CLEVELAND – The weather had cooled considerably, dipping about 15 degrees from the day before and after seven innings, there was one run total between the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians.
The calendar said late August, but in many ways, it felt very much like October. Or, more accurately, what it might feel like this October.
In the standings, the Sox and Indians look destined to meet again in the American League Division Series for the second straight fall, and Wednesday seemed like a preview of things to come.
Certainly, the starters rose to the occasion. Corey Kluber fanned a dozen and allowed just one run, a solo homer Mitch Moreland. But Drew Pomeranz was nearly his equal, though four walks led to an escalating pitch count and a hook in the sixth. Still, Pomeranz was dominant, with one hit allowed and nine strikeouts of his own.
Playoff baseball, in other words. And never mind the final score: 6-1, Red Sox.
“I think most of the games here have kind of felt like that,’’ said Pomeranz, who showed absolutely no ill effects from the back spasms that forced him from his last start. “They’re intense games, must-win games. After playing them last year, it does kind of feel like the playoffs.’’
Into the fifth inning, Kluber carved up the Red Sox lineup with ease, retiring 14 of the first 15 hitters he faced, twice fanning the side. The lone hit off him was an infield hit by Eduardo Nunez.
But then Moreland took Kluber deep for his 15th and the Sox had the slimmest of leads. While he lasted, Pomeranz made sure it stood up.
“I don’t really like to look at the other pitcher,’’ said Pomeranz, “because I still have to go out and do my job. If I do my job, it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side.’’
The walks cut his night short, but while he was on the mound, he managed to pitch around the baserunners. The Indians were 1-for-11 with runners on base, as he deftly navigated through a few rough patches.
“He was sharp,’’ enthused John Farrell of Pomeranz. “Good curveball, I thought he had good power to his fastball and against a team that, let’s face it, can swing the bat well. And on a night when there was absolutely no margin for error against Kluber, that was a well-pitched game – on both sides.’’
Locked in a 1-1 duel into the eighth, the Sox got an important second run off Kluber after two were out. A walk, a hit batsman and a single by Mookie Betts off third baseman Giovanny Urshela’s glove may not constitute a huge rally, but it was enough to double the lead.
“Hell, two runs (off Kluber) felt like an accomplishment,’’ said Farrell.
The game marked the second straight night a Red Sox starting pitcher limited the Indians to a low-hit game. Doug Fister allowed one in a complete-game effort Tuesday, and Pomeranz followed suit with two hits – both singles – allowed in 5.1 innings.
In 12 road starts this season, Pomeranz has posted a 3.09 ERA and has limited the opposition to two runs or fewer in 10 of those games. The lefty hasn’t lost in better than two months (June 11 was his last loss) and the Sox are 13-4 in his last 17 starts.
In the ninth, the Sox padded on four runs off the Cleveland bullpen, giving the game a deceptively one-sided look on the scoreboard. But for eight innings, the Sox led by more than a run for exactly five batters: the time it took to go from the single by Betts in the top of the inning to a two-out, solo homer from Edwin Encarnacion off Addison Reed in the eighth.
No fooling. No margin for error.
“It was almost like a playoff game,’’ said Nunez, who cranked a two-run homer in the ninth as the Sox added on. “It’s a big series.’’
In six games between the two teams this year, the Red Sox own a 4-2 edge and are assured of no less than a split in this four-game showdown, with Chris Sale going Thursday in the series finale.
If you’re curious, the Sox lead the Indians by three games in the standings with six weeks left, in case these things matter come October.