Ben Lively allowed one run over 6 1/3 strong innings and Will Brennan’s double sparked a two-run rally in the seventh as the Cleveland Guardians won their fifth straight game, beating the visiting Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Tuesday night.
After being outpitched by Tanner Houck during Cleveland’s 2-0 loss in Boston last Wednesday, Lively yielded Wilyer Abreu’s homer in the seventh, four other hits and struck out seven without issuing a walk on Tuesday.
It marked Lively’s second start of the season. He had missed the opening weeks of the campaign due to a viral illness.
Houck (3-2), who tossed a three-hit shutout against the Guardians last week, was back on the mound on Tuesday and was nearly as dominant. But in the seventh, Brennan led off with a double into the right-center-field gap for his second hit and scored on Tyler Freeman’s single to tie things at 1-all.
Houck’s night ended when he walked Estevan Florial without recording an out in the seventh. Brennan Bernardino entered and walked David Fry to load the bases. Brayan Rocchio followed with a sacrifice fly, with the run charged to Houck, putting Cleveland ahead 2-1.
Jose Ramirez’s opposite-field homer to right and Florial’s RBI double in the eighth provided insurance for the Guardians, who have won eight of their past nine and are a major-league-best 17-6.
Meanwhile, Rob Refsnyder had three hits for the Red Sox, who, despite being plagued by injuries, are two games above .500 and just came off a three-game series sweep of Pittsburgh. However, they managed just six hits in the opener of this three-game set.
Boston broke Tuesday’s stalemate with one out in the seventh. Abreu, who had just three career homers in 46 big-league games entering the contest, sent a 2-2 pitch from Lively into the right field seats.
However, the Guardians were finally able to get to Houck — who gave up five hits, the two runs and walked three while recording four strikeouts — in the bottom of the seventh.
Cleveland’s Scott Barlow (1-2) earned the win, and Emmanuel Clase struck out the side in the ninth for his seventh save.
–Field Level Media
