ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Boston Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers has become the first major league player to strike out 10 times in the first three games of a season.
Devers went 0 for 4 with three more strikeouts Saturday night in Boston's 4-3 loss to the Texas Rangers, including his last at-bat in the ninth inning when he swung and missed a 92.3 mph cutter from former teammate Chris Martin. Devers is 0 for 12 this season, though did draw a bases-loaded walk in the second.
The 10 strikeouts broke the previous record of nine in the first three games, which had been done five times previously since 1901, according to SportRadar.
Brent Rooker of the Athletics struck out nine time to open last season, after Cincinnati's Will Benson did that in 2023. The others were Colorado’s Jack Cust in 2002, Philadelphia’s Greg Luzinski in 1974 and Wally Post for Cincinnati in 1956.
Devers is now solely the Red Sox DH after their offseason acquisition of third baseman Alex Bregman.
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Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu, left, celebrates with Rafael Devers (11) after the team's win against th Texas Rangers in an opening-day baseball game, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers heads to the dugout after striking out during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Paul Brown just moved up a few spots on the NFL career coaching wins list.
The NFL owners approved a proposal by Competition Committee on Tuesday to incorporate player, coach and team statistics from the All-America Football Conference into the official NFL records.
The AAFC existed from 1946-49 with Paul Brown's Cleveland team winning the title in each of those years. The Browns, San Francisco 49ers and original Baltimore Colts then joined the NFL in 1950. The Colts disbanded after one year before returning as a new franchise in 1953.
The AAFC had published a statistical supplement after its final season in 1949 that included single-game records, but scoresheets from all the individual games weren't available at the time. But those scoresheets have now been recovered and after consultation with the Elias Sports Bureau and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the stats are now part of the official record.
The NFL incorporated stats from the AFL into its official record after the leagues merged in 1970.
That gives Brown 52 additional regular-season and playoff wins to his previous total of 170, moving him from 22nd place all time to seventh with 222.
The incorporation of the AAFC stats includes the 1948 season when the Browns went 14-0 in the regular season and then won the championship game for a perfect 15-0 season.
Only one NFL team has gone through a regular season and playoffs undefeated, with the 1972 Miami Dolphins going 17-0. Some of the members of that team celebrate the accomplishment each year with Champagne after every team in the NFL has at least one loss.
They can still do that as the NFL's only undefeated team in the playoff era that began in 1933 with the NFL planning to list the AAFC champions separately in the record book.
The quality of the AAFC as a league was shown when the Browns won the NFL title in 1950 in their first year in the new league. There are two coaches and 15 players from the AAFC in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including notable names like Otto Graham, Lou Groza, Elroy Hirsch, Tom Landry, Marion Motley, Joe Perry and YA Tittle.
Tittle now moves from 65th in career yards passing to 44th — between Steve Young and Troy Aikman — and Motley's 5.7 yards per carry are the best ever for any running back with at least 750 carries and fourth best for any player. Groza moves from 41st all-time in scoring to 24th with 1,608 points.
For team records, the 1948 49ers now have the single-season rushing record with 3,663 yards, eclipsing the previous mark of 3,296 by the Ravens in 2019. San Francisco's 6.07 yards per carry that season are also the new record, ahead of Baltimore's 5.76 this past season.
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FILE - Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown diagrams one of his pass plays on the blackboard, Sept. 26, 1947, in Cleveland. (AP Photo, File)
