Postgame, Indians 9-6: We will have more on the site in a bit on the Indians bats and what they did to some of the best Boston has to offer.
Wanted to leave you with the situation regarding Marco Scutaro, who was removed in the fourth with a bout of dizziness. He was in the clubhouse and said he feels fine, but it was a bit of a scare for him.
"I felt kind of dizzy and my heartbeat started [going] fast. Shaking," he said.
The issue began during batting practice. Scutaro went inside and ate something, which made him feel better. However, he started feeling ill again as the game began. Terry Francona did not hesitate once Scutaro sounded the alarm.
"That's not something you play with," Francona said.
Scutaro was given some tests by the medical staff and checked out OK. We will see if he can get back in there Tuesday night when Josh Beckett opposes lefty David Huff. First pitch once again is 7:10 p.m.
Final, Indians 9-6: Does losing three of five constitute a slump? For the Red Sox, it may.
After going 20-6 in July, they are 0-1 in August.
Heading down for the skinny on this game, as well as any Clay Buchholz news.
Mid 9th, Indians 9-5: It's not a good night to have a scoreless streak on the line.
An inning after Daniel Bard sees his come to an end, Matt Albers' does as well, this one coming on a solo shot by Jason Kipnis.
Those two did not allow a run in 25 2/3 innings in July. We referened that in this silly piece. Both have been scored upon in August.
Chris Perez is on in what is now a non-save situation.
End 8th, Indians 8-5: Literally stood up to get a drink of water as the first pitch of the eighth inning was thrown by Vinnie Pestano.
By the time I returned to my perch, Pestano had thrown his last pitch. Both were strikes, one to begin a K of Kevin Youkilis and one to end a strikeout of Carl Crawford.
In between, Pestano got David Ortiz to pop to short.
Matt Albers, who has a scoreless streak of his own on the line, is on to pitch the ninth. He hasn't allowed a run in 13 1/3 innings.
Mid 8th, Indians 8-5: The Indians add on another run with a Matt La Porta RBI double before bowing out against Randy Williams.
Vinnie Pestano is on to work the eighth for Cleveland
9:45 p.m.: Terry Francona was asked about Daniel Bard's scoreless streak prior to this game, saying at one point, "He has to give up a run at some point."
A few hours later, that prediction rang true.
Bard gives up the single and the reviewed home run. One out later, he issues a walk to Carlos Santana.
Francona's seen enough, calling on Randy Williams to get the last two outs of the eighth, and maybe more if Boston still trails entering the ninth.
9:38 p.m.: Ding dong the streak is dead. It is ruled a home run, the second of the night for Cabrera, and the Indians have a 7-5 lead.
Bard's streak ends at 26 1/3.
9:35 p.m.: Asdrubal Cabrera is at it again. He just followed up a leadoff single with a drive that is a single for now but may go down as a home run. The umps are reviewing, and if they emerge with a home run signal Daniel Bard's scoreless streak ends.
End 7th, 5-5: Adrian Gonzalez's 23rd GIDP (currently tied with Albert Pujols for ML lead) is a pretty one for Cleveland.
Gonzalez chopped one down the first-base line. Matt LaPorta charged and got it on a short hop before it could go foul to begin a 3-2-3 twin killing.
Daniel Bard will pitch the eighth. The scoreless streak is at 26 1/3 innings. Bob Stanley had one of 27 1/3 in 1980. No other runs by Red Sox relievers have been longer since 1974.
Mid 7th, 5-5: Pretty nice piece of pitching there by Franklin Morales. He starts Michael Brantley off with some heat, taken for strike one.
Then came a bender that had Brantley buckle at the knees. Morales finished him off with 95 up by the eyes.
That gets us to the stretch and prompts Manny Acta to call on his bullpen. Rafael Perez, a solid lefty, is on to face the top of the order.
9:11 p.m.: For John Lackey to get a very nice ovation after giving up five runs in 6 2/3 innings is not insignificant. He's been booed off this mound more than once this year, but a pretty solid effort, despite the line, was admired tonight.
Lackey will lament those mistakes in the sixth that led to the two home runs. He was in great shape before losing his command for a bit right there.
The last batter he faces is Ezequiel Carrera, who singles. Franklin Morales will face Michael Brantley with two outs.
End 6th, 5-5: Ain't gonna be no quality starts tonight. The ball just be flyin' too far.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is the third hitter to go yard in the sixth and the fourth overall, smacking a broken-bat (yes, it shattered) two-run homer to right.
That's Salty's fourth in nine games and establishes a new career high with 10 overall. It followed a double by Carl Crawford, who is seeing the ball well tonight.
John Lackey is out to begin the seventh at 94 pitches. Franklin Morales continues to throw in the pen.
Mid 6th, Indians 5-3: John Lackey ended the sixth inning with two straight strikeouts.
Unfortunately, he preceded those Ks by giving up two straight home runs.
The first blast into the front row in right was a two-run job, as Asdrubal Cabrera followed up a double by Jason Kipnis with his 18th of the year.
Travis Hafner, who always seems to hit well here, then unloaded on a belt-high fastball. Hafner's 10th landed in Boston's bullpen.
End 5th, Red Sox 3-2: Josh Tomlin gives up eight hits, including three for extra bases, in the first three innings. It had the look of a quick night for him.
He's settled things down and has suddenly retired seven straight. Two of the outs in the fifth were fly balls hit to deep center and deep right, but they they all look the same in the scorebook.
John Lackey takes the hill with a pitch count of 71. Tomlin is at 86.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 3-2: The defense has been shoddy at times, but something special in others.
The Red Sox just ended the top of the fifth with a play that will be on the season highlight reel.
With the somewhat speedy Ezequiel Carrera at the plate, John Lackey induced a weak grounder toward first.
Adrian Gonzalez fielded and made a little backhanded flip to Lackey covering. The flip was not easy, as Gonzalez was a good 20 feet away and Carrera was closing fast.
The back end of it may have been even harder. Lackey had to reach back to get the ball, falling to the dirt in the process but still having enough in him to tap the bag with his feet just as it settled into his glove.
Great stuff right there.
8:33 p.m.: There was nothing to the play at second base that knocked Marco Scutaro out of the game. According to the Red Sox, he was pulled due to dizziness.
End 4th, Red Sox 3-2: We will let you know as soon as we can what happened to Marco Scutaro. He was hit for in the fourth with Mike Aviles making his Fenway Park debut with the Sox.
Scutaro may have been hurt when Carlos Santana slid in trying to break up a double play in the top of the inning. Not sure.
You'll get the news first here.
In any event, Aviles struck out looking in his first at-bat with Boston. It was part of Josh Tomlin's first 1-2-3 inning.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 3-2: Asdrubal entered his at-bat to start the fourth just 2-for-18 in his career against John Lackey.
But Cabrera managed to get things started on the right foot for the Tribe with a single. He moved to third on Carlos Santana's base hit one out later and scored when Kosuke Fukudome barely beat out the back end of what could've been an inning-ending double play.
Fukudome, new to the league after a trade with Chicago, just found out what many other runners have been learning of late — don't run on Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Salty threw a dart to second to nail the Indians right field and finish the frame.
End 3rd, Red Sox 3-1: We've seen some pretty suspect defense in the last inning. It was Cleveland's turn in the bottom of the third.
After Adrian Gonzalez singled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games (been a lot of hitting streaks lately, no?), Kevin Youkilis sent a deep drive to center.
Ezequiel Carrera drifted back but appeared to have no clue where the wall was and shied away too early. It hit off the gate covering the Bleacher Bar and bounced back toward the infield. Then, the throw in was to nobody, bouncing all the way to where Josh Reddick's throw went the prior inning.
Gonzalez scored easily but Youkilis was out trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park-homer, or probably a triple and an error.
Carl Crawford made up for it by hammering his seventh home run of the seaosn just beyond where his fly ball died against Kansas City the other day.
Eight hits already for Boston.
Mid 3rd, 1-1: It goes into the books as an earned run, but the Indians' first strike may have been avoided if not for an error on Josh Reddick.
Here's how it went down.
With two outs, John Lackey gave up his first hit, a single to right-center by Ezequiel Carrera.
Reddick raced in front of Jacoby Ellsbury and threw in as Carrera finished his turn and headed back to first. But Reddick's throw sailed on him and went all the way toward the Cleveland on-deck area, allowing Carrera to scamper to second.
Michael Brantley followed with a double into the corner in right. It probably would've scored Carrera from first since he has some wheels and would've been off on contact, but you never know. He was on second. It's an RBI for Brantley and a tie game.
End 2nd, Red Sox 1-0: That could have been a lot worse for Josh Tomlin and the Indians.
After getting the first out of the inning, Tomlin gave up a double and two straight singles, the last a run-scoring hit to right by Marco Scutaro.
Tomlin got Jacoby Ellsbury to bounce back to the mound. The ball was knocked down and Tomlin turned to find Josh Reddick too far off third.
The rundown goes 1-5-2-5-1 with Tomlin tagging out Reddick diving back to the bag. Dustin Pedroia then flew to deep right to finish the frame.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia had the double, extending his hitting streak to nine games. He is hitting .382 (13-for-34) in the stretch.
Mid 2nd, 0-0: A pretty cutter diving in on the hands of Kosuke Fukudome is strike three on the Indians' new right fielder, and the third strikeout already for John Lackey.
Not to take anything away from Lackey, but the weakness of the Cleveland lineup is notable. That's one reason why it struck me as a tiny bit odd they would make such a large gamble for Ubaldo Jimenez, a good starter but one with some question marks hanging over his head.
Just not sure they have the offense to compete this year. Their 26-39 record since late-May has been filled with nights in which the lineup provides little.
Still, six up and six down for Lackey.
End 1st, 0-0: Josh Tomlin gave up three hits in seven innings the first time he faced the Red Sox this year.
He gives up two in the top of the first, although it's nothing that should concern the Indians all that much.
Dustin Pedroia's single was well-placed in the 5.5 hole. Kevin Youkilis had one of his own on a ball up the middle that shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera got to but just didn't have enough time to get Youkilis at first.
David Ortiz popped to short to end the threat.
Mid 1st, 0-0: You name the category and John Lackey saw worse numbers in his first year with the Red Sox than he did in his last year with the Angels. In many of those categories, they had been trending the wrong direction for several seasons.
That was the case again early this year as every stat signalled decline. Obviously, he has reversed that trend of late, and one area that has seen notable improvement has been in strikeouts.
After fanning just 19 men in 39 1/3 innings before going on the disabled list, Lackey has struck out 49 in 59 innings since, including two in a 1-2-3 first.
That can mean a lot of things. One thing it does show is a willingness to trust his stuff in the zone, no small feat after the way he was knocked around early.
7:11 p.m.: We start this one with a strike from John Lackey to Michael Brantley. It's a great night for a game and the threat of rain appears to have gone away.
6:08 p.m.: Before we break for dinner, a few links for you to check out.
Here is a more complete rundown of the plans for the six-man rotation.
A look at one way John Lackey gets motivated going forward.
And if you want your football fix, here are two takes on the retirement of Randy Moss, one from Jeff Howe and the other from Mike Hurley.
Enjoy.
5:46 p.m.: John Lackey enters this one with a 4-0 record and a 2.52 ERA in his last four starts.
Because of the injuries to Clay Buchholz, and to a lesser degree Jon Lester, and the continued dominance of Josh Beckett, Lackey's little push has not received a great deal of notoriety.
I think he's just fine with that, content to push that difficult first half behind him.
In an effort to continue that process, Lackey will attempt to get the better of this lineup:
Michael Brantley, LF
Jason Kipnis, 2B
Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
Travis Hafner, DH
Carlos Santana, C
Kosuke Fukudome, RF
Matt LaPorta, 1B
Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B
Ezequiel Carrera, CF
Lackey has only faced four of these guys, but three of them are in a row, none with much success against him. Cabrera, Hafner and Santana, the meat of the order, are a collective 7-for-51 (.137) with 17 strikeouts against Lackey.
5:21 p.m.: Some of you may have seen that Indians starter Carlos Carrasco has been suspended for this.
He will appeal and pitch Wednesday night here at Fenway.
The subject makes us think back to the last time Cleveland was in Fenway Park.
4:17 p.m.: Terry Francona has confirmed that Erik Bedard will start Thursday against Cleveland and the Red Sox will use a six-man rotation, but just for a week an a few days.
It will allow them to give some guys a tiny break as the club plows through 20 games in 20 days, the longest such stretch of the year.
Here's how it breaks down:
John Lackey tonight vs. Cleveland.
Josh Beckett on Tuesday vs. Cleveland.
Tim Wakefield on Wednesday vs. Cleveland.
Bedard on Thursday vs. Cleveland.
Jon Lester on Friday vs. New York (Bartolo Colon).
Lackey on Saturday vs. New York (CC Sabathia).
Beckett on Sunday vs. New York (Freddy Garcia).
Andrew Miller on Monday at Minnesota.
Wakefield on Tuesday at Minnesota.
Bedard on Wednesday at Minnesota.
Finally, next Thursday gives the team a day off as it flies to Seattle. There is also a day off the following Monday, the 15th, at which point a more definitive five-man rotation will begin to get incorporated.
There is one caveat to this whole thing. Miller will be in the bullpen Thursday to back up Bedard, who will be making just his second start since coming off the DL. Because his first one saw him knocked out in the second inning, it's very realistic that Bedard's Red Sox debut is short. It may take him two or three starts to get back to being that six- or seven-inning guy.
If Miller is used in relief that night, his next start will be bumped to Tuesday in Minnesota, and Wakefield will go Monday on normal four day's rest.
If you're looking for Clay Buchholz news, there really isn't any yet. Buchholz has finished his appointment with Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles, but all the powers that be need to put their heads together. A definitive statement should be out later tonight or tomorrow.
3:22 p.m.: Contrary to prior speculation, Erik Bedard will start Thursday against Cleveland, according to our own Tom Caron.
That would push Jon Lester to Friday against the Yankees and allow the club to skip Andrew Miller. John Lackey and Josh Beckett would go in the other two games against New York.
Terry Francona will confirm all this for us in about 35 minutes.
3:17 p.m.: It's a pretty standard look against Cleveland's Josh Tomlin, who allowed one run on three hits in seven innings to beat the Red Sox in his 2011 debut back on April 5.
Have a look:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Carl Crawford, LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Josh Reddick, RF
Marco Scutaro, SS
Pedroia was the only player with two hits that day. J.D. Drew had the only extra-base hit, a double.
3:01 p.m.: Greetings from Fenway Park, where old pal Justin Masterson is throwing out in right field.
The tarp is off the field but we may get some wet stuff later on. Shouldn't be enough to cause any serious threats to the game.
There's a lot on the plate tonight. Hope you are hungry.
The big item is Clay Buchholz, who is in LA to get another look at his back. Because of the time difference, we may not have concrete word on that yet, but the talk all day has surrounded the fact that Buchholz may be gone for the year.
There are other items to look for. Erik Bedard will arrive at some point. Not sure when, but we'll get you his eagerly anticipated first words. Could be tomorrow or even the next day. You know how these things go.
Jed Lowrie is beginning a rehab assignment in Pawtucket.
Ubaldo Jimenez will be on the other side. Unless there is some shuffling, both Bedard and Jimenez will make their team debuts after this series is over, Bedard at home against the Yankees on Friday and Jimenez at Texas the same night. That's just the way things line up right now, but there could be some movement going forward.
Lineups in a moment.
8 a.m.: With the trade deadline behind them, the Red Sox return to Fenway Park on Monday for a huge seven-game homestand, beginning with the first of four straight against the Cleveland Indians.
The new-look Sox, who acquired left-hander Erik Bedard and infielder Mike Aviles over the weekend, will give the ball to John Lackey opposite 11-game winner Josh Tomlin. Lackey has won four straight starts for the first time in over two years.
Tomlin defeated Boston in the first meeting between the teams back in April. That was the start of a three-game sweep for Cleveland. The Red Sox got some revenge by taking two of three at Progressive Field in May.
The first pitch is at 7:10 p.m. Before that, we may get word on the status of Clay Buchholz, who will be in Los Angeles visiting a back specialist.
