For the second straight night, it took extras to settle a contest between two division winners.
And for the second straight night, it was the Cleveland Indians prevailing over the Boston Red Sox. The Indians beat the Red Sox 4-3 on Sunday in the rubber match of a three-game set at Progressive Field.
With the bases juiced in the 11th inning, Greg Allen drilled a walk-off single to give the Indians the series win.
The Red Sox did lose a player in the loss, as Xander Bogaerts was removed from the game during his seventh-inning at-bat as a precaution due to left shoulder soreness.
With the loss, the Red Sox fell to 105-51, while the Indians climbed to 87-68.
Here’s how it went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Narrow.
There hardly was anything separating the two sides for the second night in a row.
ON THE BUMP
— Hector Velazquez made the spot start for the Red Sox, and as usually has been the case, he gave his team a chance to win. The righty allowed two runs (both earned) on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings of work.
Velazquez pitched a 1-2-3 first, then allowed a leadoff triple in a scoreless second before retiring the side in order again in the third.
The right-hander found himself in some trouble in the fourth. Velazquez allowed a leadoff single to Michael Brantley, then with Edwin Encarnacion up two batters later, he made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt that allowed Brantley to reach second. The same at-bat, Brantley got to third on a wild pitch, and Encarnacion responded with a single to score Brantley and cut Boston’s deficit to 2-1. The Encarnacion single marked the end of Velazquez’s night.
— Steven Wright took over with one out and a runner on second and immediately got Josh Donaldson to strikeout. But thereafter, Yonder Alonso drilled a single, which was followed by a Melky Cabrera double to right, which scored a pair and gave Cleveland a 3-2 advantage. One of the runs was charged to Velazquez.
— Bobby Poyner handled the fifth with the game tied and struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 inning.
The lefty returned for the sixth, but was yanked after giving up a leadoff walk.
— William Cuevas entered for Poyner and logged quite a bit of work. He got out of the sixth without issue, then he also pitched the seventh, walking one in a scoreless stanza.
Cuevas tossed a scoreless eighth, hitting one batter, then forced extra innings with a scoreless ninth.
The righty allowed two hits in the 10th, but got out of the frame unscathed.
The Indians finally got to Cuevas in the 11th when Jose Ramirez walked to begin the inning, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Rajai Davis. Erik Gonzalez then reached on a fielding error, putting runners on the corners and ending Cuevas’ night.
In all, Cuevas pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
— Robby Scott took over for Cuevas with one out and the bases loaded after an intentional walk to Yandy Diaz, but Allen smacked a full-count single to left to end the game.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox quickly got on the board in the first. Mookie Betts began the game with a double, then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Benintendi. Two batters later, Indians starter Adam Plutko threw a wild pitch, which allowed Betts to score and make it 1-0.
— Boston extended its lead in the third inning. With the bases loaded off singles from Christian Vazquez and Betts and a walk to Bogaerts, a Rafael Devers groundout allowed Vazquez to score and make it 2-0.
— Down 3-2 in the fifth, Betts tied the game with a solo shot to center.
Unstoppable. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cNOOGUcg6h
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 24, 2018
— Betts had four of the Red Sox’s eight hits, including a homer and two doubles.
— Bogaerts, Vazquez, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Tzu-Wei Lin each had one hit.
— Benintendi, Devers, Steve Pearce, Mitch Moreland and Ian Kinsler all went hitless.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Brock Holt remains a national treasure.
Never change, Brock.
Never. pic.twitter.com/dhHZvAzeuz
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 24, 2018
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will head home and begin a three-game set with the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Boston will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound, while the O’s will roll out Dylan Bundy. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
