Final, Indians 3-2: The Red Sox’s winning streak has ended.
The Indians squeaked out a one-run victory in Monday’s series opener behind seven shutout innings from Justin Masterson.
Masterson overcame some early struggles to turn in a very impressive performance. The right-hander struck out 10 while surrendering three hits and walking four.
John Lackey gave up three runs on eight hits over eight innings. He pitched well, but the Indians’ early damage held up.
Lonnie Chisenhall gave the Indians a 2-0 lead with a two-run bloop single in the first inning. Asdrubal Cabrera made it 3-0 in the third inning by following Michael Bourn’s leadoff triple with an RBI single. That was all Cleveland needed.
Xander Bogaerts smacked a two-run homer in the eighth inning, but the Red Sox couldn’t produce any ninth-inning magic.
The Red Sox will turn to Jake Peavy on Tuesday as they look to begin a new winning streak.
End 8th, Indians 3-2:Â The Red Sox need a ninth-inning rally to keep their winning streak intact.
John Lackey worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning to keep the deficit at one run. Asdrubal Cabrera, Michael Brantley and Jason Kipnis went down in order.
A.J. Pierzynski, Jonny Gomes and Grady Sizemore are due up for Boston in the ninth inning. They’ll face Cody Allen.
Mid 8th, Indians 3-2: Xander Bogaerts has pulled the Red Sox to within a run.
Bogaerts smacked a two-run homer in the eighth inning. He sent it sailing over the wall in right-center field.
Brock Holt set the table for Bogaerts’ two-run blast with a single into left field. It was Holt’s first hit of the contest, if you can believe that.
Indians manager Terry Francona turned to left-hander Marc Rzepczynski after Bryan Shaw rebounded to retire Dustin Pedroia.
David Ortiz smoked a ball toward the right-center field gap with two down, but it stayed up long enough for Michael Bourn to glide over and make the play.
End 7th, Indians 3-0: The bottom of the seventh featured another bang-bang play at second base.
David Murphy singled into center field with one out, giving him three hits in this game against John Lackey.
Mike Aviles, formerly of the Red Sox, replaced Murphy at first base on a forceout. He then swiped second base, though manager John Farrell called for a challenge.
A.J. Pierzynski’s throw beat Aviles to the bag. It looked like Stephen Drew’s tag missed Aviles, and he thus was ruled safe.
Michael Bourn grounded out to end the inning. Drew made a nice sliding play ranging up the middle.
The good news for the Red Sox is that Justin Masterson is out of this game. The Indians are turning to their bullpen after seven shutout frames from the big righty. Masterson threw 105 pitches (67 strikes) while striking out 10.
Bryan Shaw will be the new pitcher for Cleveland.
Mid 7th, Indians 3-0: Justin Masterson is in cruise control.
Masterson tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning, picking up his 10th strikeout in the process. The right-hander has been very impressive since weathering some early struggles.
Grady Sizemore struck out swinging in the seventh. The slider continues to be Masterson’s best pitch.
End 6th, Indians 3-0: The Indians left a runner in scoring position in the sixth inning.
Jason Kipnis singled into left field with one out after Michael Brantley struck out swinging to begin the inning. Kipnis then swiped second base on a bang-bang play that brought manager John Farrell out of the Red Sox’s dugout for a brief chat.
John Lackey kept Cleveland off the scoreboard by inducing two ground balls. Lonnie Chisenhall grounded to first base, and Jason Giambi grounded to short.
Mid 6th, Indians 3-0: Justin Masterson is rolling right along.
Masterson struck out Dustin Pedroia to begin the sixth inning. The right-hander ran a fastball up and in to Pedroia to pick up the K.
David Ortiz beat the shift for a single into right field, but A.J. Pierzynski grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Pierzynski has grounded into two double plays in this contest.
End 5th, Indians 3-0: John Lackey worked around two hits in the fifth inning.
David Murphy and Michael Bourn both singled off Lackey.
The inning ended with some nice glove work by Stephen Drew, who ranged up the middle on Asdrubal Cabrera’s ground ball. Drew stepped on second base and fired to first to complete a big double play.
Justin Masterson heads to the mound having retired seven in a row. He has surrendered just two singles to this point.
Mid 5th, Indians 3-0: Justin Masterson has settled in.
Masterson has retired seven in a row after working a 1-2-3 fifth inning. He now has eight strikeouts to his credit.
Xander Bogaerts struck out to end the top of the fifth. It looked like a sinker from Masterson, who used his slider for three strikeouts in the fourth inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr. lined to center field and Brock Holt grounded back to the mound in the fifth inning.
End 4th, Indians 3-0: Jonny Gomes made a couple of nice running plays in the fourth inning.
Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Giambi both sent balls in Gomes’ direction. Gomes had to range a long way to grab Giambi’s liner into the corner given where the Red Sox’s outfield was playing.
Yan Gomes grounded to Stephen Drew to end the inning.
Mid 4th, Indians 3-0: Justin Masterson struck out the side in the fourth inning.
Masterson struck out Jonny Gomes, Grady Sizemore and Stephen Drew. All three hitters went down swinging.
Masterson made good use of his slider in the fourth inning. He went to it to pick up all three strikeouts.
End 3rd, Indians 3-0: The Indians added a run in the third inning.
Michael Bourn led off with a fly ball that took Jackie Bradley Jr. back toward the left-center field wall. It landed beyond Bradley’s reach, and Bourn, who can motor, cruised into third base with a leadoff triple.
Asdrubal Cabrera wasted no time in driving in Bourn. He ripped a 2-0 cutter into right field for an RBI single.
The Red Sox challenged a play and had it overturned in the third inning. Michael Brantley grounded to first base, where Brock Holt was forced to put to the test what he’s learned in less than two days at the position.
Holt made the play and fired to second base to begin a 3-6-3 double play. Brantley initially was called safe, but manager John Farrell called for a review, which revealed that Stephen Drew’s throw indeed beat Brantley at first base.
Mid 3rd, Indians 2-0: The Indians answered by turning a double play of their own in the third inning. It closed off a threat.
Dustin Pedroia followed Xander Bogaerts’ inning-opening strikeout with a single into left field.
David Ortiz then walked against Justin Masterson, who missed with four straight pitches.
A.J. Pierzynski, who has swung the bat well of late, had a chance to do some damage. Instead, he grounded back to the mound, where Masterson kicked off an inning-ending double play.
End 2nd, Indians 2-0: The double play tandem of Stephen Drew and Dustin Pedroia was tested in the second inning.
David Murphy singled after Yan Gomes opened the inning with a strikeout. Mike Aviles then hit a ground ball up the middle.
Drew made the play and flipped to Pedroia, who initially had some trouble getting the ball out of his glove. Pedey had plenty of time to regroup, however, and he completed the double play.
Mid 2nd, Indians 2-0: Stephen Drew walked in his first at-bat of 2014.
Drew saw five pitches en route to a free pass. His on-base percentage now sits at a perfect 1.000. Look out.
Believe it or not, Brock Holt is 0-for-2. He grounded out to end the second inning, in which Boston did not score.
Drew’s walk came between Grady Sizemore’s popout and Jackie Bradley Jr’s strikeout.
Sizemore, of course, is returning to the place he called home for quite a while.
End 1st, Indians 2-0: John Lackey didn’t quite have it in the first inning. He struggled while attempting to snap off some curveballs, and the Indians grabbed a 2-0 lead on a bloop single.
Lackey walked Michael Bourn and Michael Brantley in the first.
Brock Holt made a nice pick down at first base on a two-hopper for the second out of the inning, but both Bourn and Brantley moved up into scoring position on the play.
Lonnie Chisenhall gave Cleveland the lead by dropping a two-run knock into left field.
Mid 1st, 0-0: The Red Sox let Justin Masterson off the hook in the first inning.
Masterson showed flashes of what’s plagued him all season — lack of control and diminished velocity — but the Red Sox left the bases loaded without producing a run.
The red-hot Brock Holt actually was held off the bases in the first inning. He struck out looking on three pitches.
Xander Bogaerts showed no ill effects offensively of his position change. It was business as usual as the 21-year-old lined a one-out single into left field.
Masterson sandwiched a David Ortiz flyout with walks to Dustin Pedroia and A.J. Pierzynski to load the bases for Jonny Gomes. Masterson fell behind Gomes 3-0 before bouncing back to strike out the Boston outfielder.
Gomes looked at three consecutive pitches after getting ahead in the count.
7:07 p.m.: Justin Masterson starts off Brock Holt with a first-pitch strike.
6:45 p.m.: Stephen Drew is batting eighth inning his return. He’ll obviously man shortstop while Xander Bogaerts shifts to third base.
Red Sox manager John Farrell said before the game that Bogaerts is expected to play third base even on days when Drew is out of the lineup. The Red Sox want him to get acclimated at one position rather than bounce back and forth. Farrell left open the possibility, however, that Bogaerts could play shortstop at some point with another right-handed hitter — Will Middlebrooks, presumably — on the left side.
Brock Holt, who made his first career start at first base Sunday, will once again play first base Monday in Cleveland. The Red Sox are going to do all they can to get Holt’s red-hot bat in the lineup, and first base makes the most sense with both Mike Napoli and Mike Carp sidelined.
Monday’s complete lineups are below.
Boston Red Sox (27-29)
Brock Holt, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, 3B
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Jonny Gomes, LF
Grady Sizemore, RF
Stephen Drew, SS
Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
John Lackey, RHP (6-3, 3.27)
Cleveland Indians, (27-30)
Michael Bourn, CF
Asdrubal Cabrera, SS
Michael Brantley, LF
Jason Kipnis, 2B
Lonnie Chisenhall, 1B
Jason Giambi, DH
Yan Gomes, C
David Murphy, RF
Mike Aviles, 3B
Justin Masterson, RHP (2-4, 5.21 ERA)
6:15 p.m.: Stephen Drew returns to the Red Sox as Boston goes for its seventh straight win.
Drew, who had been on a minor league assignment after signing with the Red Sox on May 21, will return to the lineup and bat eighth Monday against the Cleveland Indians. The Red Sox enter on the heels of a three-game sweep over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
John Lackey will face old friend Justin Masterson on Monday at Progressive Field. Lackey was excellent in his last start, striking out nine over 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves. The right-hander is 4-2 with a 3.13 ERA in seven road starts this season.
Masterson, who is in an all-important contract year, has struggled so far in 2014. The former Red Sox hurler enters Monday’s clash with a 2-4 record and 5.21 ERA.
Monday’s action is scheduled to kick off at 7:05 p.m. Tune in on NESN, and keep it right here with NESN.com’s live blog.
