James Paxton tossed seven strong innings and the Boston Red Sox rallied with four runs in the eighth inning to beat the host Cleveland Guardians 5-4 on Tuesday.
Paxton (2-1) allowed two runs on six hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. Chris Martin gave up two runs in the eighth inning before Kenley Jansen retired the Guardians in order in the ninth for his 13th save.
Masataka Yoshida had three hits and Enrique Hernandez drove in two runs for Boston, which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Boston trailed 2-1 before moving ahead in the eighth. Hernandez tied the game after drawing a no-out, bases-loaded walk on four pitches from Enyel De Los Santos (2-1).
Nick Sandlin replaced De Los Santos and was greeted by Rob Refsnyder’s run-scoring single, giving Boston its first lead of the game. Pablo Reyes added an RBI single before Connor Wong fanned for the first out of the inning.
James Karinchak was called on to face Alex Verdugo, whose sacrifice fly scored Hernandez. Yoshida then struck out to end the inning.
Cleveland answered with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Amed Rosario singled home a run with two outs against Martin, and Will Brennan added an RBI double to left-center field. Martin struck out Myles Straw with two runners on to end the rally.
Brennan had three hits for the Guardians, who struck out 12 times and went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Cleveland jumped on Paxton for two runs in the first inning. Josh Naylor’s two-out double scored Steven Kwan, who singled to begin the inning. Josh Bell then drove in Naylor with a double to right field.
Guardians starter Shane Bieber held the Red Sox scoreless until the sixth inning, when Yoshida hit a leadoff double and scored easily on Hernandez’s two-out single to left field.
Sam Hentges relieved Bieber and retired Refsnyder with two runners on to end the inning. Bieber gave up one run on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
