Russell and Antonelli passed the scene of the accident, meaning that at that point it was still only a single yellow flag.
Russell did not see Verstappen’s car: “Thought he had continued”
Russell unsurprisingly viewed the situation differently from Verstappen. After qualifying, the polesitter said he had not even seen the Red Bull and therefore assumed Verstappen had been able to continue.
“It’s a corner where you can see quite a lot. I just did a huge lift and I was going to assess the situation as soon as I got to the corner, if the car was there. But as it was a single yellow, I was pretty confident there was no danger,” he said.
“And as soon as I turned into the corner, I already saw the green up ahead. I actually thought the car had continued because I didn't see the car at all. It was so far off the track.
George Russell, Mercedes
George Russell, Mercedes
“It was only when I saw the replay afterwards, I saw that it was well off into the wall. I was glad common sense prevailed there.”
Under the regulations for a single yellow flag, Russell acted correctly. In such a situation, a driver has to make a significant lift – something that needs to be demonstrated in the data compared to previous laps – and must be prepared to change direction.
Under double yellows, Russell would not have been allowed to improve his lap time at all and that lap would have been deleted immediately. According to Russell, however, there was no reason for that.
“I think in that instance, a single yellow was correct. Because as I said, a double yellow is immediate danger,” he reasoned.
“The only reason Verstappen was in the wall that far away is because he was attacking and lost the car. I think the single yellow was correct.
“I think I did everything right to be very much under control. And it's a very different story to a double.”
The Boston Red Sox (34-46) can clinch their four-game series with the New York Yankees (48-33) at Fenway Park on Saturday after winning the first two matchups, including a dominant pitching performance on Friday night.
Jun 25, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Paul Goldschmidt (48) grounds out to drive in a run against the Boston Red Sox in the seventh inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Payton Tolle didn’t allow a baserunner until the sixth inning and allowed just one hit in seven scoreless innings to lead Boston to a 6-1 victory over the Yankees on Friday night. Willson Contreras hit a ball over the Green Monster and out of Fenway Park in the third inning as the Red Sox built an early 4-0 lead, and backup catcher Connor Wong drove in two runs. Tolle threw 88 pitches, 61 for strikes, and struck out seven.
The Yankees mustered just three hits, getting their lone run in the eighth inning when Austin Wells grounded out to chase Anthony Volpe home from third base. Will Warren struggled through 5.2 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits while walking three, and didn’t record a strikeout.
Left-hander Jake Bennett (1-3) gets the start for the Red Sox on Saturday. In five starts and 26.2 innings, Bennett owns a 3.71 ERA and 1.125 WHIP and comes off six scoreless innings against the Colorado Rockies on Monday in Denver. New York gives the ball to veteran Gerrit Cole (2-2), who comes in with a 3.62 ERA and 1.175 WHIP in six starts and 32.1 innings.
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Max Verstappen walked away from a Q3 shunt at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday uninjured but with questions his team can’t yet answer. A car that had behaved itself all weekend suddenly bit him twice on the same flying lap – and the four-time world champion wants to know why.
Speaking to Sky Sports after qualifying, Verstappen described the sequence that ended his session. “In that lap, on Turn 6, there was a big moment on entry. It is a bit weird as I have not had something like that all weekend.”
That was the warning. He didn’t heed it in time. “Then, in Turn 9, it was immediately gone. Not a small correction but full-lock off. That is a bit odd, so we will have a look.”
The RB22 found the barriers at Turn 9 in front of Red Bull’s home crowd, scattering gravel and bringing out double yellows through the final sector. The chaos that followed – George Russell completing a pole lap under those conditions, stewards initially noting a yellow flag infringement before clearing him entirely – somewhat overshadowed Verstappen’s situation. His earlier Q3 effort had clocked a 1m06.475s, placing him third at that stage of the session. Ultimately, the accident left him fifth on the grid, with Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Kimi Antonelli all ahead of him.
Fifth at a track where Verstappen had taken pole four years running, from 2021 through 2024, stings. He admitted the opportunity that slipped away. “It’s a shame as realistically we could have been P3. But getting off the line is hard for us so even P3 we might drop to P5.”
The qualifying session had already been trickier than it needed to be. In Q2, Red Bull left Verstappen in the garage deep into the session, calculating that his 1m07.183s would hold up – a decision partly driven by a desire to keep a fresh set of softs for Q3. The gamble nearly failed; he slid from seventh down to tenth before scraping through as cars around him couldn’t improve enough to bump him out.
On Sunday, the team will be working through what went wrong mechanically.
“There are still some things we want to understand from the package, some that worked well and some not so well, and work from there.”
Former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has backed moves by FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali for the series to shift to bigger engines amid talks of a V8 switch by 2030 or 2031.
As previously stated by Ben Sulayem, F1's governing body the FIA is very keen to switch to bigger, louder and cheaper engines for the series' next rules cycle, which is set to arrive in 2031 but could be brought forward if agreed upon by F1's manufacturers.
The advent of sustainable fuels, combined with a shift of the automotive industry's stance on EVs, has made a return to high-cylinder, high-revving engines a more appealing proposition, with it hoped that V8 engines with a simpler hybrid component would also bring costs down.
Speaking to select media at the Austrian Grand Prix, including Motorsport.com, former F1 supremo Ecclestone said returning to bigger engines is "the right thing to do".
"There's one of the two things which I hope [Ben Sulayem] is going to do in the future," said Ecclestone. "A three-litre engine. I don't care if it's a V8 or a V10 or a V12. I think probably all of you would be happy with that. I think it's the right thing to do."
Max Verstappen has been a vocal critic of the F1 2026 power unit regulations.
Max Verstappen has been a vocal critic of the F1 2026 power unit regulations.
Ecclestone, who left the championship a decade ago as Liberty Media acquired the series, said four-time world champion Max Verstappen was right to be a vocal critic of the current, extremely complex power unit regulations, which are being gradually adjusted over the next two seasons amid driver pushback.
Verstappen frequently indicated his F1 future would depend on whether or not the current crop of cars will become more exciting and pure to drive, and move away from the overbearing emphasis on energy management. Following smaller tweaks in May, F1 will increase the ratio between combustion power and electric energy to 58/42 for next year.
When asked by Motorsport.com if F1 should be afraid of losing Verstappen, Ecclestone replied: "I mean, he was right criticising. I think the regulations weren't necessary to do what has been done. And that's what Max was complaining about."
Now, Ecclestone believes there will be enough support from F1's manufacturers to push the changes through.
"[Ben Sulayem] would like it if all the teams put their hands up and said it's fantastic, which I'm sure they would do if they weren't controlled by a manufacturer," Ecclestone said. "And I think the manufacturers will come on board, because it's obvious."
Paul Monaghan is set to leave Red Bull to join the Cadillac Formula 1 team, with the move effectively finalised, but no formal resignation has been submitted to the Milton Keynes team, Motorsport.com can reveal.
Monaghan, chief engineer of car engineering at Red Bull, is one of the team's longest-serving and most respected members. Having joined the team in 2005, he was one of the less visible but most influential architects of the team's success during the Christian Horner era.
In recent weeks, speculation had emerged about a possible departure, with the rumours intensifying on the eve of the Austrian Grand Prix.
Those reports were effectively confirmed at Spielberg, where it became clear that Cadillac is Monaghan's next destination, ruling out speculation that had linked him to other teams in recent weeks.
However, one final procedural step remains. This weekend, Monaghan is carrying out his duties as usual in the Red Bull garage, carrying out business as usual, with Red Bull yet to be served his resignation officially.
For Red Bull, Monaghan's departure would represent yet another loss of a key figure, further evidence of the personnel exodus that began following the departures of Christian Horner and Adrian Newey.
Paul Monaghan, Chief Engineer, Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, talk in Parc Ferme
Paul Monaghan, Chief Engineer, Red Bull Racing, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, talk in Parc Ferme
A major restructuring of the team's technical organisation is currently under way in Milton Keynes, but losing Monaghan would be another significant setback for a team working to rebuild its internal structure and stability.
The continuing trend remains a source of concern for Max Verstappen amid focus on his future at the team.
Cadillac, meanwhile, has built much of its organisation by recruiting extensively from the UK-based F1 teams. In addition to Monaghan, the new American outfit has hired personnel from Red Bull and several other paddock operations, particularly among mechanics and trackside staff.
Replacing someone with Monaghan's experience will be no easy task. His F1 career began at McLaren in 1990, shortly after completing a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering. He started at the highest level, working as a data engineer with Ayrton Senna, Gerhard Berger and David Coulthard.
In 2000, he left McLaren to join Benetton, where he worked with a young Fernando Alonso during the Spaniard's early years in F1. After a spell at Jordan, he joined the newly formed Red Bull F1 team in 2005, going on to become one of the team's technical cornerstones and playing a key role in the success that ultimately delivered 14 F1 world championships.
Back in Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton secured one of the most defining victories of his late-stage career, finally shattering his winless drought and putting a Ferrari on the top step of the podium. Given the immense pressure, the massive media scrutiny, and the grueling physical challenges he has faced since moving to Maranello, you would naturally expect the seven-time World Champion to throw the party of the century.
Instead, his celebration was entirely digital, deeply personal, and incredibly quiet.
A Thousand Times Bigger Than a Normal Win
Speaking in an interview with Super Sport TV, Hamilton revealed that the traditional post-race extravaganzas were completely put on hold. Rather than popping champagne at a crowded club, he spent the aftermath of his triumph absorbing the raw, unfiltered emotion of his global fanbase.
“Everyone’s come up to me like this past week, you know, ‘how did you celebrate?’ And I’m like, I didn’t celebrate,” Hamilton explained. “My celebration was reposting everybody’s videos. And then I saw these videos of kids, and so many of my fans just watching the race and how it meant to them.”
May 24, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CANADA; Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton (44) during the Lenovo Grand Prix Du Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
For a driver who has stood on the top step of the podium over a hundred times, finding new ways to appreciate a victory can be difficult. But connecting with his supporters elevated this specific milestone into something entirely unprecedented.
“And that, for me, made that day a thousand times bigger than it would have been if it was just a normal, normal win,” he continued. “Because I know that they’re my ride or dies.”
Hamilton: From a Lonely Start to a Global Community
Formula 1 is inherently a solitary sport once the visor drops, but Hamilton has spent the last decade aggressively cultivating a community that transcends the race track. Looking back at his early days in motorsport, the sheer scale of his current support system still catches him completely off guard.
“I’ve always said we win and we lose together because it’s far bigger than just me in the car. I’ve got my whole team. I’ve got people that travel around the world,” Hamilton noted. “And I remember when I was a kid before, even, you know, when I first started racing and I never, ever thought that I would have anyone but my, my mom supporting me, you know?”
Barcelona – Catalunya Grand Prix, Saturday, Getty Images BARCELONA, SPAIN – JUNE 13: Pole position qualifier George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Second placed qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari and Third placed qualifier Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy and Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team look oon during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on June 13, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)
The contrast between that lonely kid in a go-kart and the global icon he is today remains a major source of reflection for the British driver, especially when considering the emotional struggles his fans navigate in their daily lives.
“So over the years, as you start to see people decide to choose and come on the journey with you, and you see that grow and grow, and you have a community, everyone in life is going through something and battling, and we all support each other. You know, it’s really, it’s really the most amazing thing.”
The Power of the “Red Top”
Moving to Ferrari brings a completely different weight of expectation, but it also brings the unparalleled devotion of the Tifosi.
Validating that monumental career move wasn’t just about cementing his own legacy; it was about connecting with a completely new generation of fans and sharing that overwhelming support with his own family.
“I think my parents can’t believe the support and love that, that we get. My mom’s so proud and grateful to everybody,” Hamilton shared. “And I think for me to see the young kids, particularly, be excited and wearing the, wearing the red top as well, you know, it’s really, really, really amazing moment.”
On one side lies the racetrack, on the other the automotive world. The engine set to power Formula 1 cars from 2031 will have to find a balance between these two aspects. Some are calling for a power unit conceived purely for racing and entertainment, while others are investing hundreds of millions of euros in technologies that must retain, even minimally, a connection to mass‑production road cars.
On one side stands FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, determined to steer Formula 1 back toward an engine philosophy built primarily around the needs of motorsport: a naturally aspirated V8 with a small KERS. On the other side stand those who design and build the engines, the six manufacturers shaping the future of the category: Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi, Red Bull-Ford Powertrains, Honda and Cadillac.
Even among the manufacturers, however, positions are far from aligned. Ferrari, Cadillac and Red Bull are keeping an open mind, without dismissing the FIA’s vision. Mercedes and Audi are leaning more toward having a turbocharged unit, an understandable position for two automotive giants aiming to develop a product that is technologically more efficient and less detached from road‑car applications. The issue is that the presence of a turbocharger would inevitably reduce engine noise, which is considered a priority to restore by Ben Sulayem.
Even on this topic, there are question marks. Today, about 50% of Formula 1’s audience is under 35, a generation that has never witnessed a live grand prix with engines capable of screaming close to 19,000 rpm and producing a sound level vastly different from what we hear today.
Very few F1 fans today have actually witnessed a V8-powered race live
Very few F1 fans today have actually witnessed a V8-powered race live
“It’s one thing to watch a road show with a single naturally aspirated car running alone for 10 minutes,” an engineer explained in the Austrian paddock. “But it’s something else entirely to have 22 cars on track for a two‑hour race. Are we really sure this is what the audience will want in 2030?”
While the debate over noise remains wide open, there seem to be far fewer doubts regarding the inclusion of KERS – a kinetic energy recovery system. Its power output is expected to settle between 10-20% of what the internal combustion engine delivers, since nobody wants to risk repeating the lift‑and‑coast scenarios that defined 2026. That trauma left a mark. Even the turbocharger, should it be confirmed, will have to play a limited role.
Formula 1 hasn't featured in-race refuelling since 2009
Formula 1 hasn't featured in-race refuelling since 2009
The controversial plan: Bring back in‑race refuelling
One of the goals the FIA has set for the new engine project is a significant reduction in car weight. The target is to return to around 700kg, and possibly even drop below that threshold. Simplifying the power unit would move precisely in this direction: much more compact batteries and a scaled‑back hybrid component would allow the cars to become lighter and, at the same time, smaller in overall size.
With this in mind, a proposal that once seemed permanently shelved has resurfaced: the return of in‑race refuelling. On paper, the advantages would be significant. With smaller fuel tanks, the cars could be more compact, and the amount of fuel loaded at the start of a grand prix would be less than half of what it is today. The result would be a weight reduction of more than 50kg when the lights go out.
On this front, however, the path forward appears far more complex. The issue is not so much the safety concerns that led to the ban on refuelling at the end of 2009, since today’s technologies would allow for much higher standards. Rather, the main obstacle lies in the philosophy Formula 1 has embraced in recent years, increasingly focused on reducing the amount of equipment transported to each circuit.
In 2023, Formula 1 decided to reduce the number of tyre sets available during a weekend from 13 to 11 as part of a broader sustainability initiative. Reintroducing all the equipment required for refuelling, with a logistical impact certainly greater than that of the two eliminated tire sets, would amount to a U‑turn that is difficult to justify.
It is also for this reason that the battle over the 2031 engine has only just begun. Reducing weight, costs and complexity is a goal shared by all. The path to achieving it, however, is far less agreed upon.
Ahead of this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali hosted the grid for the annual drivers' dinner on Thursday evening.
The dinner has become a regular part of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, and all 22 drivers were in attendance along with Domenicali the evening before the on-track action began on Friday.
Domenicali sat at the head of the table. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and his former team-mate George Russell sat on one side of the F1 CEO, while Williams' Carlos Sainz and four-time champion Max Verstappen sat on the other side.
Fans were quick to react after the official group photograph was shared on social media, with many picking apart the seating arrangements and driver dynamics.
"Yay, time to overanalyse the seating positions!" one fan commented on Reddit, while another added, referring to Australian driver Oscar Piastri and Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, who has been branded an honorary Australian: "Aussies sitting next to each other!"
Someone else posted along the same lines: "Oscar and Valtteri next to each other makes me really happy because they seem like they would get along. With them being two chill Aussies and everything."
McLaren's Lando Norris drew a lot of attention from fans, with many arguing that he appeared disengaged in the photo. "It’s all too much for little Lando Norris," one commented, and someone else posted: "Lando looks asleep haha."
Further reactions included: "Lewis took the seat closest to Stefano just so George wouldn’t get it," and "One advantage of supporting a Ferrari driver is how easy it is to spot them in a crowded photo."
The dinner came ahead of the first day of practice at the Red Bull Ring. Kimi Antonelli topped the timesheets in FP1 and FP2. Russell went second fastest in FP1, while McLaren's Piastri put in the second-fastest time in FP2.
The Muay Thai and kickboxing action delivered from top to bottom at ONE Fight Night 44: Jarvis vs. Rungrawee II, which aired live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok’s historic Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, June 26.
A young Colombian scored the biggest win of his career, a British debutant made the entrance he had been waiting years for, a Fairtex standout displayed a more dangerous version of himself, and a Thai veteran ended a difficult run with a hard-fought decision.
Here’s what went down in the early Muay Thai and kickboxing matches at ONE Fight Night 44: Jarvis vs. Rungrawee II.
Estupinan Overwhelms Guluzada To Score Biggest Win Of Career
Johan “Panda Kick” Estupinan put on his most complete performance yet, outworking Akif Guluzada by unanimous decision in their flyweight kickboxing clash to snap the Azerbaijani’s five-bout winning streak and get himself back in the winner’s circle after two straight losses.
Estupinan, who made his ONE Championship kickboxing debut, was the aggressor in the first, as he flicked out left kicks to keep his opponent off-guard. Guluzada turned up the heat midway through the stanza and began landing unorthodox kick-punch combinations, but the 23-year-old Colombian wrestled back control.
With his braids flopping behind him, “Panda Kick” bounded into range in the second like the wild man the fans have come to expect, blasting Guluzada with punches and then mixing in kicks to the torso and legs. The Azerbaijani failed to answer with anything that registered on the scorecards.
Estupinan continued the onslaught in the third, upping his output with even more kicks and punches. He even launched himself into spinning kicks. Guluzada played the counter game, but he threw too little, too far between to turn the tide.
The judges gave the decision victory to the Colombian firecracker, who moved his record to 28-2.
Guest Announces ONE Arrival With Three-Knockdown Finish
In a battle of two highly technical clinch fighters, both men stayed as close as twin brothers in the first round. They drilled each other with knees and elbows, and whenever they separated from the clinch, they traded punishing body shots. Fitzgerald began to edge ahead late in the round, stinging his opponent with a hook to the midsection.
Guest came out with a different energy in the second frame, exploding into a barrage of punches that forced the New Zealander to cover up behind a defensive shell. Two ripping body shots forced Fitzgerald’s hands down, and the Brit went upstairs with a right hand to score the first knockdown of the match.
Fitzgerald answered the referee’s eight-count, returned to his feet, and fired back with elbows, but Guest stayed in the pocket and cracked him with an overhand right to put him down again.
The New Zealander showed tremendous heart by rising once more, but the Brit cornered him. Then, he unleashed punches and elbows to the head and body until Fitzgerald dropped to the ground for the last time. The referee instantly waved off the action, stopping the contest at the 2:08 mark of round two.
After years of trying to break into the world’s largest martial arts organization, the 30-year-old Englishman arrived in dominant fashion. The TKO victory pushed his record to 38-15.
Nakrob Breaks Skid With Hard-Fought Decision Victory
Nakrob Fairtex ended a turbulent 12-month stretch, as he battled his way to a unanimous decision victory over former ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title challenger Jacob Smith in their bantamweight Muay Thai clash.
Smith came out confident in the first, matching the Thai punch for punch. A jab from Nakrob sent the 33-year-old Brit stumbling backward, though the referee waved it off without ruling it a knockdown.
The clinch became Nakrob’s home in the second frame. The Fairtex Training Center representative hung off Smith’s neck and drove knees into his midsection, and the Englishman looked increasingly lost as he tried to punch his way free. On the outside, the Thai stunned him with punches and right kicks before swimming back into the clinch, where an elbow opened a cut on Smith’s hairline.
After a brief pause for an eye poke from Smith early in round three, Nakrob locked up his opponent inside the clinch like a ram, dancing in place before sending knees into his ribs. Both fighters then engaged in a war of elbows, with Smith giving as good as he got and damaging the Thai in return. Wearing the wounds like badges of honor, both men rallied until the final bell.
The verdict was clear, as the 27-year-old Thai swept the judges’ scorecards. With the hard-earned win, Nakrob lifted his record to 70-25.
Ferrari Dominates With Revamped Arsenal, Returns To Win Column
Ferrari Fairtex made a statement with a dominant performance over Shinji Suzuki in their bantamweight Muay Thai clash, showing a revolutionized skill set packed with aggression to earn a unanimous decision and nudge his all-striking record to 138-34.
The 28-year-old Thai, who prepares at Fairtex Training Center, controlled the opening round from the front foot, with a crisp straight right proving to be the decisive weapon.
Ferrari marched into the clinch in the second frame, where he pulverized the Japanese veteran with knees and elbows. Suzuki tried to punch his way out but only left himself open for more elbows. When they separated, the Thai sent right kicks crashing into his opponent’s torso to maintain his dominance.
The third and final stanza, however, was the most explosive. A step-in right knee to the body dropped Suzuki for an eight-count. He answered it, but Ferrari attacked with punches – a left hand whacked the Japanese striker flush, followed by a left high kick that dropped him for the second knockdown of the round. Suzuki rose again, but the damage was done.
In the end, Ferrari swept the judges scorecards to leave Lumpinee Stadium with the unanimous decision victory. He returns to the win column with a performance that suggested a more dangerous version of the Fairtex product has arrived.
“I think that’s why I hit the wall so hard in the seventh — just not sleeping great and being a lazy bum in bed all day," Tolle said.
The 23-year-old lefty retired the first 16 Yankees batters before allowing a one-out single to Spencer Jones in the sixth inning. It was the only hit he allowed in seven scoreless innings. He gave up two walks and struck out seven.
“He was awesome,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Yeah, awesome. I don’t really know much to say about it other than awesome. Pounded the strike zone. Was ahead in the count all night. Struck out seven. Had his secondaries working. Was landing curveballs. Used the cutter very effectively. He was just really, really good.”
Tolle was set on pitching throughout the day despite being under the weather.
“This morning, I was like, ‘I don’t feel great, but I’m gonna pitch today,’” he said. “And there were a couple times where I was like, ‘Do I tell anybody? Should I just push through this?’”
Some vitamin boosters also helped him push through.
“It was a grinder one,” Tolle said.
He didn’t show his usual level of emotion on the mound.
“All business because he was very focused on making sure he got through it and conserved his energy,” Tracy said.
With his body aching, Tolle didn’t have his best velocity either. He averaged 94.4 mph with his 30 four-seam fastballs, down from his yearly average of 96.1 mph.
“I’m definitely trying to like get to spots better because you can’t just blow guys away,” Tolle said. “But there’s also some points you get to two strikes ... or something and it’s like, ‘We gotta let it eat. We gotta go.’”
Tolle, who has reached triple-digits with his fastball this season, topped out at 96.4 mph.
“Felt like going into the outing, we may not see a bunch of 98s and touching 99s,” Tracy said. “But to watch him pitch the way he did, it was awesome. He knew he might be a couple ticks down, but he just navigated the strike zone and moved the ball around and used his arsenal. It was awesome.”
The crowd gave Tolle a nice ovation after Jones’ hit in the sixth.
Tolle joked that he began thinking “way too early” about how he hadn’t yet allowed a baserunner.
“I might have thought about it third inning,” Tolle said. “Whenever those guys that have thrown no hitters or perfect games and they say, ‘I didn’t think about it until the end of the game,’ it’s like, ‘All right, dude. You thought about it at least once in there. You looked up at the scoreboard at some point.’”
Tolle was efficient throughout. He struck out the side on 10 pitches in the second inning. He threw 61 of his 88 pitches for strikes (69.3%).
“Mostly just watching him jump ahead strike-one constantly, that was the most impressive part,” Tracy said.
Tolle induced 11 swings and misses: four with his four-seam fastball, four with his cutter and three with his curveball.
“I really took the best one-inning-at-a-time approach that I’ve had all year with it,” Tolle said. “It’s like, ‘All right, everything you got for the first and the second.’ And then it just kind of kept going and going.”
Red Sox fans gave him a standing ovation as he walked off after recording the final out of the seventh inning.
“It was really cool,” Tolle said. “I figured it was my last (inning), too. So I took a moment. It was a slow walk in just because I wanted to look up and take it in again. It’s a good environment. Friday night against the Yankees is going to be a great environment here. So yeah, take it in, and it was a lot of fun.”
BOSTON — For the first time in years, the Red Sox and Yankees had a benches-clearing incident Friday at Fenway. And you guessed it, Willson Contreras was right in the middle of the action.
Contreras, who two innings earlier had hit a 111.9 mph, 418-foot homer off Warren that easily cleared the Green Monster, seemed to take exception that three of the four balls from Warren in his fifth-inning plate appearance were high and inside.
“Part of the game. That’s it,” Contreras said. “Many people can look at it in different ways. I look at it one way. It’s just part of the game.”
Warren, speaking to reporters in the Yankees clubhouse, said he “was trying to make a pitch up and in” and said Contreras — who is known for standing closer to the plate than most hitters — was “playing games in the box.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone called Contreras’ actions “ridiculous.”
“That’s what he does a lot,” Boone said. “I mean, his arms hang over the plate, so I don’t know where we’re supposed to go. I think there’s probably a method to what he’s doing -- probably wants that -- but obviously, nothing’s going on. We probably needed to do a better job of getting the ball in on him tonight. So the warnings and the barking seemed kind of ridiculous.”
After the benches emptied, the Sox and Yankees stayed on their sides of the field and the clubs never came together. The bullpens slowly emptied from right field. No punches were thrown or shoves were exchanged. The umpiring crew issued a warning to both teams as Contreras kept jawing toward the Yankees dugout — in a colorful manner.
“Stuff happens sometimes,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “We were all out there and there was nothing happening. I didn’t see it all, but I think the two of them chirped at each other a little bit on the way down the line. Everybody went out there and stood out there and had a picnic and came back in. Nothing going on, not a huge deal.”
Contreras, who also had an RBI single in the first inning off Warren, made headlines in January when he took a shot at the Yankees shortly after the Red Sox acquired him in a trade. At that point, he vowed to “play with fire” whenever the rivals squared off and said the Yankees were “probably going to start hating” him when the teams played each other. On Friday, he seemed to attempt to make good on his word.
“It’s a really good rivalry,” Contreras said. “I played with the Cubs, I played with the Cardinals and that’s a good rivalry. This one is really good. I think it’s good for baseball. Makes baseball fun. Everything you guys saw tonight is part of the game.
“So many people are trying to push to take that away from the game. I think we need a little bit more of that saltiness and rivalry. I’ll say that.”
“He’s a fiery player. We all know that by now,” said Tracy. “He plays with a lot of emotion and you saw it tonight. I don’t think he’s doing anything. I just think he’s a fiery player and he came up big for us tonight.”
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