Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Guardians Box Score on Aug 21, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 21, 2017

CLEVELAND -- A throwing error by first baseman Brock Holt in the bottom of the ninth inning allowed the winning run to score as the Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 Monday night at Progressive Field.

Brandon Guyer led off the ninth with a double to left field off Brandon Workman (0-1). Roberto Perez laid down an attempted sacrifice bunt that rolled halfway to the mound.

Holt raced in, fielded it, and threw wildly to third base in an attempt to get Guyer. The ball rolled into foul territory, and Guyer raced home with the winning run.

The victory went to Cody Allen (1-6), who pitched a scoreless top of the ninth.

Cleveland won the game but lost two players. Star reliever Andrew Miller pitched to one batter in the seventh inning, walking him, then left the mound after a recurrence of right patellar tendinitis. It is the same injury that caused Miller to be on the disabled list from Aug. 2-17.

Indians first baseman Carlos Santana left the game in the eighth inning with a strained lower back.

Trailing 4-3, Cleveland tied it with a run in the eighth. Francisco Lindor led off by drawing a walk from reliever Matt Barnes. Austin Jackson followed with a single, moving Lindor to second. Heath Hembree relieved Barnes and struck out Jose Ramirez for the first out.

Edwin Encarnacion singled to left, scoring Lindor with the tying run and moving Jackson to third. Encarnacion went to second on the throw home. However, side-arming left-hander Robby Scott relieved Hembree and struck out left-handed hitters Jay Bruce and Bradley Zimmer to end the inning, keeping the score at 4-4.

The Red Sox got a pair of two-run home runs, from Andrew Benintendi in the first inning and Hanley Ramirez in the fifth. After Ramirez's homer, five Cleveland relievers held Boston scoreless on one hit over the last 4 2/3 innings.

Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on four hits, two of them home runs.

It didn't take long for Boston to open an early lead.

After Eduardo Nunez grounded out to lead off the game, Mookie Betts walked and Benintendi hit an 0-1 pitch from Clevinger into the seats in right field for his 18th homer of the season and fifth in the last 10 games, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the second, Bruce led off with a single and went to second on a one-out walk by Guyer. Perez, who came in hitting .177, pounded a 1-1 pitch from Rodriguez over the wall in center field for a three-run homer, his second long ball of the year, as the Indians took a 3-2 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning, Betts led off with a walk and Benintendi fouled out for the first out.

Betts attempted to steal second base but was called out. However, the Red Sox challenged the call, and after a video review, the ruling was reversed. The reversal became huge when Hanley Ramirez hit a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall for his 19th home run of the season, a two-run blast that gave Boston a 4-3 lead.

NOTES: Indians RHP Josh Tomlin threw a three-inning simulated game Monday. Tomlin has been on the disabled list since July 31 with a strained left hamstring. ... Although he was acquired by the Indians from the Mets in a trade on Aug. 9, Monday night was OF Jay Bruce's first game at Progressive Field since the deal. Bruce joined the Indians on the first game of an 11-game road trip that ended Sunday. On the trip, Bruce hit .375, with five doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs in 40 at bats. ... 1B Mitch Moreland was a pregame scratch from the Boston lineup due to a sore neck. He was replaced by INF/OF Brock Holt. ... 3B Rafael Devers was 28-for-80 (.350) in his first 21 major league games, the most hits by a Red Sox player in his first 21 games since Johnny Pesky had 28 in 1942. Devers went 0-for-4 on Monday.