Jeimer Candelario homers twice, Andrew Abbott strikes out 10 as Reds beat Red Sox 5-2

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jeimer Candelario homered twice, Andrew Abbott struck out a season-high 10 and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Red Sox 5-2 in the opener of an interleague series on a Friday night.

Candelario hit solo homers off Kutter Crawford (3-7) in the first and third innings. Jonathan India had solo shot off the Red Sox starter in the second, and the Reds scored two more on a throwing error by reliever Cam Booser in the seventh to halt Boston's five-game winning streak.

Candelario is hitting .338 in June and and pushed his season home run total to a team-high 14.

“He's done it before in big spots. He's done it in important situations, all that,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He knew it was just a matter of time.”

Abbott (6-6) allowed two runs — solo homers by Jarren Duran and Connor Wong — and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up a single to Romy Gonzalez to start the sixth and then fanned Tyler O'Neill and Rafael Devers before giving way to Fernando Cruz, who struck out Wong to end the inning.

Sam Moll and Nick Martinez followed, each with a scoreless innings, and Alexis Diaz pitched the ninth for this 17th save.

“I was able to get into the strike zone on all counts,” the 24-year-old Abbott said. “I was able to win the race with two strikes, like win the 1-1 counts. I was able to do some things that in some games this year I haven't been able to do.”

The Reds were holding onto a 3-2 lead in the seventh when they took advantage of two Red Sox errors. The first, a wild throw on a grounder to second, put Santiago Espinal on first base.

He advanced to third on a double by Luke Maile, which chased Crawford. An errant throw home by Booser on a surprise TJ Friedl bunt allowed both runners to score.

“Honestly, he put down a pretty good (bunt),” said Wong, the catcher. "He killed it. (Booser) had to make a really tough play, and it ended up going over my head. The trail runner was able to come around and score. Hindsight is 20-20, right? It was do or die. It was a great effort. We didn’t execute.”

Crawford allowed five runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings.

The homers by Duran and Wong extended their respective hitting streaks to 11 games, a career high for both.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Red Sox: OF Wilyer Abreu (ankle sprain) is expected to be activated on Saturday. He has been out since June 4.

Reds: C Tyler Stephenson is day to day with an undisclosed injury, leading to C Austin Wynns being promoted from Triple-A Louisville. OF Jacob Hurtubise, who garnered attention as only the second West Point graduate to play in the major leagues and one of the first athletes to be granted a delay in military service to play professional sports, was sent down. The 26-year-old was hitting .185 in 29 games with Reds.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox send right-hander Nick Pivetta (4-4, 3.88 ERA) to the mound to face Reds right-hander Frankie Montas (3-5, 4.62) as the series continues on Saturday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford pitches to a Cincinnati Reds batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Jonathan India throws to first for the out on Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida hits a foul tip against the Cincinnati Reds during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott throws to a Boston Red Sox batter during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida grounds out to Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong runs the bases after hitting a home run against the Cincinnati Reds during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford throws to a Cincinnati Reds batter during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India celebrates his home run against the Boston Red Sox during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds' Jonathan India, left, celebrates his home run against the Boston Red Sox with Will Benson during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Cincinnati Reds' Jeimer Candelario celebrates his home run against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 21, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

A small Texas university has gone to court to object to the $2.77 billion settlement proposal that would erase a set of antitrust claims against the NCAA and the nation's largest conferences and clear the way for schools to begin steering millions of dollars directly to athletes as soon as fall 2025.

Houston Christian filed its motion in federal court in California, arguing the settlement would divert funds from academics and marginalized and underserved populations as well as putting big-money college sports the over the needs of non-athlete students. The school contends its interests were not represented during settlement talks despite being an NCAA member.

Officials at smaller schools across the NCAA noted they were not consulted or informed about settlement details before they were announced last month and have said the financial impacts for them could be dire. The court filing by Houston Christian is first known official objection to the proposal, which will need approval from U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken to take effect.

Tyler Boyd, Houston Christian’s general counsel, said there could be more objections on the way.

“I think for other people that look into this case, it’s going to raise an issue of fiduciary responsibility,” Boyd said this week. “And whenever there’s a fiduciary responsibility issue raised, that goes to the core mission of the university, and are we living out the core mission of the university.”

The plan is intended to settle a host of federal antitrust claims and also clears the way for schools to share revenue with athletes, a dramatic step that all but ends the NCAA's longstanding amateurism model.

The defendants in the case included the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Bit 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences but also the NCAA, whose vast membership includes 1,100 schools that have athletic departments of varying sizes and budgets to match.

The NCAA will cover 41% of the $2.77 billion total — largely by lowering its annual payments to its member schools over 10 years — while the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC will cover 24%. The next five largest college football conferences (American Athletic, Mid-American, Conference USA, Mountain West ands Sun Belt) will cover 10%.

The remaining quarter of the total will be covered by non-football conferences in Division I and by conferences that compete in the second tier of D-I football, the Championship Subdivision. Houston Christian is a member of the latter group, competing in the Southland Conference that has 10 schools and some 4,200 athletes.

“Even now, without the proposed settlement, NCAA member institutions annually lose untold millions of dollars by participating in Division I sports. Only a select few ever generate enough revenue from athletics to cover their expenses,” the school said in its motion to intervene — formally take part — in the case. “The proposed settlement institutionalizes the diversion of money that would otherwise inure to the member institutions for the core mission of education and research, by requiring them to pay damages for athletes’ name, image, and likeness and establishing a continuing formula for doing so on a go-forward basis.”

HCU said 95% of its approximately 2,500 students receive financial aid. Boyd said Houston Christian believes someone has to look out for smaller schools with limited resources.

“I think it’s certainly unprecedented, and this is uncharted territory,” he said. “And the reason for the intervention is really just to have our voice be heard during these unprecedented times.”

Boyd said he wouldn’t be surprised to see other challenges from smaller schools or others looking to join Houston Christian's fight. He said the case is not anti-athlete, but rather is in favor of supporting regular students.

“Those institutions are going to have to look at this case," he said. “And it’s certainly up to them if they would want to get involved with our intervention.”

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

FILE - In this April 25, 2018, file photo, the NCAA headquarters is shown in Indianapolis. Houston Christian University's U.S. district court case might be just the beginning of the challenges the NCAA and the major conferences will face as they sort out how their schools will be able to potentially pay athletes. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)