A brief homestand ended with a thud Wednesday night as the Red Sox were shellacked by the Cleveland Indians, 14-9. The Indians managed to score in each of the first seven innings, handing the Sox their second straight defeat.
Ryan Weber, fresh off an impressive outing last week in Toronto, was clubbed for seven runs over the first four innings -- and it was downhill from there.
The 18 hits allowed by the Red Sox tied a season high.
The Sox did manage four homers, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the Indians' offensive eruption. Carlos Santana fell a single shy of the cycle and Greg Allen, who had just four hits all season until his game-tying homer Tuesday night, continued to rake with two triples.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Cleveland Indians
WHEN: 6:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: 1-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Ryan Weber (1-0, 1.38) vs. RHP Shane Bieber (3-2, 3.11)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:06 Bogaerts belts the fourth homer of the night for the Sox....who are still trailing by six.
8:59 Finally, a scoreless inning for the Red Sox pitching staff. Cleveland didn't score in the eighth. The last time they failed to score in an inning was the seventh inning Tuesday night. Indians had scored in nine straight innings.
7:52 A change in pitchers hasn't changed the Red Sox' fortunes. Josh Taylor, making his major league debut, has allowed two doubles this inning to the first four batters.
7:42 Benintendi homers into the bullpen, scoring Vazquez ahead of him and the Sox are, incredibly, back in the game.
7:41 Jackie Bradley Jr.'s climb back to respectability continues -- opposite-field homer to left, his fourth in the last 1 games.
7:33 Carlos Santana homers to left, giving the visitors their biggest lead of the game at four runs, and still, no one warms in the Boston bullpen.
7:23 Funny scene on a replay challenge: Bogaerts was so convinced that he had tagged Leonys Martin out at second in stolen base attempt that he casually jogged off the field and went into the dugout and soon, the rest of his teammates joined him. Eventually, the call came down: out.
7:12 Too much hard contact against Weber, who, because of his stuff, doesn't have much margin for error. Not hitting his spots as precisely as last time and paying for it in a big way. As a general rule, Greg Allen shouldn't beat you. And yet, in his last three plate appearances dating back to Tuesday night, he has a two-run homer and a two-run triple.
6:58 Andrew Benintendi, now just 3-for-40 in the first inning, has no trouble hitting thereafter. Launches a double over the head of right fielder Oscar Mercado to score Holt, tying the game.
6:44 Anyone else getting the feeling that this one isn't going to be a classic pitcher's duel? Brock Holt rips a double into the RF corner, scoring Xander Bogaerts (single).
6:33 More trouble for Weber as the Indians continue to get good swings off him -- a Wall double, and, after a hit batsman, a line single to right (just off the glove of Betts, who made a diving effort) produce another run. Two on, no out.
6:23 Mookie Betts launches a rocket that would have left the ballpark had it not first hit one of the billboards above the Monster Seats.
6:15 Shaky start for Ryan Weber who allows a single to left and a triple to the triangle before throwing a wild pitch to fall behind 2-0. Three batters in, he's already allowed more runs than he did in his start in Toronto last week.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Benintendi LF
Betts RF
Devers 3B
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Holt 2B
Chavis 1B
Bradley CF
Vazquez C
INDIANS
Lindor SS
Mercado RF
Santana 1B
Kipnis 2B
Ramirez 3B
Bauers DH
Allen LF
Plawecki C
Martin CF
WHAT'S UP: Following a crushing 7-5 loss Tuesday night, the Red Sox are back to three games over .500 and are just 7-7 in their last 14 games...The Sox have won each of their last seven games on getaway games...They're 6-12 in series openers, but 12-5 in series finales...They've won their last eight series finales and are 10-1 in their last 11....In the last seven games, Red Sox starters have posted a 1.93 ERA and have issued just seven walks while holding opposing hitters to a .184 average...In the last 40 games, Red Sox starters have a 3.35 ERA, fourth best in the big leagues...Red Sox starters have allowed three earned runs or fewer in 33 of those 40....Boston starters have allowed multiple homers in only three of the last 46 games...Rafael Devers has had an extra-base hit in each of his last eight games, the longest streak by an AL Player this season...In that eight-game stretch, Devers is hitting .432 (16-for-37) with a 1.339 OPS and four homers, three doubles and a triple...The last Red Sox player -- regardless of age -- to have an extra-base hit and score a run in eight straight games was Dwight Evans in 1982...J.D. Martinez, who had two homers Monday and two doubles Monday, has 178 extra-base hits since the start of 2017, tying him with Mookie Betts for fourth most in the baseball in that stretch...Mookie Betts leads the American League in runs scored with 44....During his current nine-game on-base streak, Jackie Bradley Jr. is hitting .273 with seven extra-base hits and an OPS of 1.051...Until Tuesday night, the Red Sox had been 19-0 in the last 19 games in which they scored five runs or more....Brock Holt has hit safely in both games since coming off the IL....Xander Bogaerts is tied for second in the league in runs scored, right behind Betts at 41 runs...Betts continues to struggle against lefthanded pitching, hitting just .204....Andrew Benintendi, who did not play Tuesday, is currently 0-for-8...Ryan Weber is coming off the best start of his career, limiting the Blue Jays to one run over six innings....Kevin Plawecki is the only member of the Indians who has faced Weber before, going 1-for-2...A number of Red Sox hitters have some exposure to Shane Bieber, with Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez each having homered off him...Benintendi is 2-for-3 against Bieber..
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- The Red Sox placed 1B Mitch Moreland (lower back strain) on the IL, retroactive to May 26. Alex Cora said Moreland has been dealing with the issue, on-and-off, since spring training and it worsened in Toronto, where the Sox played on artificial turf. Cora said they were shutting down Moreland as a way to forcehim to rest the back and that he's expected back as soon as he's eligible or soon after.
- The Sox also made some pitching moves, optioning Travis Lakins back to Pawtucket while recalling RHP Colten Brewer and LHP Josh Taylor. Brewer had been optioned over the weekend in Houston while Taylor will be making his major league debut.