All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Guardians, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Bogaerts shakes off distractions, delivers big blow: Xander Bogaerts wasn't about to mince words -- he readily acknowledged that the last few weeks have been difficult for him, worried that he might be traded by next week's deadline given his uncertain contract status at the end of the season. "It has been, it has been,'' said Bogaerts, "But we're professionals in the end. We sign up and you've got to deal with it. It comes with it. It can be really tough -- some days more than others.'' He said he was glad to hear both team president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom say publicly this week that the Sox were not planning to trade him. He also revealed that he'd been told the same message privately. Freed from worry that he might be entering the final week of his Red Sox career, Bogaerts cracked a three-run homer in the sixth inning that proved to be the biggest blow in the Red Sox' win over Cleveland. Bogaerts remains bullish on the team's playoff chances, despite their July struggles and pointed out that the club will soon get a number of injured players back, including Trevor Story, Rafael Devers, Rich Hill, Michael Wacha and others. "That's like a trade deadline of its own,'' he said of the expected influx of healthy players for the stretch run.
Crawford shines on mound: Kutter Crawford has quietly emerged as a nice option in the Red Sox rotation. He's thrown five or more innings in and allowed no more than three runs in each of his five July outings, including Thursday when he limited the Guardians to a single run over 5.2 innings of three-hit ball. Crawford didn't get the win -- that went to reliever Jake Diekman -- and so the Sox streak of failing to get a win from a starting pitcher in the month of July continues. But Crawford could still take pride in his start. Alex Cora commended Crawford for going down to Worcester earlier in the season and changing his pitch mix to become more successful. "You have to mix it up here,'' said Cora. "You can't just rely on two pitches and get away with it. He's using everything -- the cutter's good, the four-seamer's good, the curveball, the split has been good. It's good stuff in the (strike) zone. Very impressive.'' Over his last four starts, he's got a 2.57 ERA with a WHIP of 0.86.
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox were trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth and had produced exactly one hit through the first five innings. Starter Kutter Crawford, who allowed a leadoff single before recording two outs, was lifted with Josh Naylor due. In came lefty Jake Diekman, who has struggled most of the season both with traffic on base and retiring the first hitter he faces. This time, however, Diekman got Naylor to roll over on a groundout to second, ending the inning. The Red Sox then came to bat and got the big homer from Bogaerts to take the lead for good.
TWO UP
Jake Diekman: Diekman's been on a strong run of late and his appearance Thursday -- an inning and a third of perfect relief, with two strikeouts -- also featured his best fastball velocity of the season, up to 98 mph.
Bobby Dalbec: A night after knocking in five runs, Dalbec delivered just one Thursday night -- but it was a big one, rattling the wall with a hard single in the seventh to score Franchy Cordero with a big insurance run.
TWO DOWN:
Jarren Duran: Duran isn't contributing at all. He was 0-for-4 Thursday night, and when he was asked to get a bunt down to move a runner over in the sixth, he pushed it too hard up the third base line, resulting in the lead runner being erased.
Christian Vazquez: Vazquez has been on the upswing offensively in recent weeks, but on this night, he was hitless in four trips and twice made the final out of an inning while stranding baserunners.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Tonight was a much-needed win, for sure.'' Xander Bogaerts.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Franchy Cordero has scored five runs in his last four games.
* Alex Verdugo has multiple hits in four of his last six games, hitting .375 in that span.
* Four of Garrett Whitlock's five career saves have been for longer than an inning.
* The homer by Xander Bogaerts came on an 0-and-2 pitch, the 12th time he's homered in such a count since the start of the 2015 season.
* For the sixth straight time in a full season, the Red Sox have reached the 100-game mark with a .500 mark or better.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox host the Milwaukee Brewers Friday night in the first of three at 7:10 p.m. with RHP Brayan Bello (0-2, 10.50) vs. RHP Brandon Woodruff (8-3, 3.73).