NEW YORK (AP) — The Boston Red Sox, grounded for nearly 24 hours due to a pair of mechanical issues on their team plane, finally arrived at Citi Field on Friday afternoon, a little more than two hours before the scheduled first pitch of their series opener against the New York Mets.
The Red Sox got to the ballpark at 5:05 p.m. EDT, and the start of the game was pushed back by 35 minutes to 7:50 p.m.
“We’re here,” reliever Garrett Whitlock said, sitting in the dugout and sporting a tired smile.
The Red Sox expected to depart from Chicago on Thursday night, a few hours after they beat the White Sox 2-1 for their sixth straight win. But pitcher Peyton Tolle said the “tug” — which tows the planes around the runway — was malfunctioning.
The Red Sox remained on the tarmac until after midnight, at which point they went to a pair of hotels in Chicago. The team returned to the aircraft Friday morning but was delayed again by what interim manager Chad Tracy described as issues with “switches or light bulbs in the cockpit.”
Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, whose addition to the AL All-Star team was announced over the plane loudspeaker by Tracy before the second delay, said players listened to music and played cards.
Tolle said he ate about five doughnuts Friday, though most of his teammates had burritos.
“We tried to make light of the situation, we tried to have fun with it,” Tolle said. “But there was some frustration building, for sure.
“At one point, we kind of just looked at each other laughing because it was just ridiculous.”
The Red Sox finally took off a little before 3 p.m. EDT and landed at LaGuardia Airport around 4:30 p.m. Team employees said the roughly 2-mile drive to Citi Field was relatively easy during rush hour.
“Throw it back to travel ball days,” Whitlock said. “Show and go. Go out there and play, have fun.”
The Red Sox still planned to start Sonny Gray, who traveled with the team from Chicago.
“Nobody else you’d rather have start this baseball game than Sonny,” Tolle said. “It’s going to take a dog factor and Sonny has got that.”
The delay was the second in two weeks for the Red Sox. Their flight from Denver to Boston turned around after half an hour on June 24 due to a mechanical issue.
The Red Sox didn’t get home until around dawn on June 25 but beat the New York Yankees 6-3 hours later to start an 11-2 surge.
“I think it’s some adversity for us,” Rafaela said. “The message I sent to the guys was we have great momentum right now. That has to be our focus.”
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Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Tyron Guerrero, right, celebrates with catcher Connor Wong, left, after fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
NEW YORK (AP) — The family of a Mississippi 18-year-old who was found dead after a July 4 boat trip with friends to an island off the Gulf Coast called for a thorough and transparent investigation during a news conference Friday with the Rev. Al Sharpton, saying many of the details they're discovering don't add up.
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who was retained by the family of Nolan Xavier Wells earlier this week, has said the family has concerns about the investigation and planned to conduct an independent autopsy. Wells travelled by boat to Horn Island, Mississippi, on July 4 with a group of friends, but did not make the return trip with them that afternoon. His body was found early Monday morning, more than a day later.
While Jackson County Sheriff’s Office officials said investigators don't suspect foul play in the Black college student's death, the sheriff has asked for any witnesses or people with video from the popular beach island about 7 miles (11.27 kilometers) off the coast of Mississippi to come forward to help shed light on the moments before Wells' disappearance and death.
Wells' death has galvanized the Black community. Actor and producer Tyler Perry is helping pay for Wells’ funeral, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is helping pay for his independent autopsy and filmmaker Spike Lee showed up to the news conference to show support for Wells’ family.
Wells, who would have turned 19 next month, attended Southwest Mississippi Community College, where he played wide receiver on the football team. His family members have raised concerns, saying they’ve seen video of a fight allegedly involving their son, and saying that as an elite athlete he was able to swim.
Attorneys said Friday that the friends who left Wells on the island took his phone and keys when they departed. Crump said Wells' family used an app to track his phone, and a friend went to where it was on land to pick it up.
“What teenager would leave their phone behind if they’re going to stay on this island? What teenager wouldn’t take their phone? It’s not adding up at all," Crump said.
He added that the family believes text messages from social media apps had been deleted from his phone when they got it back, and they plan to employ experts to try to retrieve all the data they can.
A photo posted to social media, allegedly from the boat ride to the island, shows Wells with his arms around three white, male friends. Speculation and suspicion about the teen’s death have been rampant online, as people grapple with the state’s history of racial tension and what it means to be a Black person in a majority white space.
Wells' mother, Christine Wonsley, looked to the sky several times as lawyers spoke Friday, to hold back tears. When she spoke, she said this was not how she wanted the world to know her son.
Wonsley said they had taught him about history, but he was a peacemaker who didn't like division, and wanted everyone to be included.
“We just wanna know what happened,” she said, through tears. “And why our baby didn't come home.”
Crump called for a thorough investigation, saying to law enforcement, "They want to know that you have not taken the path of least resistance.”
“If the roles were reversed and you had three young Black men on a boat with a young white man and that young white man ended up dead, what kind of investigation would be conducted by the Mississippi law enforcement officials? How many times would those three young Black men be interrogated?” he added.
It's the second case that Crump has taken on in the state in recent months. He also was recently retained by the family of a Mississippi 1-year-old who was killed when police fired into a moving car.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said earlier this week that Wells' mother had called to report him missing around midnight into the morning of July 5. Crews from multiple local and state agencies began an extensive search Sunday of the island and surrounding waters. His body was recovered early Monday, family members confirmed.
An official autopsy was conducted Tuesday, though officials have said it could be weeks before results are released. Ledbetter said Wells’ friends were cooperating with the investigation.
“From the people we’ve talked to, it sounds like he chose to stay on the island with the assumption that he was going to ride back to the mainland with someone else,” Ledbetter told The Associated Press earlier this week.
Crump and Wells' family said some of those details didn't seem to add up either, saying from the videos they had seen Wells was one of, if not the only, Black person on the island where there were around 200 people celebrating the holiday. They said the girl the friends said Wells was speaking to gave a different story about him leaving with those friends. They raised questions about why no one would have given him a ride home if he chose to stay.
“If he’s drowning, nobody sees him drown? Nobody offers assistance? Nobody tries to help? I mean, obviously he stands out. I think he’s the only Black person I saw when I’m looking at the videos,” Crump said.
AP reporter Jake Offenhartz contributed to this report.
Ben Crump, civil rights attorney, speaks during a news conference with Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Elmore Wonsley, father of Nolan Xavier Wells, speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Christine and Elmore Wonsley, parents of Nolan Xavier Wells, react during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A person holds a picture of Nolan Xavier Wells during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Christine Wonsley, mother of Nolan Xavier Wells, reacts as she speaks during a news conference at National Action Network headquarters, Friday, July 10, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
