Red Sox can't overcome José Ramírez's grand slam, drop series in Cleveland

Cora had been hoping for a much deeper start from Anderson, but thanks to Cooper Criswell’s five-inning performance the night before and Tanner Houck’s six-inning outing in Tuesday’s series opener, the Sox skipper had a fairly well-rested Boston bullpen. Brennan Bernardino, Cam Booser, Greg Weissert, Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen pitched the rest of the way, and the only run the Guardians scored was unearned.

Nevertheless, Thursday was a reminder of how crucial the starting rotation has been thus far. The pitching staff has been able to mask several areas of inadequacy, including their MLB-leading error count, which rose by two on Thursday, and the lineup’s continued struggles to drive in their baserunners.

The Guardians plated their sixth and final run on a pair of throwing errors by McGuire: after singling and stealing second in the bottom of the eighth, Ramírez advanced to third on the catcher’s first error. He quickly scored when Martin failed to cover the plate after a passed ball and McGuire made his second miscue.

On Thursday, the Sox out-hit their hosts 10-8, but struck out 12 times, only drew two walks, and went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight men. They left the bases loaded in the top of the second, only to have Ramírez get the job done in the bottom of the inning.

Without consistent, deep starts, the Red Sox would already have several more losses just like this one, which was frustratingly reminiscent of so many of their losses last season. Instead, nearly a month into the regular season and despite having a major league-leading 13 players on the injured list, they own a winning record (14-12).

That’s far from a consolation prize.

NL up next

The Red Sox begin their second homestand on Friday, hosting the Chicago Cubs for a three-game set over the weekend. Kutter Crawford will start Game 1 against Chicago’s new ace, Shota Imanaga. Josh Winckowski and Houck will start Saturday (4:10 p.m.) and Sunday (7:10 p.m.), respectively.

After a day off on Monday, Mike Yastrzemski and the San Francisco Giants come to town for a trio of games.