CLEVELAND -- All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 4-3 loss to the Indians, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Bogaerts leaves with shoulder injury: The Red Sox got quite the scare in the seventh inning when Xander Bogaerts felt a "pinch'' in his left shoulder after a few awkward swings. On the third, as he winced some, Alex Cora came out to check on him and brought a trainer with him. After a minute or two of discussions, Bogaerts left the game in the middle of the at-bat, replaced by Tzu-Wei Lin. "I think I just took some weird swings, an awkward swing,'' recalled Bogaerts. "I swung weird at an inside pitch. I was trying to stay in, but Cora, I respect him so much and in that situation, it's hard as a player to (come out). In the heat of the moment, it was really hard for me to come out. But I have so much respect for him. I tried to convince him, but he said 'no,'' in a way that I could not come back with an answer. I had to let it go.'' Bogaerts later underwent some strength testing, which came out fine. He expects to be back in the lineup Monday at Fenway.
Cuevas goes deep: Rookie William Cuevas was charged with the loss, but he could hardly be blamed. Entering in the sixth inning with a runner on and no out, he proceeded to give the Sox five shutout inning, during which he allowed just two hits. Finally, in the 11th inning, a walk, a sacrifice bunt and an error put runners on the corners and he was lifted. Two batters later, the Indians got the game-winner off Robby Scott. "Amazing, amazing,'' gushed Cora. "That was fun to watch. I think William was the star of the game. It was great.'' The outing was all the more amazing since it had been a few weeks since Cuevas had thrown anywhere near the 93 pitches he needed to go 5.1 innings Sunday night. "It felt pretty good,'' said Cuevas. "I'm really thankful for the opportunity to prove myself. I'm going to fighting every single time I get a chance. Until the end, I'm going to be working hard.''
Mookie unleashed: Sunday represented the first time in a week that Mookie Betts played the outfield, after experiencing some soreness in his side. He had been restricted to a couple of games as DH, but he returned to right field and it certainly didn't hinder him at the plate. He doubled and score in the first, singled in the third, homered to lead off the fifth and doubled in the seventh before fanning in his final two plate appearances. He now has 82 extra-base hits this season, the most in the big leagues. Also, he has 18 games in which he's had multiple extra-base hits. Betts became the first Red Sox outfielder to collect 80 extra-base hits since Jacoby Ellsbury had 83 in 2011.
TURNING POINT
In the eighth inning of a tie game, the Red Sox put the first two runners on in the eighth -- and eventually loaded the bases with two outs -- but couldn't convert on the scoring chance, stranding all three baserunners. For the game, the Sox left 13 runners on base and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, but the eighth was their most egregious squander.
TWO UP
Christian Vazquez: The Red Sox catcher had one hit in five at-bats, but was able to grind through 11 innings, guiding Cuevas through a tough lineup. Plus, he threw out two would-be base stealers.
Bobby Poyner: The lefty reliever is keeping himself in the picture for the post-season roster with a scoreless inning in which he struck out two.
ONE DOWN
Ian Kinsler: It's been a rough few days for the second baseman, who was 0-for-6 on Saturday night and followed that up by going 0-for-5 Sunday.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"If that game tonight was in a couple of weeks, that'd be one for the ages.''
—Terry Francona.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The win gave Cleveland the season series.
- The Sox dropped to 8-5 in extra innings.
- Boston finished with 51 road wins, tying the 2002 team record for most in a season.
- The Sox outscored opponents 408-325 on the road.