Red Sox Wrap: José Ramírez Plays Home Run Derby In Win Over Boston

The Boston Red Sox scuffled against José Ramírez and the Guardians on Thursday night, dropping the rubber match of the three-game set, 10-3, at Progressive Field.

The Red Sox dropped under .500 with the loss at 31-32 — it’s their first time under .500 since April 28 — and the Guardians improved to 29-33.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox just can’t seem to do themselves any favors at the moment and now have lost three straight series.

Boston looked primed to somehow steal a road win even with its offense not mustering much when it closed the deficit to a run in the top of the sixth. But instead of getting a shutdown inning to stay in the game, Ramírez jumpstarted a key five-run bottom of the sixth for the Guardians, who had eight consecutive hits in the frame off the struggling Corey Kluber.

The night really belonged to Ramírez. He kept coming through with big hit after big hit, packing a punch when doing so, and that’s something the Red Sox recently have severely lacked.

It was an impressive display from Ramírez and that can’t be said about the Red Sox, either.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Ramírez was pretty quiet in the first two games of the series, but he awoke just in time to inflict a ton of damage in the series finale. Ramírez swatted three home runs in his first three at-bats — connecting from each side of the plate as well — with five RBIs and also made a sensational defensive play on a Justin Turner grounder deep in the hole behind third base to take away a hit.

— Andrés Giménez delivered the final blow to the Red Sox as the Guardians second baseman turned in a key two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning. He went 2-for-4 in the win.

— Jarren Duran, who took over for Alex Verdugo at the top of the order, was one of two members of the Red Sox with a multi-hit effort. He went 2-for-5 with an RBI single.

WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set the odds of Triston Casas hitting a home run at +560. The left-handed hitting first baseman belted a towering round-tripper to right field in the sixth inning for his seventh homer of the season. A $100 wager on this prop bet would have netted a total of $660.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox begin their first series with the archrival New York Yankees on Friday. First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.