CLEVELAND — That’s a wrap.
The Boston Red Sox suffered a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in their final game of 2015. The Sox, who dropped their final three contests, finished the season with a 78-84 record.
GAME IN A WORD
Over.
It’s been a long season for the Red Sox, who essentially have been out of contention since early July. They made great strides late in the season, giving themselves something to build on this winter and in 2016, but it’s finally time to turn the page on a mostly disappointing campaign.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
The Indians scored two runs in the third inning.
Cleveland tied the game 1-1 in the second inning when Giovanny Urshela singled home Roberto Perez, who doubled with two outs. The Tribe went right back to work in the third, scoring a pair of runs on three hits and a throwing error by Rick Porcello.
Michael Martinez and Lonnie Chisenhall began the bottom of the third with a double and a single, respectively. Porcello bounced back to strike out Carlos Santana, who did plenty of damage in the first two games of the series, but the right-hander fired an errant pickoff throw with Jose Ramirez batting that allowed Martinez to trot home with the go-ahead run.
Jesus Aguilar extended Cleveland’s lead to 3-1 with a single into left field that scored Chisenhall.
The Red Sox threatened in the eighth inning, as Josh Rutledge and Allen Craig started the frame with back-to-back singles. But Bryan Shaw escaped the jam unscathed.
ON THE BUMP
— Porcello ended the season on a rather positive note, all things considered.
He allowed three runs (two earned) on 10 hits over seven innings. He struck out seven and walked one while throwing 106 pitches (75 strikes).
Porcello, of course, hurt himself by misfiring a pickoff throw in Cleveland’s two-run third inning, but the 26-year-old showed improvement down the stretch this year, which is important moving forward.
— Alexi Ogando worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— David Ortiz drove in the game’s only run, giving him a team-best 108 RBIs for the season. Big Papi knocked in Xander Bogaerts, who also doubled in the first inning.
— Bogaerts went 1-for-3. He finished the season with 196 hits and a .320 average. Not a bad campaign for the young shortstop, who also took a tremendous step forward defensively.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. had two hits (single, double) batting out of the No. 9 spot in Boston’s order.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Can’t we all?
UP NEXT
A very important offseason.
The Red Sox started the season with World Series aspirations and ended it without advancing to the playoffs. Boston has plenty of questions to answer this winter.
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images
