Entering Monday night, the Red Sox had been the beneficiaries of eight consecutive quality starts. But that streak came to an inglorious end, with predictable results.
Doug Fister was shelled for five runs on seven hits in just 4.1 innings, as the Red Sox were roughed by the Cleveland Indians, 7-3. It was just the second loss for the Red Sox in the last dozen games.
The five runs charged to Fister were as many as he had given up in his previous two starts combined.
Cleveland got two two-run homers from DH Edwin Encarnacion -- one off Fister and the second off Heath Hembree -- accounting for four of its seven runs.
The Sox got two solo homers from Rafael Devers -- giving him three in the last two games and six in his 16-game major league career to date -- and one from Andrew Benintendi, who collected his fourth homer and 10th RBI in the last four games. But the Sox were otherwise 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Until Monday night, the Sox had been undefeated (8-0) when they hit three homers in a game this season.
GAME NO.:118
WHO: Red Sox (67-50) vs. Cleveland Indians (63-52)
WHERE: Fenway Park
WHEN: 6:10 PM
TV: NESN
RADIO: WEEI (93.7 FM)
PITCHERS: Doug Fister (2-5, 5.95) vs. Trevor Bauer (10-8, 4.79)
BOX SCORE: MLB Gameday
SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox lead 2-0. The Indians visited Fenway earlier this month and the Red Sox took the first two games of the series before the third one was rained out and re-scheduled for Monday night. This will be the first of five games between the two teams over the next 11 days, with the Sox set to visit Cleveland for a four-game series next week.
WHERE THINGS STAND: The Sox are coming off a 4-1 road trip against their next-closest competitors in the American League East and return home for a six-game homestand with a larger lead than when they left. Overall, the Sox have won 9 of their last 10 and sit a season-high 17 games over .500. The Indians just took three of four from the Rays in Tampa Bay and are 6-4 in their last 10 with a 4.5 game lead over second-place Minnesota.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Fister has rebounded with two strong starts of late, pitching into the seventh inning in each of his last two starts while allowing just five runs in 14 innings. Jason Kipnis (12-for-27, .444) has traditionally hit him well. Bauer is on his best roll of the season, with three straight starts of at least seven innings and just one run allowed. In limited opportunities, Mookie Betts (3-for-5, home run) has fared well against him.
STAT OF NOTE: Cleveland starters have held opponents to one or no runs in eight of their last 10 games.
LINEUPS:
RED SOX
Nunez DH
Benintendi LF
Betts RF
Moreland 1B
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Holt 2B
Vazquez C
Bradley CF
INDIANS
Lindor SS
Kipnis 2B
Ramirez 3B
Encarnacion DH
Bruce RF
Santana 1B
Zimmer CF
Almonte LF
Perez C
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Matt Barnes has been a much different pitcher on the road than he has been at Fenway. At home, he's got a 1.55 ERA and an .897 WHIP. On the road, he's posted a 5.20 ERA with a WHIP of 1.373. On Sunday night at Yankee Stadium, he issued two walks, a base hit and a sacrifice fly to the five hitters he faced in the eighth inning, continuing a trend. For the season, he's averaged 4.75 walks per nine innings on the road compared to 1.39 at home. "That's something we continually talk to Matt about,'' said John Farrell. "He's comfortable with the home mound here at Fenway. That goes a long way, in his case, to landing a first-pitch curve ball, which is part of his attack plan. As we've seen on the road, that can kind of set the tone for the at-bats that are unfolding. His importance to that bullpen and the role that he's been in all year -- the more consistent strike-throwing on the road is the biggest thing.''
- Pablo Sandoval, released by the Red Sox last month, continues to take shots at his two and a half year stay in Boston. He wrote a piece that appeared in The Players Tribune Monday, noting that he never really felt comfortable in Boston. "I'm aware of some of the comments that he made,'' said Farrell. "Coming to Boston was his choice. Whether it was leaving an organization that he grew up in, so to speak, (and) going to a place under the circumstances in which he did -- lot of expectations, a pressurized place...For one reason or another -- I think he outlined many -- that might have been the reason why he didn't feel comfortable. I think we (took) many steps that took into account his needs, on and off the field, as best we could.''
- Whatever had been working for Doug Fister in his previous two starts stopped working tonight. Fister left too many pitches out over the plate, resulting in some hard-hit balls. It didn't help that he issued four walks in just 4.1 innings, including three in the second inning alone. Two of those walks resulted in runs scored. Worse, for the Red Sox, is that the bullpen hasn't shut the door. Heath Hembree was shelled for a two-run homer by Edwin Encarnacion (he previously hit a two-run shot off Fister in the three-run second).
- The Rafael Devers Show continues. As if his game-tying homer off Aroldis Chapman wasn't impressive enough, he's hit two more homers here tonight -- one the opposite way to the Monster Seats and another pulled into the visitor's bullpen. He also made a spectacular play on Jason Kipnis in the sixth, diving to backhand a hot shot, then getting to his feet to make the play at first. Just to prove to everyone that he's not infallible, Devers did bobble a ball hit at him by Jose Ramirez. He gathered the bobble quickly and threw to first and initially, Ramirez was ruled out. But the Indians challenged the call, which was reversed and Devers was assessed an error -- his fourth in 16 games.