Red Sox fire exec Bloom before doubleheader
BOSTON — The Red Sox fired Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom on Thursday as the team stumbled toward a third last-place finish in four seasons.
The team made the announcement before the start of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees, who took the first two games of the series to drop Boston into a tie for last.
“The decision was not made lightly or easily,” President & CEO Sam Kennedy read from a prepared statement before his press conference. “We all know where we are in the standings. It’s a painful reality that fans feel as deeply as we do. Our fans deserve a winning, competitive team that consistently plays postseason baseball.”
Manager Alex Cora said he got a call from ownership in the morning telling him about the move. He said he was planning next year’s team with Bloom on Wednesday.
Bloom was hired from the Tampa Bay Rays to help revive the farm system and bring financial stability to a team that was one of baseball’s biggest spenders. One of his first moves was to trade 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts, a year before he was eligible for free agency, on a mandate from ownership to get the payroll in order.
Entering Thursday’s doubleheader, the Red Sox were 267-262 in Bloom’s tenure, with a trip to the AL Championship Series in 2021.
Angels recall vets Walsh, Fletcher; demote prospects Adams, Paris
ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Los Angeles Angels have selected the contracts of major league veterans Jared Walsh and David Fletcher from Triple-A Salt Lake.
The Angels also sent prospects Kyren Paris and Jordyn Adams back to Salt Lake and designated reliever Gerardo Reyes for assignment.
Walsh was an All-Star in 2021, but the first baseman struggled with headaches, insomnia and other neurological woes this season while batting .119 in 28 games. The Angels designated Walsh for assignment in July, but he went unclaimed and accepted an outright assignment to Salt Lake, where he has batted .217 with nine homers.
Fletcher was a regular infield starter for 31⁄2 seasons for the Angels, but he struggled last year and needed hip surgery. He fell out of favor this year and spent most of the season in Salt Lake after Los Angeles promoted shortstop prospect Zach Neto.
Yankees prospect Jasson Domínguez to undergo Tommy John surgery next week
BOSTON – Yankees top prospect Jasson Domínguez will have Tommy John surgery next Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone said Thursday morning before they played the Red Sox in a split doubleheader.
The 20-year-old center fielder was scratched from Sunday’s series finale against Milwaukee because his right elbow limited his swing during batting practice.
Signed for a $5.1 million bonus as a 16-year-old, Domínguez made his big league debut on Sept. 1 in Houston and was hitting .258 with four homers and seven RBIs in eight games.
Thursday’s games
Rays 4, Orioles 3: Luke Raley hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, and visiting Tampa Bay’s remarkable bullpen retired everyone it faced in the opener of a huge series at Camden Yards. The Rays pulled within a game of first-place Baltimore in the AL East, and their relievers extended their streak to 34 innings without an earned run. Ryan O’Hearn and Gunnar Henderson homered for the Orioles, but with the game tied at 3, Raley hit a drive to center field off Kyle Bradish (11-7) for his 19th home run of the year. Tampa Bay starter Aaron Civale got Adley Rutschman to hit into a crucial double play in the fifth after the Orioles had come back to tie it at 3. After that, Civale turned the game over to the bullpen. Colin Poche (12-3), Shawn Armstrong, Robert Stephenson and Pete Fairbanks teamed up to retire 12 straight batters.
Mets 11, Diamondbacks 1: Kodai Senga struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, Jeff McNeil and Jonathan Araúz homered, and host New York continued playing the spoiler in taking the final three games of a four-game series to drop Arizona into a tie for the third NL wild-card spot with the Reds (76-72) and Giants.
Red Sox 5, Yankees 0: Trevor Story hit a three-run homer, Tanner Houck pitched six effective innings and host Boston climbed out of the AL East basement in the opener of a doubleheader vs. New York. Rookie Ceddanne Rafaela added a solo shot and Wilyer Abreu had a first-inning RBI single for Boston, which has won nine of the 12 meetings between the longtime rivals this season.
Brewers 4, Marlins 2: Tyrone Taylor hit two RBI doubles and put host Milwaukee ahead for good with an impressive slide home in the NL Central-leading Brewers’ third win in four games. Milwaukee trailed 2-1 in the fifth inning when Andruw Monasterio hit a leadoff single off Marlins starter Eury Pérez (5-5). Monasterio moved to second on Brice Turang’s bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on Taylor’s double to left.
Pirates 2, Nationals 0: Mitch Keller pitched eight innings of two-hit ball to give host Pittsburgh three wins in the four-game series vs. Washington. Keller (12-9) struck out seven and walked one. The 27-year-old right-hander improved to 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA in his last seven starts.
Twins 10, White Sox 2: Kyle Farmer hit a two-run homer to cap visiting Minnesota’s four-run seventh inning, Kenta Maeda threw seven strong innings and the Twins extended their lead over idle Cleveland in the AL Central to eight games. Rookies Edouard Julien and Royce Lewis hit solo shots in the fourth to get the Twins rolling.
Giants at Rockies, ppd.: San Francisco and Colorado had the opener of their four-game series postponed by inclement weather about three hours before the scheduled first pitch. The contest will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.