By: Sean Fitzgerald

Another Saturday, another large crowd of 26,221 at Progressive Field as the Cleveland Indians took on the Boston Red Sox. 

It was another tough-luck loss in the late innings, with the Red Sox prevailing 5-3 over the Indians.

Cal Quantrill got Jarren Duran to pop-bunt the first pitch for an out. The good vibes were erased two pitches later when Kyle Schwarber went 400 feet deep to straightaway center for his 27th home run of the year. 

J.D. Martinez wasted no time in snapping an 0-for-20 streak with a single up the middle, with Xander Bogaerts scoring Martinez. However, Bogaerts made the second out while advancing to third before Quantrill got Rafael Devers on a grounder back to him to retreat to the dugout. 

Nathan Eovaldi fared quite well during his first frame of work, sending the side down in order. 

Eovaldi’s second inning was a different story, seeing Franmil Reyes crush a 434-foot moonshot to the bleachers, cutting Boston’s lead in half. 

Bradley Zimmer followed Reyes’ shot by smacking a double up the middle and to the fence in center field, coming around to score on a Bobby Bradley RBI blooper and knot the game at two runs apiece.  

With two down, Andres Gimenez put a sweet stroke on the baseball into the left field corner to slide in with a double and to put two runners in scoring position for leadoff hitter Myles Straw, who went down swinging.

From that point onward, the game became a pitchers duel, as both Eovaldi and Quantrill sparkled on the mound. The only difference between the two was how many pitches each had thrown, with 89 for Eovaldi through five innings and Quantrill landing at 80 through six innings pitched. 

Following a one-out double to Franmil Reyes in the home half of the sixth, Red Sox Manager Alex Cora pulled Eovaldi from the game. 

Eovaldi went 5 ⅓ innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits. The Boston righty tallied seven strikeouts on 97 pitches, 62 for strikes and no walks. 

Quantrill got himself into a pickle in the seventh, with runners on second and third with only one out following Travis Shaw’s sacrifice bunt. The Stanford product managed to get a pop up to Gimenez and a fly out to Daniel Johnson to end the Red Sox threat. 

Quantrill pitched another gem for the Tribe over seven innings, giving up six hits and two runs, with only one run earned. He walked two batters while striking out six, tossing 96 pitches and 62 for strikes. 

With Oscar Mercado pinch-hitting for Daniel Johnson, Alex Cora immediately made a pitching change before Mercado could step in the box. It wouldn’t make a difference as Mercado slid into first with a weakly tapped infield single.

Gimenez walked before Straw popped up a bunt for an out. Rosario would hit into a fielder’s choice to move both runners into scoring position and Ramirez intentionally walked to bring Reyes up to bat with ducks on the pond. 

Reyes, like so many batters before him, worked the count to 3-2 and struck out to get Boston out of another hazard spot. 

The Tribe similarly found themselves in a rut in the eighth. Bryan Shaw allowed a two-out base knock to Devers, putting Schwarber on third and Alex Verdugo, one of the jewels of the Mookie Betts trade up at the plate. The veteran Shaw sent Verdugo down swinging to keep the game tied up. 

Austin Davis walked Zimmer in the bottom of the eighth, who advanced to third with two down but couldn’t come around to score. 

DeMarlo Hale brought closer Emmanuel Clase on in the ninth to face the bottom third of the Boston order. Christian Vazquez turned on Clase’s first pitch, a 99 mph fastball trailing inside, and ripped it for a double. Another sure hit by Travis Shaw turned into an out on a great defensive effort by Bobby Bradley. 

Clase whiffed Jonathan Arauz with Jarren Duran coming up to the plate for the fifth time of the day at the top of the Red Sox order. Duran hit a chopper to third, fielded cleanly by Ramirez and over to first to give the Tribe a chance to walk it off. 

Myles Straw knocked a ball into right, putting the winning run aboard. Unfortunately, neither Rosario or Ramirez could drive him in, sending the game to extra innings and Duran the runner on second with Nick Wittgren coming in to pitch.

Kyle Schwarber sent a liner to Mercado in left, who got the ball in quick enough to hold Duran at third. Only a few pitches later would Boston grab back the lead on a three-run Martinez rocket, putting the Tribe at a 5-2 deficit.

With Ramirez the runner on second to start the Indians half of the 10th inning, Reyes walked and Zimmer loaded the bases when Martin Perez beaned him in the back.

Bobby Bradley struck out on three pitches with Adam Ottavino brought in to nail down Austin Hedges and Oscar Mercado. Mercado laced a single through the right side of the infield to score Ramirez.

With Gimenez representing Cleveland’s last hope, he fought of several pitches before grounding out to second for the final out, giving Boston the weekend series win and looking for a Sunday sweep.

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Jose just doesn’t miss

After bashing his 30th homer of the year Friday night, Jose Ramirez secured his second 30-plus home run season. He blasted 39 baseballs in 2018, finishing third in that year’s AL MVP voting. 

Ramirez is just the second player in Cleveland history with multiple 30-plus home run seasons while playing at least 50% of his games at third base, joining Al Rosen who knocked 37 in 1950 and 43 in his 1953 MVP season. 

Karinchak out, Bradley in

Reliever James Karinchak was optioned to Triple-A Columbus Saturday. The demotion followed a nightmarish outing against the Red Sox Friday night where Karinchak didn’t record an out and allowed three runs to score.

Taking Karinchak’s place on the 26-man roster is first baseman Bobby Bradley. Bradley was placed on the 10-day injured list August 9 with a left knee sprain. He started Saturday’s game at first base and batted sixth after a short rehab assignment at Lake County.

Quantrill’s Marvelous August

With August coming to a close, Cal Quantrill has likely pitched his last frame until the calendar flips to September, not that August was bad by any means. Quantrill pitched 38 innings, going 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA, 26 hits, 12 walks and 40 strikeouts, notching five quality starts.

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Sean Fitzgerald is a Kent State graduate and the press box correspondent for Mark One Sports and CLE TribeCast. Follow him on Twitter @fitzonsportsbsr.