BOSTON -- The first time the Red Sox played the Tampa Bay Rays this season proved to be the launching point from which Boston pulled out of its early-season slump.

Including that three-game, mid-April sweep in St. Petersburg, the Red Sox -- who started 6-13 -- have since gone 27-16.

Still, Tampa Bay came to Boston a week later and returned the favor, sweeping the Red Sox in a rain-shortened two-game set.

Will this weekend bring another defining series? Before the Red Sox and Rays play four games in three days at Fenway Park, here's where the two teams stand.

1. The Red Sox have work to do

In five games against the Rays, no Red Sox starting pitcher has allowed more than three earned runs. Even in their two losses, Boston's starters were solid: David Price allowed two runs in his six innings, a strong effort in which the offense struggled to a 2-1 defeat; and Chris Sale survived a shaky first two frames to go seven innings in a 5-2 Rays victory.

Since the up-and-down first month of the season, Red Sox starters have bounced back. Boston's pitching staff as a whole entered last month with a 5.00 ERA but posted a 3.99 ERA in May, up from 25th to 12th in baseball. Sale went from a growing concern to his old ways again, striking out 66 hitters in 38⅓ innings pitched, with a 2.82 ERA. Price has been the most consistent pitcher on the staff over the entire season, with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP, and he carried it through a tough April.

But the Red Sox have had some issues elsewhere.

"Pitching, we're way close to who we are, although the results the first 10 or 11 days of the season, that wasn't us," manager Alex Cora said after last weekend's New York Yankees series, in which Boston lost two of three. "Defensively, we've been a lot better early in the season. Baserunning, the last 10 days have been sloppy. Offensively, although people don't see it that way, that's where we need to get better."

The defense has made strides in the field, most notably by Rafael Devers at third base. The 22-year-old misplayed several routine grounders in April but took a large step forward in May, improving his footwork considerably while making several spectacular plays moving to his left.

As for the offense, after sweeping the Kansas City Royals this week, Cora said the Red Sox are making progress, but they're still not quite where they need to be. Cora is looking to find more lefty-righty balance in his batting order.

"When we decided to hit Mookie [Betts], Benny [Andrew Benintendi] 1-2, and then Raffy [Devers] fourth, Brock [Holt] sixth and JBJ [Jackie Bradley Jr.] eighth, you see the balance. It's good for us.

"[Opponents] have to think about whether you bring out the specialist for the lefty or the righty because the lefty is right behind him."

The offensive production did look good against the Royals, as Boston scored 23 runs in three games in Kansas City -- but again, it was against the Royals, who have the second-highest staff ERA in baseball.

These are the Rays, who boast reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and the best pitching staff in baseball so far this season. While the Red Sox will miss Charlie Morton, who has posted a 2.30 ERA in 13 starts this season, they'll face off against Snell in the series finale. The 26-year-old lefty has a 3.22 ERA in eight starts against Boston in his career, but he has not faced the team yet this season.

2. The Rays have a new look -- again

The Rays change the foundation of their roster frequently and in often surprising ways. So far this season, Tampa Bay's two biggest offensive contributors have been outfielders Austin Meadows and Tommy Pham -- both of whom were playing for different teams at this point last year.

Meadows, who came to the Rays from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Chris Archer trade, was taken by Pittsburgh with the ninth pick of the 2013 draft, two slots after Boston selected high school lefty Trey Ball, who has a 7.58 ERA in 34 relief appearances at Double-A Portland this season.

The 24-year-old played well in his debut last season in Pittsburgh, hitting .292/.327/.468 in 49 games there before the trade; but Meadows really has taken off at the plate this year, hitting .349/.424/.646 with a team-high 12 homers, 38 RBIs and 2.4 WAR, which has him tied for 16th in baseball.

Pham also has continued his strong performance with Tampa Bay, building off the momentum following his July trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, when he hit .343/.448/.622 with seven homers in 39 games with the Rays. It has been more of the same this season, as he is hitting .293/.406/.471 with eight homers, 25 RBIs, nine doubles and two triples.

Also worth keeping an eye on is rookie second baseman Brandon Lowe, who has impressed so far this season with a .272 average and 11 homers in 54 games and already is 3-for-10 with a homer against Boston.

For the Red Sox, rookie third baseman Michael Chavis faces the Rays for the third time after making his debut April 20 at Tampa Bay with a double off Jose Alvarado in his first MLB at-bat, setting up the winning run. Chavis, named the American League's Rookie of the Month for May after hitting seven homers, is going through his first prolonged slump in The Show, hitting .107 in his past seven games.

3. This weekend could shake up the AL East race

For the optimists who believe the Red Sox have underperformed so far this season, a sweep of the Rays would be a major step toward Boston eventually sitting atop the American League East.

The Red Sox enter the series five games behind the Rays, who themselves trail the first-place Yankees by a game and a half.

This weekend also gives Tampa Bay an opportunity to retake the division lead, while halting Boston's climb into contention.

And if neither club can catch the Yankees, Boston and Tampa Bay also could be on a collision course to meet in the winner-takes-all wild-card game.

For the Red Sox, a wild-card berth would significantly raise the level of difficulty in defending their World Series title -- but, say the pessimists out there, there's no guarantee they'll even get that far. The Red Sox enter the series in a virtual tie (they trail by a single percentage point) for the second wild-card slot with the Texas Rangers, who start a three-game series at Fenway on Monday.

When Boston last played Tampa Bay at the end of April, the Red Sox left the series six games under .500 and 7½ games out of first place. Fast forward nearly a month and a half later and Boston has climbed over .500. Yet they're in just about the same place they were in the division.

You'll often hear Cora and his players repeat, especially after a loss, that all wins and losses count the same, even if head-to-head matchups with division rivals carry significantly more emotional baggage. But as the trade deadline inches closer, the Red Sox will need to decide how much to stick with their current group of players and how much they'll need from the trade market. For one, closers such as Will Smith of the San Francisco Giants, Sean Doolittle of the Washington Nationals or Ken Giles of the Toronto Blue Jays could be options to add a lockdown arm to the current bullpen group after Craig Kimbrel departed as a free agent this past winter.

Cora already has started tweaking his lineup, and the results from this weekend -- against a potential wild-card opponent and a key division rival -- could dictate the kind of changes still to come.

The event aims to embrace the spirit of modern-day distance track racing with street food, trackside bars, live race commentary and a lively crowd

Adam Hickey, Jack Gray, Ollie Lockley and Tracy Barlow are among the entries for FASTFriday in Walthamstow on June 7, with the event incorporating the England Athletics 10,000m Championships, plus quality 5000m races.

The programme, which kicks off with the ‘D’ 10,000m race at 18:30, features six events, with a women-only race with more than 20 entries being held for the first time.

Here marathoner Barlow, who has a road 10km PB of 33:21, races the distance on the track for the first time as she goes up against the likes of Phoebe Law, who has a PB of 33:00.84 and ran 35:58.26 in Loughborough in April, plus marathoner Dani Nimmock, Sophie Cowper, Lucy Reid and triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay of the host club.

In the men’s championship race, Lockley (pictured) defends his England Athletics title as he forms part of a field featuring Hickey and Gray, plus the likes of Sam Stabler, Tom Evans, Paul Navesey and Will Mycroft.

“Once again we will be embracing the spirit of modern-day distance track racing with street food, multiple trackside bars, live race commentary,” says organiser Barney Foot from Orion Harriers, “and a lively crowd of 300-400 in lane three providing the runners with continuous support.”

Race programme

18:30 10,000m D race
19:15 10,000m C race
20:00 FAST 5000m
20:20 FLAT OUT 5000m
20:40 Women’s England Athletics 10,000m Championships
21:20 Men’s England Athletics 10,000m Championships

Full entry lists can be found here.

Jasmin Paris and Jon Albon are on the GB team for the IAU/ITRA Trail World Championships

A strong British team will look to be challenging for medals at the IAU/ITRA Trail World Championships in Portugal on Saturday (June 8), boosted by Jon Albon and Jasmin Paris (pictured).

Albon, the skyrunning ultra world champion, was fourth last year as Britain gained silver medals behind Spain.

However, someone who will find the 44km distance more to his liking will be Wales’ Commonwealth Games marathon runner Andrew Davies.

Bolstering the team will be Ricky Lightfoot, the 2013 IAU world ultra-trail champion, plus Sebastian Batchelor, Andy Symonds and Carl Bell.

Paris, who found national mainstream fame when she set an outright course record for the Montane Spine Race in January, will wear a GB vest for the first time.

However, more experienced at this level is world long-distance mountain running champion Charlotte Morgan.

Last year’s Lakeland 50 winner Katie Kaars-Sijpesteijn is on the British team for the third year in a row, hoping to improve on her 23rd and 21st-place finishes. She will be joined by Jo Meek, who was 17th two years ago, Georgia Tindley and Meryl Cooper.

Both defending champions are back.

Luis Alberto Hernando inspired a home win for Spain last year and crosses the border seeking a fourth straight world title – along with team-mate Cristofer Clemente, who was second last year, and Zaid Ait Malek.

USA’s Mario Mendoza, France’s Ludovic Pommeret, Romania’s Robert Hajnal and Italy’s Marco De Gasperi will be other challengers.

Since winning convincingly last year Ragna Debats of Netherlands has won the Marathon des Sables and will be a strong contender here.

Spain, with Laia Canes and Gemma Arenas, who were second and fourth last year, plus skyrunning specialist Sheila Aviles, will put up a good defence of their title.

Adeline Roche of France, the 2017 winner, New Zealand’s Ruth Croft, Sweden’s Sanna El Kott Helander, Poland’s Magdalena Laczak and USA’s Kelly Wolf should be in the mix, too.

The course starts and finishes in the town and has 2150m of ascent. Team results are based on the best three times.

FORT WORTH, Texas – It was supposed to be a two-hour practice session that would replicate track conditions for Saturday night’s DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Instead, it was a 41-minute practice that was halted by a torrential downpour.

Former Texas winner Scott Dixon was the fastest in the session with a lap at 219.308 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.

“We had the test here, the tire test in March, and I think that just helps a lot of us kind of roll off,” Dixon said. “We had a few issues I think with balance. I think a lot of people have just with the added temperature, especially from when we tested here. That was interesting for us.

“Unfortunately we got the weather. We didn’t really get to run as much as we would have liked. Hopefully they can add some additional time tomorrow. All in all, the Penske car feels good out of the gate.”

IndyCar announced an additional 15 minutes of practice time to Friday’s schedule so that teams can scuff in sets of tires for the race.

Takuma Sato was second at 219.262 mph in the No. 30 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“I think it’s a bit early to say for the tires and downforce and stuff,” Sato said. “I don’t know if Scott told, but we had only few laps, to be honest. Even one set of tires, did not even get through, I don’t know, half of the stint I wouldn’t think.

“I think Firestone did a great job to bring the tire that’s really good feeling, solid feeling, more downforce than last year. But not only for that, I think Firestone doing a great job.

“I was obviously looking forward to a little bit more traffic runs, go through the stint, how the balance shift will be. But obviously the rain, we cannot do anything at the moment.”

Sato’s teammate, Graham Rahal, was third at 218.311 mph, followed by Charlie Kimball at 217.503 mph. Will Power rounded out the top five at 217.196 mph.

IndyCar and Firestone brought two different compounds of racing tires to Texas including the primary tire and an optional tire if the primary tires began to blister. Because of the shortened schedule, there weren’t enough laps run on a full set of tires to determine if blistering would occur.

The only way the optional tires would be used was if the primary compound showed signs of widespread blistering across the field of race cars.

“I think there were some blistered sets out there, I’m not sure how they’re going to address that,” Dixon said. “I know there was an option tire, but I haven’t heard. I think from what I heard; they are kind of happy with what they saw. Again, it’s early days, right? They’ll probably go through everybody’s tires tonight and figure out a plan for tomorrow.

“Conditions were kind of ideal. I think today as far as Texas goes; it actually wasn’t even really that hot. Running this late in the day, the track temp was down almost a hundred degrees, which is very low.”

Dixon was asked what he would like to see done with the tires and he quipped, “We’d like a tire that works really well with the 9 car,” referring to his PNC Bank Honda.

“We had zero issues with blistering last year, yet there seemed to be a few teams that had some major issues and were falling off pretty hard,” Dixon said. “I feel like in that scenario, you should be able to adapt to it. You shouldn’t have to change it for the situation of maybe a few cars or few drivers.

“But Firestone are always trying to make the tire better. I think for us this year, the problem is, once you have a new surface and a new track, the falloff comes pretty quickly in the first two, three, four years. That’s what we’ve seen.

“The grip is a lot lower than what we saw last year. IndyCar reacted with adding downforce on that. I think that’s the right direction.

“The end of the race last year I thought was quite good. I think for the drivers, we want to have a car that’s difficult to drive, something that you can make a difference. The last thing I want to see is pack racing. It’s easy for everybody, jut creates issues. Maybe the person that takes the biggest risk, if they pull it off, is going to be rewarded.

“I think a balance of what we had last year and maybe a bit closer would be good.”

When the hockey world turns its eyes to the 2019 NHL draft on June 21, one thing is for sure: Not everyone is going to agree on every pick made, with the likely exception of the surefire top-two selections of Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko. Everyone has their own draft boards, and no two teams' prospect rankings match exactly.

But today, every team nails its picks, at least in my eyes. I played general manager for each team at each pick in the first two rounds of the draft, from No. 1 to No. 62. This is each team's best possible selection given who is still available. I'm not projecting picks, but rather giving the best-case selection for the team at each spot while considering needs, value and availability. Team preferences don't play in here.

Let's run through my picks team by team. And all 62 selections are in order at the bottom to see how the mock draft developed.

Note: Pick Nos. 30, 31, 61 and 62 reflect a Bruins Stanley Cup championship, even though the series is currently tied, 2-2. Call it home-ice advantage, but really it's just because someone has to win. But in the case of a Blues championship, the Sabres and Bruins would make the same selections at Nos. 30 and 31, just in reverse order. Likewise, the Devils and Blues would make the same selections at the end of Round 2, but the order would flip.

Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BOS | BUF | CGY | CAR | CHI | COL
CBJ | DAL | DET | EDM | FLA | LA | MIN | MTL
NSH | NJ | NYI | NYR | OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ
STL | TB | TOR | VAN | VGS | WSH | WPG

Or jump to all 62 picks in order

Anaheim Ducks

Round 1 (9): Matthew Boldy, LW, USA U18 (NTDP)
Round 1 (29): Tobias Bjornfot, D, Djurgarden Jr. (Sweden Jr.)
Round 2 (39): John Beecher, C, USA U18 (NTDP)

The Ducks have a system that's especially deep at forward, and while they could be tempted to go for defense early, I don't think a potential top-six winger in Boldy is worth passing on if he's available. Should the Ducks go after a defenseman at the No. 9 spot, I wouldn't hold it against them, but I like Boldy's pro projection better than the top blueliners remaining (Philip Broberg or Victor Soderstrom).

Plus, there should be a few attractive defensemen later in the first round, and that's where Bjornfot comes in. He has trended up all season and ended on a high note by captaining Sweden to gold at the World U18 Championship. Bjornfot is an excellent defender, and his offensive game is coming along. In the second, the Ducks can add the big, speedy Beecher, whom they can park at the University of Michigan for the next three years before needing him to enter the mix.

Arizona Coyotes

Round 1 (14): Cam York, D, USA U18 (NTDP)
Round 2 (45): Robert Mastrosimone, LW, Chicago (USHL)

The Coyotes need to add some talent to their future on the blue line, and this is an especially safe range to go after York. He is the embodiment of the modern-day defenseman, with excellent offensive abilities. He can get the puck up the ice quickly. Then in the second round, the Yotes could add Mastrosimone, a strong two-way forward who has both a good work ethic and some solid skills.

Boston Bruins

New England Patriots players, coaches, team executives and football staff received their Super Bowl LIII championship rings on Thursday night at a private party at owner Robert Kraft's residence -- an event that brought former players and coaches back together for one final celebration.

The greatest ring of all-time. pic.twitter.com/Vv5AHmVGhS

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 7, 2019

Quarterback Tom Brady was pictured on the team's official Twitter account wearing all six of his Super Bowl rings. He is the only player in NFL history to win six rings.

The Brady 6. pic.twitter.com/BK88mjvlU5

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 7, 2019

Here are some facts on the ring, which was designed by Josten's:

• It is the largest Super Bowl ring ever, per Josten's.

• Crafted in 10-karat gold, it features the Patriots logo brought to life through a custom-cut, red-and-blue stone. Thirty-eight diamonds surround the logo, with an additional diamond set in the star.

• The Patriots logo rests atop six Lombardi trophies, set with 123 diamonds, each accented with a marquise-cut diamond.

• The trophies on the ring top are surrounded by an additional 108 pave-set diamonds, which represent the number of practices in the 2018 season.

• A total of 76 diamonds adorn the edges of the ring. Completing the intricate design are 20 round blue sapphires, which are emblematic of the Patriots' 20 AFC East division championships.

• The right side of the ring features the team's official wordmark above the Super Bowl LIII logo and includes the score, 13-3. The rally cry of "Still here," which the team embraced throughout the 2018 playoffs, completes the design of the ring's right side.

• The name of each recipient appears on the left side of the ring above Gillette Stadium's signature lighthouse and bridge. To the left of the lighthouse, each ring features the player's uniform number, encrusted in diamonds. The franchise's sixth Super Bowl title is commemorated with a 6X and dated 2018.

• The interior of the ring features Kraft's quote, "We are all Patriots," above his signature.

• The palm crest features the years of the team's previous five Super Bowl victories.

• The ring features an average of 416 round diamonds and six marquise-cut diamonds for a carat weight of 8.25 carats. Each ring features 20 round, genuine blue sapphires for 1.60 carats, bringing the total gem carat weight to 9.85 carats.

All about the details. pic.twitter.com/sIAtMCId4M

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 7, 2019

BOSTON -- Bruins president Cam Neely hurled a water bottle against a wall. Boston fans littered the ice with garbage. Coach Bruce Cassidy called it "egregious," in an intense rant about how the quality of playoff officiating has been a "black eye" for the NHL.

The St. Louis Blues won Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final 2-1 to take a 3-2 series lead Thursday night, but it was how they scored their second goal that had the Bruins' faithful irate. Moments before David Perron snuck a puck past Tuukka Rask, the officials opted not to call a blatant trip on Bruins forward Noel Acciari by Blues center Tyler Bozak. Acciari hit his head on the ice, taking him out of the play, and eventually put him into the NHL's concussion protocol.

"The reaction was 'You missed an F'ing call,' that was what was being said on the bench, for obvious reasons," Cassidy said. "The no-call on Acciari ... their player is on his way to the box. It's right in front of the official. It's a slew foot. Our guy's gone. The spotter took him out of the game for a possible concussion. I mean, it's blatant. It had a big effect on the game."

Bozak said the play was "just a puck battle," and wasn't sure what had happened. "I honestly don't know. It's a fast game out there. I couldn't tell," Bozak said. "I was just battling for the puck. Luckily we ended up with it and it ended up in the back of the net, so we'll take it."

NHL senior vice president and director of officiating Stephen Walkom was asked by a pool reporter to respond to the non-call. "We don't make comments on judgment calls within games. There are hundreds of judgment calls in every game. The official on the play, he viewed it and he didn't view it as a penalty at the time," Walkom said.

But the officiating, and the change in its focus, has become a dominant story as the series has continued.

The Bruins were given 14 power plays in the first three games of the series, winning two of them. After Game 3, St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube worked the refs, apparently to great effect.

"We were the least penalized team in the league in the first three rounds, now all of a sudden we've taken 14 penalties in one series. So I don't know. I don't buy into all of that, to be honest with you," Berube said. "I think that we could definitely be more composed after the whistle. I think we've let some frustration get in there where we maybe do too much after the whistle. So we'll clean that up, for sure. But like I said, we were the least penalized team in the league coming into this series. I don't agree with all of the calls."

In Game 4, the Bruins received two power plays. "[Berube made] a comment to the refs about them being this angelic team about not taking penalties all playoffs, and all of a sudden the whistles are put away," Bruins center David Backes said after that game.

In Game 5, the Bruins received three power plays, including one for a delay-of-game penalty on the Blues. They failed to convert on all three, although Jake DeBrusk's goal did come on a delayed penalty call in the third period.

Cassidy says he believes the way the series has been officiated changed after Berube spoke up.

"I sat here two days ago or whatever it was and said I believe these officials are at this level because they've earned the right to be here," Cassidy said. "You should be getting the best. But, I mean, the narrative changed after Game 3. There's a complaint or whatever put forth by the opposition. It just seems to have changed everything."

Berube denied this was the case.

"That my comments changed ... I don't agree with it, but it doesn't matter. I'm not here to judge the officials and calls that could have been or couldn't have," Berube said. "They go both ways. There were calls the other way that could have been called and they weren't. So, I don't know what to say about that. I really don't want to say anything about it."

For the series, the Blues have been whistled for 23 penalties for 46 penalty minutes. The Bruins have 17 penalties for 36 penalty minutes.

The Bruins said they felt there were missed calls by the officials on questionable hits. Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo acknowledged that the officials were letting them play in Game 5.

"Yeah, for sure. But there are penalties that you do need to call," Carlo said.

Cassidy said the hits were the kind "they want to get out of the game, correct? That's what I hear a lot about. Clearly, they missed a couple tonight."

It has not been the most exemplary postseason for NHL officiating, as some glaring errors have cost longtime referees assignments later in the postseason.

The league apologized to the Vegas Golden Knights after their Game 7 loss to the San Jose Sharks, when the Knights were given an unwarranted five-minute major penalty that helped the Sharks rally for the victory. Veteran referees Eric Furlatt and Dan O'Halloran were not carried over to the following round.

In the Western Conference finals, a blatant hand pass was missed that allowed the Sharks to beat the Blues in overtime. Again, veteran referees Marc Joannette and Dan O'Rourke were not carried over to the Stanley Cup Final. The NHL is also missing one of its best officials, Wes McCauley, who was injured in the conference final.

In criticizing the performance of officials Kelly Sutherland and Steve Kozari in Game 5, Cassidy slammed the officiating in the Stanley Cup playoffs, on the whole.

"This has happened. I'm a fan of the game. It's the National Hockey League's getting a black-eye with their officiating in these playoffs, and there's another one that's going to be talked about," Cassidy said. "I thought it was a great hockey game. That call, probably ... there's time, but it really made it difficult for us to get the win tonight. So I'm disappointed. So I guess to answer your original question, it was egregious. But we're moving on. We're getting ready for Game 6."

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The highly anticipated showdown between Yusei Kikuchi and Shohei Ohtani is expected to finally take place Saturday, in the middle of a three-game series between the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels.

Ohtani was still on his way back from Tommy John surgery when Kikuchi first faced the Angels on April 20 and was out of the starting lineup when he was on the mound again on May 30. But Angels manager Brad Ausmus strongly hinted that Ohtani, who usually takes his days off against left-handed pitchers like Kikuchi, would start this next one, barring the unexpected.

"He probably will, unless something happens between now and then," Ausmus said.

Ohtani, 24, and Kikuchi, 27, attended the same Japanese high school but missed each other by a year.

Kikuchi has given up 11 runs (10 earned) in 6⅔ innings over his past two starts, but Ohtani is seemingly starting to heat up. He homered in back-to-back games entering Thursday's contest against the Oakland Athletics and sported a .300/.389/.608 slash line during his previous 36 plate appearances.

Ohtani's slugging percentage had dipped to .625 before that stretch, during a series in Oakland, but then Ausmus saw "a noticeable difference in his batting practices."

"The ball started coming off his bat a little better, traveling farther," Ausmus said, though he couldn't pinpoint the reason. "It seems to have translated now on the field."