Will Brennan homers, Guardians beat Red Sox 6-0 to spoil Boston's Patriots’ Day game

BOSTON (AP) — Will Brennan hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Red Sox 6-0 on Monday in Boston’s traditional Patriots’ Day game.

José Ramirez and Gabriel Arias each added an RBI double for Cleveland, which has started 8-2 on the road.

Wearing their white jerseys with red letters that read “Boston” across the front, which was inspired by the first game back after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, the Red Sox were held to three hits.

Boston left fielder Tyler O’Neill had to leave the game in the eighth after colliding with third baseman Rafael Devers when the two were chasing a shallow pop up.

“He has a big gash here,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said while pointing at his forehead, talking about O'Neill. “He got eight stitches. He's going through the concussion protocol, hopefully everything's fine.”

Cora said Devers told him he feels fine, but would go through concussion protocol.

Making his season debut after starting on the injured list due to a viral illness, Guardians starter Xzavion Curry held the Red Sox to two singles over five innings.

“It's tough to get the body going for an 11 a.m. game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He was hungry for the start. We could have started at 6 this morning and I think he would have been ready to go.”

The 25-year-old righty was isolated in the team’s hotel in spring training for days and lost 15 pounds. He looked ready to go for the 11:13 a.m. first pitch after a pair of minor-league rehab starts, where he posted a 1.29 ERA with eight strikeouts over seven innings.

“Actually, when I had a rehab start I had to pitch during the day,” Curry said. “I kind of like pitching during the day because I can wake up and I'm right at it. I don't have to let my mind ponder how the game's going to go. I can wake up and kind of get to it.”

Brennan hooked his homer around the Pesky Pole in right off reliever Greg Weissert. Brennan Bernardino (0-1) was charged with the loss.

Tim Herrin (1-0) worked two innings of hitless relief for the win.

Boston right fielder Wilyer Abreu made a splendid leaping, over-the-shoulder catch before he tumbled into the base of the bullpen wall on Ramirez’s fly ball in the first inning.

Boston has been scheduled to play on Patriots’ Day in Fenway Park every year since 1959. The game is played in conjunction with the running of the Boston Marathon that passes through Kenmore Square, which is a block behind the Green Monster and about a mile from the finish line.

Former New England Patriots player Rob Gronkowski spiked the ceremonial first pitch, going to the stretch before throwing it into the mound. It brought a huge roar from the crowd.

Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford struck out six over 5 2/3 scoreless, giving up two hits.

“Some guys that are scuffling right now, but we should be OK,” Cora said about his team's offense.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Guardians: President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said LHP Logan Allen was fine after getting hit on the pitching elbow in Sunday’s walk-off win over the Yankees. “One of the underlying stories that likely got overshadowed was Logan getting hit,” he said. “Thankfully it looks like he’s OK.” … Ramirez fouled a ball off his shin but stayed in.

Red Sox: Third baseman Devers returned to the lineup after missing the previous four games with a sore left shoulder. … Cora said RHP Nick Pivetta (right elbow flexor strain) felt good after throwing for the second time Sunday, but there was no timetable yet on his return.

UP NEXT

Guardians: RHP Tanner Bibee (1-0, 5.93 ERA) looks to rebound from a rough start on Tuesday in the second of the four-game series. In his previous outing, he gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings against the White Sox on April 10.

Red Sox: RHP Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 1.26) is in line to start for Boston. He’s given up just two earned runs in his three starts, covering 14 1/3 innings.

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Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers, center, collides with teammate Tyler O'Neil after making the catch on a pop out by Cleveland Guardians' Estevan Florial as Ceddanne Rafaela, right, looks on during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu, right, steals second base as Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio gets the late throw during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Former New England Patriots NFL football player Rob Gronkowski, right, reacts with Boston Red Sox's Tanner Houck, left, after spiking the ball instead of throwing it during the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Former New England Patriots NFL football player Rob Gronkowski reacts after spiking the ball instead of throwing it during the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Former New England Patriots NFL football player Rob Gronkowski spikes the ball instead of throwing it during the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Guardians, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran makes the catch on the fly out by Cleveland Guardians' Andrés Giménez during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Cleveland Guardians' Xzavion Curry pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Boston Red Sox's Cutter Crawford pitches against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Cleveland Guardians' Will Brennan follows through on his two-run home run in front of Boston Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia and North Carolina's refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a case likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 in the case involving coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid.

“The coverage exclusions facially discriminate on the basis of sex and gender identity, and are not substantially related to an important government interest,” Judge Roger Gregory, first appointed by former President Bill Clinton and re-appointed by former President George W. Bush, wrote in the majority opinion.

The ruling follows a decision earlier this month by 4th Circuit judges that West Virginia's transgender sports ban violates the rights of a teen athlete under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools.

Like with the transgender sports law ruling, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said his office planned to appeal Monday's health care case decision.

“Decisions like this one, from a court dominated by Obama- and Biden-appointees, cannot stand: we’ll take this up to the Supreme Court and win,” Morrisey said in a statement.

After the ruling, West Virginia plaintiff Shauntae Anderson, a Black transgender woman and West Virginia Medicaid participant, called her state's refusal to cover her care “deeply dehumanizing.”

“I am so relieved that this court ruling puts us one step closer to the day when Medicaid can no longer deny transgender West Virginians access to the essential healthcare that our doctors say is necessary for us,” Anderson said in a statement.

A spokesperson for North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell, whose department oversees the state's health plan, said the agency was still reviewing the decision Monday but would have a response later.

During oral arguments in September, at least two judges said it’s likely the case will eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Both states appealed separate lower court rulings that found the denial of gender-affirming care to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. Two panels of three Fourth Circuit judges heard arguments in both cases last year before deciding to intertwine the two cases and see them presented before the full court.

In June 2022, a North Carolina trial court demanded the state plan pay for “medically necessary services,” including hormone therapy and some surgeries, for transgender employees and their children. The judge had ruled in favor of the employees and their dependents, who said in a 2019 lawsuit that they were denied coverage for gender-affirming care under the plan.

The North Carolina state insurance plan provides medical coverage for more than 750,000 teachers, state employees, retirees, lawmakers and their dependents. While it provides counseling for gender dysphoria and other diagnosed mental health conditions, it does not cover treatment “in connection with sex changes or modifications and related care.”

In August 2022, a federal judge ruled West Virginia’s Medicaid program must provide coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender residents.

An original lawsuit filed in 2020 also named state employee health plans. A settlement with The Health Plan of West Virginia Inc. in 2022 led to the removal of the exclusion on gender-affirming care in that company’s Public Employees Insurance Agency plans.

During September’s oral arguments, attorneys for the state of North Carolina said the state-sponsored plan is not required to cover gender-affirming hormone therapy or surgery because being transgender is not an illness. They claimed only a subset of transgender people suffer from gender dysphoria, a diagnosis of distress over gender identity that does not match a person’s assigned sex.

Before offering pharmaceutical or surgical intervention, medical guidelines call for thorough psychological assessments to confirm gender dysphoria before starting any treatment.

West Virginia attorneys said the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has declined to issue a national coverage decision on gender-affirming surgery.

State lawyers said West Virginia's policy is not a case of discrimination, either, but of a state trying to best utilize limited resources. West Virginia has a $128 million deficit in Medicaid for the next year, projected to expand to $256 million in 2025.

Unlike North Carolina, the state has covered hormone therapy and other pharmaceutical treatments for transgender people since 2017.

FILE - Connor Thonen-Fleck addresses reporters while his parents stand by his side, March 11, 2019, in Durham, N.C. West Virginia and North Carolina's refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, April 29, 2024 in a case likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. (AP Photo/ Jonathan Drew, FIle)