The Red Sox and Guardians faced off for their second series of the year so far. Cleveland won three of the four games in the previous series and this series, two games to one. Although Cleveland won both series, Boston put up a good fight and got a few wins. In the games the Red Sox won, they showed glimpses of how good their team can be, but ultimately, the Guardians were dominant in fielding and batting to claim the wins.
Game One
Tanner Houck pitched six innings for Boston, giving up five hits and two runs, walking three and striking out four. His ERA was 1.65. Ben Lively pitched 6.1 innings for Cleveland, giving up five hits, one home run, and striking out seven. His ERA was 2.83.
Both teams had a few hits in the first few innings, but no one scored. Both teams also had double plays in which the batter grounded the ball to the second baseman. The first was Boston’s Enmanuel Valdez grounding out to Cleveland Andres Gimenez in the top of the second. Interestingly, the second double play was the opposite: Gimenez grounded out to Valdez.
Neither team scored until the seventh inning when Wilyer Abreu hit a home run to put Boston up 1-0. After another single from the Red Sox, Cleveland changed pitchers to Scott Barlow. He was able to pick off a base runner and stuck out Valdez. Barlow pitched 0.2 innings, had one strikeout, and had an ERA of 4.09.
After a double and a single scored one run for Cleveland, Brennan Bernardino came in to pitch for Boston. He pitched one inning, had one walk, and an ERA of 1.08. Shortly after he came in, Cleveland scored again to take the lead 2-1. The Guardians made a pitching change again in the eighth and sent out Hunter Gaddis. He pitched one inning, gave up one hit, and struck out one for an ERA of 0.00. Boston also changed pitchers to Cam Booser, who pitched one inning, gave up two hits, two runs, one home run, had two walks, and struck out two. His ERA was 9.00. The first batter Booser faced was Jose Ramirez, who hit a home run to put Cleveland up 3-1. A few batters later, Estevan Florial got an RBI double to get the night’s final run.
Emmanuel Clase came in to close for the Guardians in the ninth inning. He struck out three in a row with no hits and had an ERA of 0.75. Guardians won 4-1.
Game Two
The Boston Red Sox dominated the entire second game. Carlos Carrasco was the starting pitcher for Cleveland. He pitched five innings, giving up nine hits and five runs (five ER and three HR), walked one, struck out four, and had an ERA of 4.63. Cooper Criswell got the start for Boston. He pitched five innings, giving up three hits, struck out three, and had an ERA of 2.38.
Boston started hot and got the scoring going right away. Wilyer Abreu had an RBI double, putting the Red Sox up 1-0. Connor Wong got a home run in the second inning to make it 2-0. Cleveland held the runs off until the fifth inning when Boston’s Rafael Devers hit a home run, making it 3-0. Wong hit another homerun in the sixth, 4-0. After giving up one more single, Cleveland replaced Carrasco with Tyler Beede. He pitched one inning, gave up two hits and one run (one ER), struck out two, and had an ERA of 5.56. Ceddanne Rafaela got an RBI single shortly after the pitching change, 5-0. Devers hit a ground-rule double, sending Rafaela home to make it 6-0 for Boston.
Boston changed pitchers in the bottom of the sixth to Joely Rodriguez. He pitched two innings, gave up one hit, struck out three, and had an ERA of 4.50. The Guardians came close to scoring when Jose Ramirez stole third base, but nothing would come of it. Cleveland changed pitchers in the seventh to Pedro Avila. He pitched the final three innings, gave up five hits and two runs (two ER), struck out two, and had an ERA of 8.18. Zack Kelly came in to pitch for the Red Sox in the bottom of the eight. He threw the final two innings, gave up nothing, had three strikeouts, and had an ERA of 0.00.
Boston’s final two runs came in the ninth inning, one from a sacrifice fly by Enmanuel Valdez and the other from an RBI single by Wong. The Red Sox beat the Guardians 8-0.
Game Three
After having a bad loss, Cleveland had a great start to the final game in the series. Both teams went through many pitchers, so some pitching stats may be abbreviated. The Guardians started Triston McKenzie, who pitched four innings and gave up six hits and two runs. He finished with an ERA of 4.91. Boston had six different pitchers, and Cleveland had seven. Starting for Boston was Chase Anderson, who only pitched 1.2 innings before being replaced by Brennan Bernardino. Leading up to the change, Will Brennan put the Guardians up by one with his third homer of the year. Gabriel Arias was hit by a pitch and then stole second. Steven Kwan and Tyler Freeman were both walked. Jose Ramirez stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam on the tenth pitch of his at-bat. Cleveland led 5-0.
In the top of the third, the Red Sox answered with an RBI triple from Rob Refsnyder, making it 1-5. The next batter, Wilyer Abreu, hit a sacrifice fly to send Refsnyder home to lessen the lead, 2-5.
Cam Booser replaced Bernardino as Boston’s pitcher in the bottom of the fourth. He pitched for two innings, giving up one run, and had one walk and strikeout for an ERA of 5.40. Tim Herrin replaced McKenzie for Cleveland in the top of the fifth. After giving up two singles and having a batter get out on a line drive, Nick Sandlin was sent out to pitch in his place. Sandlin gave up one hit and two runs and struck out one for an ERA of 3.09. Hunter Gaddis came out in his stead after Sandlin gave up an RBI to Ceddanne Rafaela, lowering the Guardian’s lead to 5-3. Jarren Duran was the next batter and got an RBI to Boston within one, 5-4.
Greg Weissert replaced Booser as Boston’s pitcher in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up one single in one inning. In the next inning, Scott Barlow subbed in for Gaddis as Cleveland’s pitcher and had one strikeout. Chris Martin replaced Weissert for the Red Sox. After he intentionally walked Josh Naylor, a ball got past the catcher, and Jose Ramirez scored to put Cleveland up 6-4. Cade Smith replaced Barlow in the next inning and struck out two with an ERA of 3.00. For Boston, Kenley Jansen came out to pitch. He struck out one and had an ERA of 2.08.
Cleveland sent Emmanuel Clase to close out the game. He struck out one. The Guardians won the game 6-4 and the series 2-1.
The Cleveland Guardians next play Friday, April 26, at 7:20 PM EST in Atlanta against the Braves. Both teams have similar records: Cleveland is 18-7, and Atlanta is 17-6.
