BOSTON — Guardians hitters do some of their best work when the club is behind late in a game.
Cleveland scored a 10-7 comeback win Tuesday against Boston, rallying to force extra innings on an RBI single by Andrés Giménez in the ninth and taking the lead for good in the 11th with three runs thanks to clutch hits by José Ramírez and Estevan Florial.
And all of that happened after the Guardians’ top-ranked bullpen blew a four-run lead in a matter of one inning.
The Guardians have won three straight after losing three of their previous four, and are riding a four-game winning streak against the Red Sox. They are tied with the Yankees at 12 wins and have the best record in baseball by percentage. Cleveland is 3-0 in extra-inning games and 9-0 in games where they score first. Tyler Freeman, who posted his first career game with multiple extra-base hits, said comebacks are in Cleveland’s DNA.
“We’re a team that doesn’t quit, just give us a challenge,” Freeman said. “We’re going to come up to it and that’s why we win games late. You can’t ask for a better group to do that.”
Ramírez and Florial put the game out of reach in the 11th. After Giménez drew a leadoff walk, Ramírez singled off Red Sox righty Josh Winckowski (1-1) to score automatic runner Steven Kwan. Brayan Rocchio’s sacrfice bunt moved Giménez and Ramírez into scoring position before Winckowski intentionally walked Bo Naylor.
Florial fell behind in the count before smashing a two-run single through the hole on the right side of the infield to give him four RBI in his last four games. Manager Stephen Vogt said he was happy for Florial, who is making a habit of coming up with big hits off the bench.
“We feel good about all 13 of our guys, whether they start, whether they come off the bench and that’s such a testament to this group and to the coaching staff having these guys prepared to come in,” Vogt said. “(Florial) came through with a huge, huge hit there.”
Boston closer Kenley Jansen suffered his first blown save when Giménez singled up the middle in the ninth to score Freeman, who was aboard after a one-out double. In the 10th, Gabriel Arias sent a soft single to center field for his second hit of the game. It scored Rocchio, who was pinch-running for Josh Naylor and put Cleveland in front by a run.
But Boston tied the score at 7-7 in the bottom of the inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by Connor Wong off Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase. It was Clase’s second blown save of the season. Scott Barlow, instead, struck out a pair in the bottom of the 11th and earned his first Guardians save, making Clase (1-0) the winner.
Barlow was excited to see the team grind out a win by extending the game after losing a big lead, and made sure he was ready when his time arrived.
“Just watching the resilience for that long, it just kind of fires you up,” Barlow said. “Staying warm is the biggest thing, and you don’t really know when your name’s going to be called. Always being ready no matter when the phone rings. If it’s your go, then it’s your go. If it’s not, stay hot.”
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The back-and-forth affair saw Boston victimize Cleveland’s bullpen, turning a four-run deficit into a 6-5 advantage by scoring five times in the sixth. Guardians relievers entered the game leading the majors with a 1.76 ERA, but were averaging more than four innings per contest. The heavy workload continued Tuesday after starter Tanner Bibee was only able to go five innings, allowing a run on five hits and a walk.
Boston’s Triston Casas greeted Tyler Beede with a home run to open the sixth, and Beede walked Wilyer Abreu before Wong sent a hanging splitter over the wall in left for his second home run, trimming Cleveland’s lead to a run. Beede has allowed six earned runs in his last three appearances after opening the season with four straight scoreless outings.
Cade Smith relieved Beede and struck out Red Sox shortstop David Hamilton, but allowed a two-out double to Ceddanne Rafaela and a walk to Jarren Duran before Rafael Devers delivered a two-run double to center that put Boston in front. The two earned runs allowed by Smith were the first of his major league career.
Despite the bullpen’s stumble, Vogt praised his players for showing grit and sticking together when the going got tough.
“We got kicked in the teeth pretty good there in the sixth and it felt pretty bad,” Vogt said. “But then we came fighting back. To put a three spot up just speaks to the resilience of this team. The bullpen, one of the first nights where it just didn’t go our way out of the bullpen, and then other guys come in and step up.”
Cleveland went ahead 5-1 with three runs in the fifth when Boston starter Garrett Whitlock exited with tighteness in his left oblique. Freeman launched a solo home run over the Green Monster in left off Whitlock’s replacement, Joley Rodríguez before Ramírez delivered an RBI sacrifice fly Josh Naylor’s single led to a Giménez run.
Giménez slid home after Boston outfielder Wilyer Abreu bobbled the ball in right for an error before making a strong throw. Giménez was originally called out at the plate, but upon review his run scored as Red Sox catcher Connor Wong was ruled to have blocked his path. Vogt, a former catcher, said it was clear Wong had blocked the plate, but he was not sure which way the call would go once it went to review.
“That play is tough,” Vogt said. “It’s an interesting play that we have in our game, but fortunately we were on the receiving end of it.”
Cleveland pushed its lead over Kansas City in the American League Central Division standings to a full game at 12-5 as the Royals and White Sox were rained out in Chicago. The Guardians’ nine road wins through 11 games matches a record set three other times in franchise history, most recently in 1948.
Will Brennan and Arias provided early offense for Cleveland in the second inning with back-to-back RBI doubles off Boston starter Garrett Whitlock.
After Ramón Laureano drew a two-out walk, Brennan pulled a cutter to right. The ball bounced off the five-foot high wall and stayed in play, allowing Laureano to score from first. It was Brennan’s second double of the season. Arias followed with a double into the left field corner on a changeup from Whitlock for his sixth RBI.
Though Brennan had only appeared in three games at Fenway prior to Tuesday’s start, he was slugging 1.143 with a pair of home runs and eight RBI. Arias entered the contest batting .600 in his previous three games with two doubles, a triple and a home run.
Next: The series continues Wednesday with a 7:10 p.m. first pitch from Fenway Park. Right-hander Ben Lively will make his Guardians debut while the Red Sox counter with righty Tanner Houck (2-1, 2.04). The game will air on Bally Sports Great Lakes, WTAM 1100 AM, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians Radio Network.
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