CHICAGO (AP) — Garrett Crochet struck out 11 in 7 1/3 innings in his first start against his former team, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep.
Trevor Story hit a two-run double and a solo homer for Boston, which had dropped five of six. Alex Bregman had two hits and scored a run.
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Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story hits a two-run double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox right fielder Brooks Baldwin can't make the play on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox right fielder Brooks Baldwin can't make the play on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story celebrates after hitting a two-run double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu celebrates with teammates after scoring on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez, left, celebrates with starting pitcher Garrett Crochet after the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman celebrates with teammates after scoring on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet throws against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Crochet (2-1) lost his bid for a no-hitter when Chase Meidroth hit a one-out single in the eighth. The ace left-hander was lifted after Meidroth’s grounder went into left field.
Crochet was traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox in December for a package of four prospects that included Meidroth.
Matt Thaiss hit an RBI single off Garrett Whitlock, but Joshua Palacios struck out and Miguel Vargas flied out to left.
Story hit his third homer in the ninth, and Aroldis Chapman got three outs for his third save.
Shane Smith (0-1) pitched six innings of two-run ball for Chicago.
Crochet went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts last year for a White Sox team that went 41-121. He was picked for the AL All-Star team in his first season as a starter.
Boston had runners on first and second with two out in the sixth when Story lofted a fly ball to the right-field corner into a strong wind. Brooks Baldwin got his glove on the ball at the wall, but it fell for a two-run double.
Crochet threw 96 pitches, 65 for strikes.
The Red Sox send right-hander Tanner Houck (0-1, 4.41 ERA) to the mound against Shane Baz (1-0, 1.38 ERA) at Tampa Bay on Monday. White Sox right-hander Sean Burke (1-2, 6.08 ERA) starts against the Athletics in Chicago on Tuesday.
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Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story hits a two-run double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox right fielder Brooks Baldwin can't make the play on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago White Sox right fielder Brooks Baldwin can't make the play on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story celebrates after hitting a two-run double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu celebrates with teammates after scoring on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez, left, celebrates with starting pitcher Garrett Crochet after the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox's Alex Bregman celebrates with teammates after scoring on a two-run double by Boston Red Sox's Trevor Story during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet throws against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Preparations for the conclave to find a new pope accelerated Friday with the installation of the chimney out of the Sistine Chapel that will signal the election of a successor to Pope Francis.
Vatican firefighters were seen on the roof of the Sistine Chapel installing the chimney, a key moment in the preparation for the May 7 conclave.
After every two rounds of voting in the Sistine Chapel, the ballots of the cardinals are burned in a special furnace to indicate the outcome to the outside world.
If no pope is chosen, the ballots are mixed with cartridges containing potassium perchlorate, anthracene (a component of coal tar) and sulfur to produce black smoke. But if there is a winner, the burning ballots are mixed with potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin to produce the white smoke.
The white smoke came out of the chimney on the fifth ballot on March 13, 2013, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was introduced to the world as Pope Francis a short time later from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica. Francis, history's first Latin American pope, died April 21 at age 88.
The chimney installation took place as cardinals arrived in the Vatican for another day of pre-conclave discussions about the needs of the Catholic Church going forward and the type of pope needed to run it.
These consultations include all cardinals, including those over age 80 who are ineligible to vote in the conclave itself.
In recent days, they have heard reports about the Vatican’s dire financial situation, and have had the chance to speak individually about priorities going forward and problems they identified in Francis' pontificate.
Francis was a somewhat divisive pope, beloved by some for his focus on the poor and marginalized, but criticized by others who accused him of sowing confusion among the faithful on issues of morality and church law. These conservatives and traditionalists, who are not believed to have a majority among the 135 cardinal electors, are hoping a new pope will reassert core church teachings and act as a stabilizing figure in the Vatican bureaucracy.
Cardinal Beniamino Stella, who headed the Vatican office for clergy under Francis until his retirement in 2021, has been among the older, non-voting cardinals who has spoken during the pre-conclave sessions. According to America, the magazine of the U.S. Jesuits, Stella this week strongly criticized Francis’ reform of the Vatican bureaucracy that allowed women and lay people to head Holy See offices rather than clergy.
That reform, contained in a 2022 constitution, overhauled the Vatican bureaucracy and fulfilled a key mandate Francis received from cardinals going into the 2013 conclave that elected him pope. But some have criticized the reform, which was nine years in the works and sought to make the Holy See more service-oriented and efficient.
Francis named two laymen to head the Vatican communications operation and the economy ministry. More significantly, he named two nuns to head two of the most important Vatican offices: Sister Simona Brambilla as head of the Vatican office responsible for all the world’s Catholic religious orders, and Sister Raffaella Petrini as head of the Vatican City State administration. In that position, Petrini runs the city state and is responsible for everything from the Vatican Museums that provide the Holy See with most of its revenue, to the firefighters who installed the chimney on the Sistine Chapel Friday.
Their appointments were tangible evidence of Francis’ belief that women should have a greater decision-making role in church governance. But Stella, according to unnamed cardinals cited by America, objected to Francis’ decision to separate the power of governance in the church from the priesthood.
It is unclear what influence older cardinals such as Stella, who at age 83 will not actually cast a vote, will have on the younger cardinal electors. In general, cardinals of the more conservative old guard have stresesed the need for unity over pursuing Francis' more radical legacy.
“The pope has to ensure the unity of all of the church," said Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the retired head of the Vatican's evangelization office. "This is first and foremost. Everything else comes after,” the 79-year-old cardinal said as he arrived Friday for the pre-conclave discussions.
Cardinal Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, the 68-year-old archbishop of Santiago, Chile, said the variety of points of view was useful in the pre-conclave meetings. Francis made Chomali a cardinal in December after appointing him to head the Chilean church through the continued fallout of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
“For me, that I come from Chile, a far away country, hearing such different experiences is an enrichment, not only for me but for all of the church,” he said as he entered Friday.
A woman begs for money outside St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Firefighters place the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals will gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
FILE - Visitors admire the Sistine Chapel inside the Vatican Museums on the occasion of the museum's reopening, in Rome, May 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)
