The Sox wasted no time scoring against Indians starter Adam Plutko. Mr. Mookie Betts doubled to begin and Andrew Benintendi sacrificed him over to third. Xander Bogaerts walked and a wild pitch scored Betts while moving Bogaerts to second to put the Sox on top. Rafael Devers popped up to short but Steve Pearce flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez took the mound in the bottom of the first inning and struck out Fransisco Lindor to start. Michael Brantley grounded out to short and Jose Ramirez grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Mitch Moreland flied out to left to begin. Ian Kinsler popped up to first and Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to left to end the inning. Things looked bleak when Edwin Encarnacion tripled to open the bottom of the second but was erased at home on the Josh Donaldson force. Yonder Alonso singled but Melky Cabrera banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the third as Christian Vazquez and Mr. Mookie stroked back to back singles. Benintendi popped up but Bogaerts walked to load the bases. Devers grounded out to first but Vazquez scored to increase the lead. Pearce grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Velazquez cruised in the bottom of the third as Jason Kipnis lined out to left to start. Roberto Perez whiffed but Lindor grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox were silenced in the top of the fourth although Moreland walked to start. Kinsler popped up to first, JBJ flied out to center and Vazquez flied out to right to end the inning. Suddenly Velazquez fell apart in the bottom of the fourth inning as Brantley singled to start. Ramirez whiffed but Velazquez threw a pickoff threw completely out of Progressive field for an error to advance Brantley to second and a wild pitch moved him to third. Encarnacion singled home Brantley to cut into the lead and that was it for Velazquez after just 3 1/3 innings.
Steven Wright came in to pitch and whiffed Donaldson....but Encarnacion took second on a passed ball. Alonso singled to center and JBJ decided to turn around and throw the ball into the right field bleachers for an error to score Edwin with the tying run. The two errors, the wild pitch and the passed balls were compounded when Cabrera pounded an rbi double to give the Indians the lead. Kipnis poppe dup to short to end the inning but the Indians took the lead 3-2.
The lead for Cleveland lasted all of 15 seconds as Mr. Mookie smashed his 31st home run of the year to tie the game leading off the top of the fifth. Benintendi grounded out to short but Bogaerts singled. Devers looked at strike three before Pearce grounded back to the mound to end the inning tied up 3-3.
Bobby Poyner was summoned to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Eric Haase pinch hit for Perez only to strike out swinging. Lindor grounded back to the mound and Brantley whiffs to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the sixth as Moreland flied out to left, Kinsler flied out to right and JBJ looked at strike three to end the inning. Poyner returned for the bottom of the sixth but left after walking Ramirez. William Cuevas came in and struck out Encarnacion. Donaldson banged into a double play to end the inning.
Dan Otero replaced Plutko for the top of the seventh and Vazquez grounded out to first to begin. Mr. Mookie doubled and moved to third on the Benintendi grounder. Things took a turn for the worse when Bogaerts swung and missed then collapsed in a heap. He had to be carried out on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance headed for the ICU in the middle of the at-bat. Tzu-Wei Lin finished the at-bat by striking out to end the inning, uh oh.
Cuevas returned for the bottom of the seventh and Alonso grounded out to third. Cabrera drew a walk and was pinch ran for by Greg Allen. The Sox pulled off a strike em out, throw em out double play when Kipnis whiffed and Vazquez gunned down Allen trying to steal to end the inning.
Jon Edwards got the call to pitch the top of the eighth and the Sox looked to rally when Devers and Pearce drew back to back walks. Rather than bunt, Moreland flied out to right. That was it for Edwards as Neil Ramirez came in to punch out Kinsler. JBJ was plunked to load the bases but Vazquez popped up to second to end the inning, what a waste. Cuevas continued to pitch well in the bottom of the eighth as Haase whiffed to start. Lindor was plunked but Brantley popped up to third. Ramirez popped up to third to end the inning.
The Sox threatened again in the top of the ninth against Adam Cimber although Mr. Mookie whiffed to start. Benintendi flied out to center but Lin doubled and Devers was intentionally walked. Pearce grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Sox were gonna live or die with Cuevas in the bottom of the ninth and they almost died when Encarnacion drew a leadoff walk. Rajai Davis pinch ran for him but was thrown out trying to steal by the alert Vazquez. Donaldson looked at strike three before Alonso lined out to right to end the inning and on to extras we went.
Erik Gonzalez replaced Donaldson for the top of the tenth with Josh Tomlin now on the mound. Moreland whiffed an d Kinsler grounded out to third, but JBJ singled. Vazquez flied out to center to end the inning. Cuevas came back for the bottom of the tenth and got Allen to ground out to first to begin. Thinks look bleak when Kipnis doubled and Brandon Barnes ran for him. Haase beat out an infield single and both runners moved into scoring position on a grounder by Lindor. Brantley grounded out to first to end the inning. That's 5 shutout innings by Cuevas.
Brandon Guyer replaced Brantley in left with Barnes going to right and Allen moving to center for the top of the eleventh. Mr. Mookie looked at strike three before Benintendi flied out to left. Lin walked but Devers grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Just like last night the game ended in the bottom of the eleventh with Blake Swihart in right and Sam Travis in left. The exhausted Cuevas walked Ramirez and he took second after Davis dropped down a sac bunt. Gonzalez hit a routine grounder to Lin who picked the ball up and sang into it like a microphone for an error. Sox manager Alex Cora said to hell with this game and brought in Robby Scott to pitch to Yandy Diaz (replacing Alonso). Diaz was intentionally walked to set up a force but Allen slammed home a single to end the game with the Indians winning 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is Robby Scott. He was tasked to get two outs and ended up giving up a walk and a single to end the game.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 4 for 6 with 2 total runs scored including a solo home run.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 2 with 2 walks.
Bobby Poyner pitched a scoreless 5th inning.
One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the good list but William Cuevas was charged with the losing run after 5 1/3 gutty innings to keep the Sox in the game.
The Bad:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 5.
Ian Kinsler was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Steven Wright allowed an inherited runner to score and one of his own in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Tzu-Wei Lin got a hit and a walk at the plate but his error was instrumental in the Indians winning in the 11th.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs.
Steve Pearce was 0 for 4 but drew a walk.
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 4 but drew a walk.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but got hit with a pitch.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Hector Velazquez gave up 2 runs in 3 1/3 innings pitched.
Honorable Mention:
Blake Swihart played right field in the bottom of the 11th.
Sam Travis played left field in the bottom of the 11th.
Final Thoughts:
Can this season just end already? The playoff picture apart from the wild card is pretty much set with Houston taking on Cleveland and the Red Sox meeting the survivor of the Oakland A's/New York Yankees inevitable showdown. At this point the Sox have 6 games left and they're just auditions to see who's on the post-season roster and who's not. The entire bullpen is up in the air besides Craig Kimbrel because nobody can be trusted. Tonight was another example of a boring, meaningless game for both teams and the less said of it the better. The Sox come home for the final six games beginning with the hapless Baltimore Orioles. Dylan Bundy goes for the Orioles up against Nathan Eovaldi (5-7) at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park
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