Cora confirms Sale won’t be Opening Day starter

start the season since. Tommy John surgery, a rib fracture, broken pinky, and broken wrist are among the reasons he missed 2020 entirely and has only thrown out 48 1/3 innings over the last two seasons.

This year’s season opener also happens to fall on Sale’s 34th birthday.

His manager sees this is a gift. Or at least, he wants Sale, who’s been itching to get in real games, to see it as such.

“I want him to enjoy as a regular baseball player, just the whole Opening Day thing,” he said.

The Orioles beat the Red Sox 6- 4, and the Red Sox and Yankees dueled their way to a 3-3 tie.

Raimel Tapia continues to hit. On Sunday, two Yankees players fell over trying and failing to nab a scorching ball. If the season started on Monday, he’d have to be on the 26-man roster.

Adam Duvall hit his first Grapefruit League home run on Sunday afternoon, a towering shot over Jetblue Park’s Green Monster to retie the game in the fifth.

Marcelo Mayer, the organization’s No. 1 overall prospect, made his Grapefruit

room. The Patriots have resigned a couple players and stood pat.

According to Over The Cap, the Pats own the eighth-most effective cap space in the league at $30.9 million. They also rank 30th, out of 32 teams, in active cash spending this season and are scheduled to rank in the bottom five next year with their current contracts.

League debut, and collected a leadoff double in the ninth inning.

Less than a week after the terrifying hit- bypitch, most of Justin Turner’s stitches are out (some are dissolvable, he told reporters).

He was able to eat solid foods again on Saturday, and is already eyeing a spot in the Opening Day lineup.

The veteran infielder “played catch, and took some swings off the tee today,” he told reporters, including MLB. com’s Ian Browne.

“Hopefully just kind of keep ramping it up as long as there’s no setbacks and hopefully be back out there as soon as possible. And then we’ll see where we’re at from there, but I certainly plan on being there for Opening Day,” Turner said. “That’s the plan.”

Richard Bleier pitched a perfect eighth and former Red Sox pitcher Robert Stock got the save for Team Israel, who pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Team Nicaragua.

Speaking of Bleier, he and Sale were teammates

The Patriots’ best inhouse free agent is also the best player available at his position and a premium position at that.

Expect Jakobi Meyers to receive a sizable deal, perhaps as soon as Monday.

Last week, the NFL Network cited league sources who believe his new contract will average between $12-14 million per year. On Sunday, ESPN reported one executive expects Meyers to receive $15 million or more per year. Whether Meyers, a 26-year- old entering his at Florida Golf Coast University, and the latter confirmed a hilarious anecdote the former had shared about their college days, when Bleier was the ace and Sale was the freshman.

“There’s no question, he was the top dog when I got there,” Sale told NESN’S

physical prime with only six years experience at the position, breaks the bank is unknown.

But, the Pats will have competition for his services and could easily get priced out. Several front offices and/or coaching staffs led by former Patriots — including Las Vegas, Tennessee, Houston, Arizona, Tampa Bay and the New York Giants — could value Meyers as highly, if not higher, than them. Meyers’ hometown team, the Falcons, are also flush with cap space and a young quarterback who could use a security blanket.

Giants wideout Sterling Shepard re-signing on Sunday boosted Meyers’ market. If Meyers leaves, expect the Patriots to pivot quickly to other free agents and perhaps pick up the phone to strike a trade. But from positional needs to the money they can spend, everything starts with Meyers.

Jahmai Webster on Sunday. “We were roommates on the road, and he may or may not have made me sleep in the bathtub one night.”

Even though Team Chinese Taipei didn’t advance to the next round of the tournament, Pool A had a five-way tie, and Yu Chang was named the pool MVP.

There’s a careful balance to this approach, however, because waiting too long risks becoming uncompetitive in the market.

In 2019, the Patriots had to up their offer to free- agent wide receiver Adam Humphries after Humphries rejected their initial pitch and reached terms with the Titans. Humphries refused to reengage after deciding on Tennessee. Last offseason, the Patriots were forced to up their offer to former Cowboys offensive lineman La’el Collins who amid contract talks took a visit to Cincinnati and ultimately signed with the Bengals.

The Patriots made a rare Day 1 splash signing in 2017, one of their best ever. That deal brought shutdown cornerback Stephon Gilmore to Foxboro, where he was eventually named a three-time Pro Bowler and the Defensive Player of the Year. Not all free-agent additions work out like Gilmore, of course, so any activity Monday would not be a guaranteed home run.

If the Patriots do strike quickly, all we can say is it will be out of character, knowing that most offseasons, whether they were strapped for cap space or swimming in it, they’ve held tight.

He went 7-for-16 with two doubles, a home run, a grand slam, and eight RBI.

Fol lowing Sunday’s games, the Red Sox optioned RHP Bryan Mata to Triple-a Worcester and reassigned LHP Ryan Sherriff to minor league camp.

In January, Patriots coaches spent a week with prospects at the Shrine Bowl. Defensive line coach Demarcus Covington worked the Senior Bowl. A handful of assistants traveled to the combine with the front office.

Since their season ended, the coaches have split their time in the office between studying film of upcoming free agents and draft prospects. How the Patriots add in free agency will tell us how they see themselves next season.

Little activity should indicate they believe they’re close to contending, and that last year was an aberration facilitated by an offensive coaching mess that’s since been cleaned up. A moderate level of activity will show the Patriots see themselves as a playoff team primed to make a run with additional talent in key areas. And a spending spree will reveal urgency, either from ownership or Belichick, to revitalize a blah roster and return to re- establish the franchise as a perennial postseason team.

How the Patriots navigate the market will also inform their decisions in the draft. If they leave positions like cornerback and offensive tackle alone, it’s a safe bet they’ll target them on Day 1 or Day 2 of the draft. If most needs are addressed, however, anything is possible when the clock starts next month, and, possibly, next season.

Ready, set, sign.

little frustrating that we’ve had a few tough starts in a row. Obviously a great effort in the third but just a little too late there and we put ourselves behind the 8-ball.”

Montgomery rejiggered his lines, reuniting the Czech line, putting Jake Debrusk with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic and bumping Tyler Bertuzzi to the Bergeron-brad Marchand unit. It got the offense in motion.

Early in third period, DeBrusk scored on a breakaway that he created for himself at 3:37, his 20th of the year. At 6:24, Pastrnak scored his 46th of the year from the high slot. Just like that, it was a game again.

Marchand and Charlie Mcavoy just missed on a backdoor play,as did Connor Clifton and Pavel Zacha. Then in the final frantic minutes, the B’s put a lot of pressure on Husso with Swayman pulled for the extra skater.

But the happy ending to which many B’s fans have become accustomed just didn’t materialize.