Final: Guardians 8, Red Sox 3

The night began in celebration. It ended with the numbing familiarity of another loss.

After celebrating David Ortiz's recent induction intro Cooperstown, it was all downhill from there for the Red Sox, who were thumped, 8-3, by the Cleveland Guardians. The loss was the sixth in seven tries for the Sox.

Cleveland led 5-0 by the third inning. The Red Sox showed some brief life in the bottom of the third, with two runs scored, but Xander Bogaerts was thrown out at the plate and that seemed to end any momentum for the Sox.

Nolan Jones had a big three-run homer off starter Josh Winckowski, who lasted just three innings.

WHO: Red Sox (49-48) vs. Cleveland Guardians (48-47)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 4-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Josh Winckowski (3-4, 4.38) vs. RHP Bryan Shaw (4-2, 5.29)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Refsnyder RF
Verdugo LF
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Vazquez 1B
Plawecki C
Sanchez 2B
Dalbec 3B
Davis CF

GUARDIANS

Kwan LF
Rosario SS
Ramirez 3B
Naylor DH
Miller 1B
Gimenez 2B
Jones RF
Hedges C
Straw CF

WHAT'S UP: The Sox snapped a 5-game losing streak last night with their 3-1 win over the Guardians...The losing streak was tied for their longest of 2022 (also 5/4-8). They are 2-9 in the last 11 games and 4-13 in the last 17. ...The Red Sox are opening the 2nd half with a stretch of 17 consecutive days with a game from 7/22-8/7, matching their longest streak of the season. The Sox will have 3 off days in August: 8/8, 8/15, 8/22. They also closed the 1st half with a stretch of 17 consecutive days with a game from 7/19-8/7 (5-12). ...Today continues the Red Sox’ 10- game, 10-day homestand vs. TOR (0-3), CLE (1-0), and MIL (3 G)...It is their longest homestand of the season. The Sox are 3-7 in their last 10 home games after going 16-6 at Fenway Park from 5/18-7/4. 6 of the Sox’ last 8 games at Fenway Park have been sellouts, as well as 7 of their last 11. The Sox have scored 4.7 runs per game at home, 3rdbest in the AL behind NYY (5.3) and TOR (4.8)...They are 19-5 (.792) when scoring 5+ runs at home... The Red Sox are in a stretch during which each of their 27 games from 7/4-8/3 will be against a team that entered today with at least a .500 record (4-14 so far): NYY (7), TB (7), CLE (4), HOU (3), MIL (3), and TOR (3). 51 of their remaining 65 games are against teams who entered today with at least a .500 record (78.5%). .....The Red Sox on Sunday concluded a stretch during which each of their 17 games from 7/4-24 were against AL East opponents. The Red Sox are 0-11-1 in 12 series against AL East opponents this season...They are 12-3-3 in series play against all other teams. 35 of the Sox’ remaining 65 games are against AL East opponents (53.8%): BAL (11), NYY (9), TB (9), TOR (6). ...The Red Sox are 8-2 against the Guardians since the beginning of last season...They swept the Guardians in Cleveland in a 3-game series this June (6/24-26). Alex Cora is 1 of 8 current MLB managers to have played for Terry Francona during his 8-year stint as manager of the Red Sox from 2004-11: Alex Cora (2005-08), Rocco Baldelli (2009), Kevin Cash (2010), Gabe Kapler (2003- 06), Mark Kotsay (2008-09), Dave Roberts (2004), David Ross (2008), and Chris Woodward (2009). ...The Sox and Guardians are each currently 3.0 games behind SEA for the AL’s 3rd Wild Card spot (see below). The Red Sox began the season by going 10-19 through their first 29 games...They could become the 1st team to lose as many as 19 of their first 29 games and still make the Postseason since the 1989 Blue Jays (10-19). .... It was announced yesterday that Trevor Story will play for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic...He joins Mike Trout as the first 2 players committed to playing for the defending champions. The second baseman is 1 of 7 players with 15+ HR, 55+ RBI, and 10+ stolen bases this season. This will be Story’s 1st time playing in the WBC...The tournament will be played for the 1st time since 2017, beginning with pool play on 3/8 and concluding with the championship game on 3/21 at loanDepot Park in Miami. ...The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (215) and lead the AL in XBH (320)...They rank 3rd in MLB in XBH, 4th in hits (855), and 5th in AVG (.255). They rank 3rd in the AL in runs (443) and total bases (1,377), and 5th in SLG (.411) and OPS (.728). The Sox have scored 5+ runs in a game 47 times, 2nd-most in the AL (NYY-51)...They are 31-9 in such games since 5/10, after starting the season 4-4. The Sox have hit 12 HR in their last 8 games, including 8 HR in their last 6 games. ...Garrett Whitlock has made 4 scoreless relief appearances for the Sox since being reinstated from the 15- Day IL on 7/15...He has retired 18 of 19 batters faced during that span (6.0 IP, H, 9 SO). Whitlock has made 16 scoreless appearances of at least 2.0 innings since the beginning of last season, 2nd most in the majors behind Collin McHugh (17). The right-hander owns a 1.82 ERA (18 ER/89.0 IP) in 54 career relief appearances, the 2nd best mark as a reliever in the majors since the start of 2021...Whitlock trails only CLE’s Emmanuel Clase. ...Four rookie pitchers have started for the Red Sox this season: Josh Winckowski (7 GS), Kutter Crawford (5), Brayan Bello (3), and Connor Seabold (3). The last time the Sox had as many as 4 rookie pitchers make at least 3 starts in a season was 2006...Jon Lester (15), Lenny DiNardo (6), Kason Gabbard (4), and David Pauley (3) each made at least 3 starts. Kutter Crawford has posted a 2.82 ERA (7 ER/22.1 IP) in 4 appearances (3 starts) this month...The righthander has tossed at least 5.0 innings in each of those outings, including a career-high 6.0 innings in each of the last 2, both starts: 7/14 at TB, 7/23 vs. TOR. The Sox have featured 9 rookies this season: Brayan Bello, Connor Seabold, Connor Wong, Jaylin Davis, Jeter Downs, Josh Winckowski, Kaleb Ort, Kutter Crawford, and Tyler Danish...Bello, Downs, and Winckowski each made their MLB debut this season. 

NOTES: 

* The Sox made a handfyul oif roster moves before the game: re-instated Josh Winckowski from the COVID list; re-instated Connor Seabold from the IL and optioned him to Worcester; optioned Darwinzon Hernandez to Worcester; designated Phillips Valdez for assignment.

* J.D. Martinez was back in the lineup for the first time in the second half after missing the last four games with back spasms.

* Trevor Story is "progressing'' according to Alex Cora. He took batting practice.

* Christian Arroyo and Rich Hill will begin a rehab assignment in Hartford with Double A Portland Wednesday. Matt Barnes is pitching for Portland in Hartford Tuesday night, and later in the week, will pitch in back-to-back games.

* The Red Sox took infield Tuesday afternoon, something few major league teams do pre-game anymore. It comes after a sloppy stretch that has seen them drop pop-ups and fly balls, and commit a raft of errors. "We have to play better,'' said Cora. "(Monday) was a clean game. We played good defense. When you're going through stretches like this roster-wise (with injuries), if you catch the ball, you're giving your pitching staff a chance. We've been bad for two weeks defensively. I think it was six games straight (with errors or misplays). The value of 27 outs is very important. Just make sure you catch the ball and throw the ball -- fundamentals. That's the beauty of the game; it hasn't changed.''

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