Red Sox beat Cubs 4-3 in doubleheader opener, assure Wild Card Series matchup against Yankees

BOSTON (AP) — Connor Wong hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in a doubleheader opener on Friday that clinched the No. 5 seed in the American League playoffs.

Boston will plays its Wild Card Series for the second year in a row at the New York Yankees, who won last season's best-of-three matchup 2-1. It will be the seventh Red Sox-Yankees postseason series.

Wind knocked down flies toward the Green Monster in left ahead of a forecast weekend storm, turning potential homers into doubles off the wall. Tyrone Taylor’s first-inning RBI double was held up by 59 feet and Miguel Amaya’s two-run double in the second by 60 feet, according to Weather Applied Metrics.

The opener was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon but was moved up because a significant storm was forecast.

Roman Anthony had two doubles and a triple, and scored three runs.

Chicago’s Alex Bregman was 0 for 4 with a strikeout as a designated hitter, his first game since sustaining multiple face fractures when hit by a foul ball in the on-deck circle at Cincinnati last Sunday.

Greg Weissert (4-2) pitched 1 1/3 innings and Raymond Burgos two innings for his second save, part of a Boston bullpen that didn't allow a hit after the sixth inning.

Starter Alec Gamboa gave up three runs and four hits in two innings for Chicago, which entered in the second NL wild card spot.

Aaron Civale (6-8) gave up Anthony's triple and Wong's double in a three-pitch span.

Mickey Gasper started the game at catcher for Boston but was replaced in the sixth inning by Connor Wong after experiencing right biceps discomfort.

Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, Boston tied the score on an Adley Rutschman slow-rolling single up the middle that scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony.

Cubs LHP David Peterson (9-8, 4.96 ERA) and Red Sox RHP Brayan Bello (6-7, 4.49) were to start Friday's nightcap.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Chicago Cubs infielder Michael Busch flips a ground ball hit by Boston Red Sox' Adley Rutschman to pitcher Clay Holmes for an out during the first inning in the the first baseball game of a doubleheader, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

Chicago Cubs' Miguel Amaya reacts on his way to first base after getting hit by a pitch during the seventh inning of the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

Boston Red Sox' Jarren Duran reacts after drawing a walk during the fourth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

Boston Red Sox' Roman Anthony hits a triple during the seventh inning of the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

NEW YORK (AP) — A cooldown in oil prices on Friday helped release some of the pressure that’s built up on Wall Street, and U.S. stocks closed out their first winning week in the last three.

The S&P 500 added 0.5% to break a three-day losing streak marked by big swings due to rising yields in the bond market. Despite the week’s uneasiness, the main measure of the U.S. stock market’s health pulled back within 0.7% of its all-time high set last month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 478 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%.

Stocks got a boost after the price for a barrel of Brent oil dropped 2.8% to $97.44 per barrel. It’s been yo-yoing on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow oil to flow freely again from the Middle East. Prices go down when hopes rise for a possible deal to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, and they go up when doubts resurface.

But trading was shaky again on Wall Street Friday, particularly after a report on U.S. consumer sentiment sent Treasury yields higher in the morning.

The report from the University of Michigan said U.S. consumers are bracing for inflation of 4.6% in the coming year, up from their forecast of 4% the month before. It also said that overall sentiment among consumers was not as bad as economists expected, even if it was the lowest in four months.

The rising expectations for high inflation are potentially dangerous for the economy because they could encourage behavior that leads to a vicious cycle that makes the cost of living spiral even higher.

Some consumers told the survey that buying some kinds of products now would help them avoid higher prices in the future. If many rush to make such purchases at the same time, it could encourage sellers to raise prices further.

Following the report on consumer sentiment, the yield on the 10-year Treasury briefly jumped to 5.22%, up from 5.18% late Thursday, and was near its highest level since 2007.

High yields slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, while undercutting prices for stocks and other investments. The 10-year yield has been jumping since the start of the war with Iran, when it was at 3.97%.

Higher yields worldwide are rattling all kinds of financial markets. They’re on the rise because of worries about inflation, expensive oil, big government debt loads, signs of continued economic strength and other factors.

But yields eased later in trading on Friday as the price of oil pulled lower, and the 10-year yield fell back to 5.15%. That helped stocks on Wall Street regain strength.

Helping to drive the market higher was Akamai Technologies. The cloud company’s stock rose 3.2% after it announced an $11.6 billion, multiyear agreement with Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI chatbot.

Costco Wholesale climbed 2.9% after the retailer reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Such strong profit reports from U.S. companies have helped the stock market remain resilient despite all the worries about high inflation and oil prices.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 39.28 points to 7,743.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 478.64 to 51,828.62, and the Nasdaq composite gained 129.34 to 27,068.72.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following bigger moves in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1%.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

Michael Pistillo works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

John O'Hara works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)