Liam Hendriks made his long-awaited team debut on Wednesday, turning the page on two years of frustration while making his first case for the Red Sox closer job.

Despite the 1 for 4 official stat line, Mayer did plenty of heavy lifting at the plate. He drove home an RBI drew a walk and hit a rope to the gap in left-center that likely would have dropped in for a base hit nine out of 10 times. Unfortunately for Mayer, Rays center fielder Chandler Simpson made a beautiful diving catch to rob Mayer.

The talk of Boston Red Sox spring training has been Rafael Devers. The superstar let it be known that he has no desire to move on from being a full-time third b

After a 5-2 victory in their exhibition game with the Northeastern Huskies on Friday, the Red Sox opened the official Grapefruit League campaign with a 6-4 road win over the

Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Red Sox seemed to fall on them, much like Friday’s 4-0 blanking against the Yankees in the opener. “Some early inconsistency that you come to expect a little bit,” manager Kevin Cash said. “But I’m confident we’ve got a group here that will work the kinks out and get in count control and be a little bit more efficient.”

There will be plenty of time for Liam Hendriks to try to win the closing job he covets with the Red Sox. But Wednesday wasn’t about that. Instead, it was all about the joy of competing again for a man