On a day of upheaval and last minute roster adjustments, the Red Sox pulled out one of their most dramatic wins of the season.
Jonathan Arauz, who joined the club only hours before first pitch after a COVID breakout left the Sox shorthanded, cracked a three-run homer in the eighth to give the Sox a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. The homer came after Arauz twice failed to get a bunt down. He then swung away on a full count and smashed his second career homer.
Eduardo Rodriguez gave the Sox seven strong innings, allowing two homers, good for three runs.
WHO: Red Sox (73-56) vs. Cleveland Indians (63-62)
WHERE: Progressive Field
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 0-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-7, 5.19) vs. LHP Logan Allen (1-5, 9.13)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Munoz LF
Schwarber 1B
Bogaerts SS
Devers DH
Verdugo RF
Dalbec 3B
Vazquez C
Duran CF
Arauz 2B
INDIANS
Straw CF
Rosario SS
Ramirez 3B
Reyes DH
Ramos C
Zimmer RF
Miller 2B
Chang 1B
Mercado LF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Huge inning from Garrett Richards, who sets down the Indians 1-2-3 in the highest of leverage spots.
T8: One of the more unlikely late-inning homers of the season as Jonathan Arauz, having failed on two attempts to get a bunt down, swings away on a full count and drives it out for a three-run homer, giving the Sox their first lead of the game. Just his second career homer.
B7: Rodriguez was an out away from giving the Sox seven strong innings, having allowed just two runs. But before he can get there, he gets taken out to RF by Yu Chang and that extra run looms large for the Indians.
T5: Sox get on the board as Verdugo scores as Christian Vazquez hits into a 6-4-3 double play, but should have had more with first-and-third and no out.
T5: Verdugo gets a break. He attempted to move from second to third on a ball hit in front of him, but the throw from Ahmed Rosario is high and wide and Verdugo slides in safely.
B4: Eduardo Rodriguez leaves a slider over the heart of the plate and Ramirez hooks it down the line for a two-run homer.
T2: Ramirez makes a sprawling stop of a hot liner off the bat of Christian Vazquez, saving a run with Bobby Dalbec (double) in scoring position
B1: The outfield assists pile up for the Red Sox. Alex Verdugo throws out Jose Ramirez, attempting to stretch a single into a double.
NOTES:
* The Red Sox were rocked Friday afternoon by a positive COVID test for Kike Hernandez, who is symptomatic, and a close contact case for infielder INF Christian Arroyo. "They'll be out for obviously an extended period of time,'' said Alex Cora. "It just happened. We've been working on it the whole day. It's something we're dealing with in our our world, outside our world. We've been OK throughout the season. It's happened to a lot of teams, so we have to find a way to keep moving forward and keep playing good baseball. We'll manage today, as a group, we'll deal with today and after the game, we'll be able to slow everything down and start dealing at the future.''
* To take the roster spots vacated by Hernandez and Arroyo, the Sox recalled Jonathan Arauz from Worcester and purchased the contract of Yairo Munoz. Munoz wasn't on the 40-man roster, but because COVID players come off the 40-man, they had an available spot. Arauz was set to play second base and hit ninth, while Munoz was expected to play left field and bat leadoff.
* Cora said the team has continued to observe health and safety protocols, despite Friday's developments. "I think so, yeah,'' he said. "We've been very disciplined. Talking to people with other teams, we're probably the most aggressive team, testing-wise, throughout the process. Even last weekend, the situation with the (Texas) Rangers because of some of the people who tested positive over there, we had to do our due diligence over here to make sure our group was clear, regardless of whether you were vaccinated or not. We're doing a good job. It just happened that this is what we're fighting against. It's not Kike's fault. I know for a fact that he's been great, and taking care of his family. But it's something that we don't control. We're fighting an invisible enemy and it just happened that Kike tested positive. He's very responsible. He's always wearing his mask. It just happened that he tested positive.''
* Cora confirmed that Tanner Houck will start the series finale against Cleveland Sunday. The Sox had officially listed that spot as "TBD' in their notes Thursday.