3 homers not enough to power Red Sox past Guardians in extra-innings loss

The Red Sox offense remembered how to roar in the sixth. Even without Tyler O’Neill, who entered the day with seven home runs, tied for the MLB lead and the most ever by a player through their first 14 Red Sox games but was out of the lineup after Monday’s collision with Devers, the home team blasted off. The entire lineup came to the plate against Tyler Beede and Cade Smith, and by the time the inning was over, Boston was in the lead for the first time since Sunday.

Casas greeted the first Guardians reliever with a leadoff home run. The first baseman’s third homer in four games was a classic Fenway round-tripper just inside the Pesky Pole. Then, with Abreu on first via a walk, Wong sent a ball soaring into the third row of Green Monster seats, once again cutting Cleveland’s lead to one.

Beede recorded only one out before Smith took over and quickly found himself in similar straits. After getting David Hamilton to strike out swinging, Ceddanne Rafaela snapped an 0-for-11 skid with a double, and Duran drew a walk to join him on the bases.

With two on and two out, the stage was perfectly set for Devers. The slugger stepped up to the plate and reminded the world why he’s been leading the majors in extra-base hits since the start of 2019. With a line drive to deep center, the third baseman gave Boston their first lead in over 48 hours.

After the coaster reached that peak, it plummeted once more. Devers exited the game with left-knee discomfort, and the Red Sox left two men on base between the seventh and eighth, meaning Kenley Jansen would try to close it out with a one-run lead.

But instead of moving into sole possession of fifth on MLB’s all-time saves list, the veteran closer blew his first save of the season. The Guardians re-tied the game on a double and back-to-back singles, and the home team went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to give Fenway free baseball.

“Just gotta tip your hat to the Guardians,” Jansen said. “They did a great job, put the ball in play, nothing you can do about it, just beat myself up with that one.”

In the top of the 10th, Greg Weissert became the fourth Red Sox pitcher to fail to record a clean inning (though the run was unearned thanks to MLB’s ‘Zombie Runner’ rule for extra innings). A leadoff single put runners on the corners, and an intentional walk to Will Brennan loaded them, but Weissert was able to escape the inning with the game tied.

The Guardians responded by sending their two-time All-Star closer, Emmauel Clase, to the mound for the bottom of the 10th, but he fared no better than Weissert. Wong’s sacrifice fly tied the game once again, but that was all they’d get.

After allowing two runs in Monday’s loss, Josh Winckowski’s struggles continued when he entered for the top of the 11th. For the first time this season, he failed to retire the first batter he faced. Instead, he quickly gave the Guardians back the lead, intentionally-walked Bo Naylor to load the bases, and gave up two-run single to Estevan Florial, putting Cleveland on top 10-7.

The Red Sox had come this far, but they’d go no further. Down three runs, they went 1-2-3 to lose the game and the series. They’ve yet to win a game in which their opponent scores first, and they’re facing more potential injuries.

“With Raffy, we’re discussing if we’re gonna take imaging just to make sure everything is OK,” Cora said postgame. “It came out of nowhere.”

The problems on display this season, however, did not.