Schwarber, Red Sox beat Indians 8-5 for 3rd straight win

BOSTON (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff homer in the first inning, then delivered a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh that sent the Boston Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians 8-5 on Friday night.

Hunter Renfroe added a three-run homer in the seventh as Boston won its third straight, holding its spot for the second AL wild-card spot with 25 games remaining in the regular season.

Kevin Plawecki and Jonathan Araúz also homered for the Red Sox, who added their ninth player to the COVID-related injured list in a one-week span earlier Friday yet won again with a piecemeal lineup.

“The guys hit fantastic tonight. I thought we had great plate discipline," Renfroe said. “I think that’s what we’re trying towards more is team at-bats and moving guys over.”

José Ramírez hit his 33rd homer for Cleveland and added an RBI single in the ninth. Austin Hedges hit a two-run homer in the seventh, tying the game at 3-all briefly before Boston batted around.

“That’s a big hit by Hedgie, there. It’s too bad that we couldn’t finish it off, but I thought we showed good resilience,” said Cal Quantrill, who took the loss.

The Indians had won four in a row.

Nathan Eovaldi struck out nine in 6 1-3 innings for the Red Sox, allowing three runs on six hits and a pair of walks. Adam Ottavino (4-3) replaced Eovaldi in the seventh and ended up with the win. Garrett Whitlock got the last four outs for Boston for his second save.

Quantrill (4-3) pitched six-plus innings, recovering from a shaky start and reaching the seventh. He was pulled after Araúz followed a leadoff walk with a double, starting what would become a five-run burst for Boston.

“It kind of got away from us a little bit in that inning with the five runs,” Cleveland acting...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Schwarber-Red-Sox-beat-Indians-8-5-for-3rd-16435081.php