Wednesday night’s early start didn’t slow down the Cleveland Indians, who clubbed 18 hits to defeat the Boston Red Sox 14-9.
Boston’s pitching staff struggled with Cleveland’s aggressive approach at the plate, allowing a run in seven out of the nine innings. Ryan Weber had the first rough outing of his Red Sox tenure, giving up seven runs in just four innings.
The two clubs combined for 32 hits in the high-scoring affair, with 12 players collecting multi-hit games.
The Red Sox fall to 29-27 with the loss, while the Indians climb to 28-27 with the win.
Here’s how it went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Offensive.
There wasn’t much pitching on either side at Fenway Park on Wednesday.
ON THE BUMP
— The Indians jumped on Weber right out of the gate. After setting down Francisco Lindor to begin the game, the right-hander gave up a single to Oscar Mercado, followed by a Carlos Santana triple get Cleveland on the board 1-0. A wild pitch in the next at-bat would score Santana, making it 2-0 after one.
Their aggressive approach at the plate wouldn’t stop there. Jake Bauer doubled to lead off the second inning, and after Weber hit Greg Allen, Kevin Plawecki would single to drive in Bauer, making it 3-1 Indians.
Weber would get into some trouble again in the third, putting Santana on with a leadoff walk followed by a Jason Kipnis single. Bauer’s RBI single would score Santana to make it 4-3, but Allen’s two-run triple was the biggest play of the inning, making it 6-3.
Santana punched a two-out solo home run in the fourth to make it 7-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Weber’s final line in four innings consisted of eight hits, seven earned runs and two strikeouts.
— Josh Taylor was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday and got the nod in the fifth inning in relief of Weber.
After giving up a leadoff double to Jose Ramirez, Taylor would register his first two big league outs, but wasn’t able to escape the inning unscathed. A two-out double from Plawecki put the Indians up 8-6. The 26-year-old recorded his first Major League strikeout to end the inning.
— Colten Brewer rejoined the team from Pawtucket on Wednesday and entered the game in the sixth inning, but couldn’t stop the bleeding.
With two runners on and two out, Ramirez would rope a ground-rule double to right, scoring both Santana and Lindor.
— Hector Velazquez came into the game in the seventh, but the runs kept coming.
Allen opened the inning with a triple, his second of the night, which was followed by a Plawecki walk to give Cleveland corners with no outs. Lindor would single later in the inning to drive in Allen. With the bases juiced, Santana delivered a three-run double to center, making it 14-6.
— Heath Hembree was the final pitcher of the night for Boston.
The right-hander allowed a one-out single to Lindor, but would escape the inning with no damage.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mookie Betts got the Sox on the board early. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first, Betts smoked a solo shot over the Green Monster for his ninth homer of the season.
— Xander Bogaerts singled to lead off the second inning and would score on Brock Holt’s ensuing double to right field, making it 3-2. Andrew Benintendi drove in Holt with a two-out double, tying the game at three.
— Jackie Bradley Jr.’s smacked a solo home run, his fourth of the year, cutting into Cleveland’s lead in the fourth.
— Benintendi added to his solid night at the dish with a two-run bomb in the fourth to make it 7-6.
— Bogaerts hit his tenth homer of the season in the eighth, poking a two-shot into the Monster seats.
Christian Vazquez continued the scoring in the eighth, smacking an RBI double to score Bradley Jr.
— Despite the loss, Boston’s bats were still busy, with Benintendi (three hits), Bogaerts (two), Vazquez (three), Betts (two) and Bradley Jr. (three) all collecting multi-hit nights.
Benintendi led the Red Sox with three RBI’s on the night.
— The Sox refused to go quietly, as they loaded the bases in the ninth.
Eduardo Nunez batted for Holt with one out and the bases juiced, but popped out to third base. Michael Chavis came up with two down, but grounded out to end the game.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Lots of debuts!
UP NEXT
The Red Sox now head to New York for a four-game weekend set with the Yankees.
