The Red Sox thought they had won the game in the bottom of the eighth. Turns out they had to wait another inning.
Alex Verdugo lined a single over the head of right field Daniel Johnson, scoring pinch-runner Taylor Motter with the winning run as the Red Sox edged Cleveland, 4-3, for their fourth win in a row.
A three-run homer by Rafael Devers in the bottom of the eighth had snapped a 0-0 tie, but in the ninth, Adam Ottavino allowed a run, and a strike away from closing the game out, allowing a game-tying homer to pinch-hitter Franmil Reyes.
WHO: Red Sox (78-59) vs. Cleveland Indians (67-65)
WHEN: 1:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 3-1
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Tanner Houck (0-3, 3.63) vs. RHP Eli Morgan (2-6, 5.98)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
INDIANS
Johnson RF
Rosario SS
Ramirez DH
Bradley 1B
Ramirez LF
Zimmer CF
Chang 3B
Lavarnway C
Gimenez 2B
RED SOX
Schwarber DH
Devers 3B
Martinez LF
Verdugo CF
Renfroe RF
Dalbec 1B
Vazquez C
Lopez 2B
Arauz SS
T9: One strike away from nailing this one down, Adam Ottavino gives up a game-tying two-run homer to pinch-hitter Franmil Reyes. A finalist for worst blown save of the season.
B8: Rafael Devers crushes a fastball on the outer half and drills it into the Monster Seats for a three-run homer, snapping a scoreless tie. The three RBI give him 100 for the season.
T6: Sox improbably dodge a bullet when Hansel Robles inherits a bases-loaded jam and gets Harold Ramirez on a comebacker, which deflects to Dalbec, who makes the putout at first. Robles a little shaken up, but OK, apparently.
T6: That's all for Houck, at just 68 pitches and five innings. He had allowed three hits and no runs over five innings, but once again, the dreaded "third-time-through-the-order factor rears its ugly head. Austin Davis on.
B5: Red Sox again can't take advantage. Had first-and-second no out and second-and-third with one out, and couldn't produce a run.
B4: Sox have just one hit through four innings against Eli Morgan, who came into the game with a 5,98 ERA.
T3: Three shutout innings for Tanner Houck in the books, but as ever, efficiency is an issue. He's at 49 pitches.
B2: For the second straight inning, the Red Sox put the leadoff man on base, but can't do anything with the opportunity. A leadoff walk by Bobby Dalbec is wasted.
B1: Kyle Schwarber gets it going with a ground-rule double that hops into the right field seats on a bounce, and very quickly, the Sox have a runner in scoring position.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have won their last 3 games and are 8-4 in their last 12...They are 3-0-1 in their last 4 series (2-1 vs. TEX, 2-1 vs. MIN, 2-1 at CLE, 2-2 at TB). The Sox have not been 20 games above .500 since 8/1 (63-43)...Their season high is 23 games over .500...The Red Sox are 8-2 in their last 10 home games and 23-9 (.719) in their last 32 (since 6/14)... Overall, their .618 win % at home ranks 7th in MLB. Among AL teams at home, the Sox rank 1st in runs per game (5.75), AVG (.276), and OPS (.820). In their last 12 home games, the Sox have scored 103 runs (8.6 per game) and hit 25 HR...They scored 6+ runs in 10 of those games and 11+ runs in 4 of them....Last night (4 HR) marked the 13th time the Red Sox hit at least 4 HR in a game, the most by any team in MLB this season and the 2nd-most of any season in franchise history (15 times in 1977). The Sox rank 3rd in the AL with 182 HR...They lead MLB with 34 HR with at least 2 runners on base (31 three-run, 3 grand slams)....The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (278) and XBH (478) and rank 4th in runs per game (5.04), 3rd in AVG (.259), 2nd in SLG (.445), and 3rd in OPS (.771). The Sox own MLB’s best record when scoring 4+ runs (.831, 69-14)...They have scored 10+ runs 17 times and 15+ runs 3 times, both tied for most in the AL....The Red Sox have 42 more 2-strike RBI than any other team in MLB...Each of the top 5 leaders in 2-strike RBI currently holds a Postseason spot (BOS-279, CIN-237, HOU-235, SF-232, CWS-227). With 2 strikes, the Sox also lead MLB in XBH (168)... They lead MLB with 16 HR in 0-2 counts. The Sox lead the majors in runs scored with 2 outs (289)...With RISP & 2 outs, they lead the majors in AVG (.272) and OPS (.852... From the No. 9 spot in the batting order, the Red Sox lead the majors in HR (16) and XBH (43)...Half of those 16 HR have come in the Sox’ last 20 games. The Sox have hit more than 16 HR from the No. 9 spot in the order only 3 times: 2003 (24), 2011 (18), and 1999 (17)...The Red Sox are in a stretch of playing a game on 17 consecutive days from 8/23-9/8 (8-4 so far). Each of the Sox’ next 11 games is against a team that entered today with a winning record (CLE-2, TB3, CWS-3, SEA-3)...The Sox’ 8 games prior to tonight were also against teams that entered today with a winning record (CLE-3, TB-4, CLE-1)...Red Sox pitchers allowed 0 runs in 18.0 consecutive innings prior to giving up 1 run in the 4th inning last night...It was their 2nd-longest scoreless streak of the season (19.0 innings from 4/27-29). The Sox have won each of their last 7 games started by Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale, and Eduardo Rodriguez... Beginning 8/10, those 3 pitchers are a combined 7-2 with a 2.70 ERA 16 BB, and 88 SO. ..The Red Sox have used 49 players this season; they last used 50 or more in 2016 (50). The Sox have used 32 pitchers, the most in a season in franchise history...That includes 4 position players (Araúz, Arroyo, Gonzalez, Plawecki). The Sox have used 28 true pitchers (excluding position players), tied for the most in franchise history (2006). ....The Red Sox have 11 players on the injured list, including 2 of their top 4 leaders in FanGraphs’ WAR (Xander Bogaerts (4.5) and (Kiké Hernández (3.7). 4 of the Sox’ top 5 leaders in pitching appearances are on the IL: Matt Barnes (54), Josh Taylor (54), Hirokazu Sawamura (50), and Darwinzon Hernandez (41). In the 2 months from the time he returned to the leadoff spot to the time he was placed on the IL (6/27-8/26), Kiké Hernández led the AL in OBP (.409). ...Kyle Schwarber hit his 150th career HR last night...It was his 13th career leadoff homer, his MLB-leading 8th of the season. In 18 games with the Sox, Schwarber has posted a .344/.468/.609/1.078 batting line...He has reached base 37 times, the most by a player in their first 18 games with the Sox since Manny Ramirez in 2001 (39). ...Since 8/1, Hunter Renfroe (11) and Bobby Dalbec (7) lead the Red Sox in HR...In that time, Dalbec leads the AL with a 1.150 OPS (min. 75 PA) and the only player with more HR than Renfroe is Salvador Pérez (12).
NOTES:
* The Red Sox added Taylor Motter to the major league roster. Motter, an infielder, was claimed on waivers last week from Colorado. To make room, the Red Sox optioned C Connor Wong to Worcester.
* The Sox also claimed pitcher RHP Geoff Hartlileb on waivers from the Mets and assigned him to Triple A Worcester.
* Alex Cora has been alternating left field playing time between J.D. Martinez and Kyle Schwarber of late. "I don't want to run them into the ground,'' he said. "Obviously, both of them can play left field. We've played J.D. a lot (in left) the way Kyle came back and we had to DH him. I think that worked against us. Obviously, he'll give the best effort, he's a smart outfielder, he makes good decisions, but physically, he doesn't that in a while. And for us to maintain both guys, fresh and healthy, we keep (alternating). We're trying to keep Bobby (Dalbec) in the lineup. With the way he's swinging the bat, that's a plus for us. We'll keep (alternating) and making sure they're both fresh and healthy.''
* Cora was in touch with "most of'' the Sox players on the COVID-IL Saturday morning, including Matt Barnes, Xander Bogaerts, Hirokazu Sawamura, Christian Arroiyo and Kike Hernandez. "We just have to go through all the protocols and whatever it is,'' said Cora. "I still believe Kike will be the first one (to return). I don't know when he can leave Cleveland. I have no idea, but it should be soon. As soo as he gets here, the other guys will follow.''
* The Sox plan a meeting with their medical and strength and conditioning staff to discuss how to handle players returning from layoffs of a week or more from COVID, to educate themselves about what to expect from the players. "Some of these guys are game-changers,'' noted Cora. "Getting them back in the lineup sooner rather than later is beneficial for us. But at the same time, taking care of their health is important.''