Shane Bieber pitched seven strong innings Friday night to help the Cleveland Guardians defeat Boston 5-2 in the start of a six-game homestand for the Red Sox.
Bieber (2-1) gave up two runs on five hits while striking out four and issuing two walks. Reliever Trevor Stephan stranded two runners in the eighth, and Emmanuel Clase pitched a scoreless ninth to record his ninth save in 10 opportunities.
Catcher Mike Zunino and right fielder Will Brennan each hit a solo home run for the Guardians, who raised their road record to 9-5. Zunino’s home run was his second of the season, while Brennan hit his first.
Jarren Duran collected three doubles for the Red Sox, who had eight hits in the loss. Boston also received two hits from Enrique Hernandez.
Red Sox starting pitching Nick Pivetta (1-2) took the loss. He went five innings and surrendered four runs on five hits. Pivetta walked two and struck out five.
Steven Kwan had two of Cleveland’s eight hits.
The Guardians took a 3-0 lead by scoring twice in the first and once in the second. Kwan singled, went to third on a Jose Ramirez single and scored on a Josh Naylor sacrifice fly to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead. Josh Bell’s RBI double made it 2-0. Cleveland’s advantage was 3-0 after a Myles Straw single drove in Brennan.
Boston sliced its deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the second. Triston Casas walked, took third on a Duran double and scored on a Hernandez single.
Cleveland regained a three-run lead on Zunino’s home run, which made it 4-1 in the fourth.
Boston pulled within two runs in the fifth, when Hernandez raced home from third on an Alex Verdugo groundout, but Cleveland increased the lead to 5-2 on Brennan’s home run in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
