BOSTON (AP) — At 37-years-old, Boston closer Aroldis Chapman routinely lights up the radar gun at 100 mph. He also sees a bigger number he’d like to reach.
Chapman pitched a perfect ninth inning Wednesday and earned his 350th career save as the Red Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 in the completion of a game suspended by rain a night earlier.
“My goal is to reach 400,” said Chapman through a team translator. “I know that’s not an easy task to accomplish, but I’m going to keep working hard to accomplish that goal.”
Chapman, now in his 18th season in the majors, has been hurt at times during his career by wildness and knew that was something he had to fix. The left-hander has walked just 10 in 35 innings this season and converted 15 of 16 save opportunities.
“The thing I know is that during the offseason I worked very hard to get this point to be able to not walk as many guys as I did in the past because it was one of the problems I had,” Chapman said to the media in the middle of clubhouse, with sweat still dripping from his forehead.
“To be able to accomplish that is great.”
On Wednesday, he struck out Elly De La Cruz, the third batter in the Reds’ lineup, with a 101.3 mph sinker. Next, he got cleanup hitter Austin Hays to bounce to short before Gavin Lux also grounded to short for the final out.
“It’s the same for every hitter,” he said, when asked if facing the middle of the order created any more adrenaline. “You know that the three-four hitters are coming up against you.”
The final two outs came on pitches of 99 mph or more.
Chapman also finds some satisfaction in hitting that high number on the radar gun at his age.
“I won’t say proud,” he said. “But I would say happy that I’m able to get to that velocity and also that my arm is healthy and in pretty good shape."
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Boston Red Sox pitcher Aroldis Chapman throws during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Boston Red Sox pitcher Aroldis Chapman, right, is congratulated by catcher Carlos Narváez (75) after defeating the Cincinnati Reds following the ninth inning of a baseball game, a continuation of a game the night before which was suspended due to rain, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, at Fenway Park, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Indiana is the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the first time after going through the regular season and Big Ten championship game 13-0, ending Ohio State’s 14-week run atop the rankings.
The Hoosiers’ 13-10 win over the Buckeyes in Indianapolis on Saturday night made them the unanimous pick for No. 1 as they looked ahead to top seeding for their second straight appearance in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Georgia, which beat Alabama by three touchdowns in the Southeastern Conference title game, moved up one spot to No. 2 for its highest ranking of the season. Ohio State, the defending national champion, slipped two spots to No. 3.
Texas Tech, a 27-point winner over BYU in the Big 12 championship game, also has its highest ranking of the season after rising one rung to No. 4.
Oregon was No. 5 and followed by Mississippi, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Miami.
Miami moved up two spots and returned to the top 10 for the first time since mid-October. Alabama and BYU each dropped one spot, to Nos. 11 and 12.
Among Group of Five teams, American Conference champion Tulane jumped four spots to No. 17 for its highest ranking in two years. Sun Belt Conference champion James Madison remained No. 19.
The final AP Top 25 will be released Jan. 20, the day after the national championship game.
— Indiana, which had the most losses in major college football history prior to Curt Cignetti’s arrival two years ago, had never been ranked higher than No. 2 before Sunday. That was the position the Hoosiers held for seven straight weeks before they rose to the top. They were 100 ballot points ahead of Georgia. The Bulldogs were just 12 points ahead of Ohio State.
— With the limited schedule of games, all teams that were in the Top 25 remained in the poll.
— Virginia took the biggest fall after losing in overtime to Duke in the ACC championship game, going from No. 16 to No. 20.
SEC (8 ranked teams): Nos. 2 Georgia, 6 Mississippi, 7 Texas A&M, 8 Oklahoma, 11 Alabama, 13 Vanderbilt, 14 Texas, 25 Missouri.
Big Ten (5): Nos. 1 Indiana, 3 Ohio State, 5 Oregon, 16 Southern California, 18 Michigan.
Big 12 (4): Nos. 4 Texas Tech, 12 BYU, 15 Utah, 20 Arizona.
ACC (3): Nos. 10 Miami, 21 Virginia, 24 Georgia Tech.
American (3): Nos. 17 Tulane, 22 Navy, 23 North Texas.
Independent (1): No. 9 Notre Dame.
Sun Belt (1): No. 19 James Madison.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch (1) celebrates his touchdown against Alabama during the second half of a Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
