Morning sports update: Chris Sale defends David Price amidst criticisms
The Celtics’ season comes to a close at the hands of LeBron James and the Cavaliers, while the Red Sox look to continue the momentum from their sweep against the Rangers into their series with the Mariners.
David Price to make season debut Monday: Adding David Price to the rotation is always going to be a positive and that’s starts Monday,” manager John Farrell said. (Boston Globe)
.@DAVIDprice24 is here to play: pic.twitter.com/HUnXme5PoL
— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 25, 2017
Chris Sale explains why the criticisms of David Price are unfair: “It’s 2017, man. We’ve got Twitter. A lot of people with voices that don’t deserve it. I don’t think anybody in here is going to say anything bad about him,” he noted. “He’s worked his butt off. You look at his track record, it speaks for itself. Nobody is more excited than him, but we’re all in here in second-place waiting for it. It’s going to be fun. It’s been a long road. It’s been a long time. When you can’t do what your supposed to do, it’s tough. But he hasn’t’ changed throughout it all and that speaks a lot about his character and who he is as a teammate and who he is as a competitor.” (WEEI)
LeBron James ends Celtics’ season, sends Cavs back to Finals with 135-102 win in Game 5: LeBron James scored 35 points and passed Michael Jordan to become the NBA’s all-time playoff scoring leader as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 135-102 on Thursday night to claim their third straight Eastern Conference title and a return trip to the NBA Finals. (Boston.com)
What the Celtics had to say after the season-ending loss to the Cavs: Before departing for what promises to be an interesting offseason, Brad Stevens and his players sounded off on the disappointing end to an eventful year. (Boston.com)
Smart was asked what he needs to improve this summer: “Definitely my shooting. I’ve got to keep working on it.”
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) May 26, 2017
Red Sox win 4th straight, 6-2 over Rangers: Drew Pomeranz pitched six strong innings and tied his career high with 11 strikeouts to lift the Boston Red Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Thursday night. (Boston.com)
We tied an @MLB record for strikeouts in a 9-inning game tonight by recording 2️⃣0️⃣! https://t.co/pRbGp5PFcM pic.twitter.com/FT2rxcDhke
— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 26, 2017
Xander Bogaerts finally hit his first home run of the season. And his teammates ignored him: Upon returning to the dugout after smacking his first homer of the 2017 season, Bogaerts encountered a seemingly ambivalent group of teammates and coaches at Fenway. (Boston.com)
Not excited at all. pic.twitter.com/jDpDiKyX9m
— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 26, 2017
JK! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/BjxfGfOdvr
— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 26, 2017
Why Dustin Pedroia was pulled from the game Thursday night: “With the conditions tonight … Pedey wanted to stay in the game,” John Farrell said. “Made the decision to take him off the field. Didn’t want to do anything given what he’s gone through on that knee. When they dump the tarp, there is a lot of water that stands behind second base and when they’re in an over shift he’s right in the middle of it. While he could have continued, just wanted to be sure this is more precautionary. And the conditions, he felt a little soreness. He wanted to stay in the game but wasn’t going to take any chances with it.” (WEEI)
