BOSTON — The Red Sox have been cookin’ at home. The kitchen closed Saturday.
The Red Sox suffered their first home loss since May 22. Boston had a seven-game home winning streak going until the Cleveland Indians dealt them a 3-2 defeat.
The Red Sox carried a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning, but Boston’s bullpen uncharacteristically relinquished it. The Indians struck for two runs in the seventh and never looked back.
Let’s go over how everything unfolded Saturday.
— Jake Peavy really buckled down in key spots.
The Indians had at least one baserunner in every inning except the first inning over the six frames that Peavy was in the game. The right-hander escaped a second-and-third situation in the second inning, and maneuvered out of bases-loaded jams in the fourth and fifth innings.
Peavy ended up allowing just one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out five. It was his fewest runs allowed in a start since surrendering one run against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 25 — his only win of the season.
Peavy has the lowest run support average on the Red Sox at 3.19. He entered the game with the second-lowest mark in the American League.
— David Ortiz planted an RBI double off the base of the right field wall in the first inning. It was Ortiz’s 422nd career double with the Red Sox, tying him with Wade Boggs for fourth on Boston’s all-time list.
— New position, same result for Brock Holt.
Holt, starting in right field for the first time in his career, again contributed at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double, a single, a walk and a stolen base. The Red Sox left him in scoring position on two separate occasions.
Holt also played well in right field, making a couple of nice grabs — battling the tough sun in one instance — and cutting a ball off in the corner in the second inning to save a run.
— Craig Breslow struggled in the seventh inning, paving the way for Cleveland to grab the lead and eventually the win.
Breslow surrendered back-to-back singles to open the seventh after taking over for Peavy. The Indians tied the game when Jason Kipnis hit a ground ball to second base. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski couldn’t corral Dustin Pedroia’s throw home.
Breslow recorded back-to-back outs and was on the verge of escaping the inning with the score tied, but the lefty issued a two-out walk to David Murphy. Junichi Tazawa walked the next batter, Carlos Santana, to force in the go-ahead run.
“Well it had been five days since his last outing, but still there’s complete confidence in him,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Breslow after the game. “He had good success against those guys where we were in the lineup and a couple of ground balls found there way through the middle. The walk to Murphy puts us in a bases-loaded situation, unfortunately. I would still go back to Bres in that situation again.”
— Pierzynski shouldered the blame for the loss after the game.
— The Red Sox grounded into three double plays. They went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
— The Red Sox are 8-15 in one-run games this season.
— Stephen Drew will be available for Sunday’s series finale, according to Farrell.
