Jose Ramirez hit a second-inning grand slam and added an important insurance run in the seventh as the Cleveland Guardians beat the visiting Boston Red Sox 6-4 on Thursday.
On the 10th pitch of his at-bat against Boston starter Chase Anderson (0-1) with the bags packed, Ramirez sent a no-doubt drive into the right-field seats for his second homer of the series.
In the seventh, after the Red Sox clawed back to make it 5-4, Ramirez singled for his third hit, stole second and went to third on catcher Reese McGuire’s throwing error. Ramirez then scored on another McGuire miscue and Cleveland held on to take two of three from Boston with its ninth win in 11 games.
Rafael Devers posted his second straight three-hit game and Rob Refsnyder had two hits with an RBI for the Red Sox, who completed a 4-2 road trip despite the loss.
Boston loaded the bases against Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie with one out in the second, but the right-hander fanned Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran to get out unscathed.
The Guardians made Boston pay in the bottom of that frame. Will Brennan put Cleveland up 1-0 when he cleared the right-field wall for his third home run. Then after Anderson hit Gabriel Arias and loaded the bases via consecutive two-out walks to Steven Kwan and Tyler Freeman, Ramirez gave the Guardians a seemingly comfortable 5-0 lead.
Boston got two runs back against McKenzie in the third. Devers led off with a single and scored on a triple by Refsnyder, who came home on Wilyer Abreu’s sacrifice fly.
McKenzie lasted four innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking two and fanning seven.
After stranding runners on second and third without a run in the fifth, Boston got two in the sixth against Nick Sandlin. David Hamilton was hit by a pitch and McGuire recorded his second single. Both advanced on Sandlin’s wild pitch, which was followed by Rafaela’s RBI groundout and Duran’s run-scoring single.
Cleveland’s Hunter Gaddis (1-0) got the win and Emmanuel Clase retired the side in the ninth for his eighth save.
–Field Level Media
