Buckle up: Sox show key to stretch run in win

BOSTON -- Another game and another player added to the COVID-19 injured list.

The roster depth is being tested and so were the Red Sox in the seventh inning, but they rebounded with an impressive 8-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Friday night at Fenway Park.

The month of September is likely going to be a wild ride to the finish.

“Everybody’s stepping up and doing the right things at the right time,” said starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, who held the Indians to three runs on six hits over 6 1/3 innings, but gave up a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh. “We’re pulling it together. We’re making it work. This is the time we need to do it.”

Hunter Renfroe hit a three-run homer and Kyle Schwarber had a tiebreaking, two-run double during Boston’s five-run seventh inning that carried the Red Sox to their third straight victory.

“We’re playing well,” Renfroe said. “Obviously the guys being out [due to COVID] is terrible. Hope they feel better and come back soon.”

With 25 games to go, the Red Sox (78-59) find themselves clinging to the second spot in the AL Wild Card race with a three-game lead over the A's (74-61). Boston can’t complain about the roster challenges now -- there’s no time for that.

Big innings will make up big moments. Just like that seventh inning.

Schwarber seems to be getting hot at just the right time, and the Red Sox are certainly going to need it with their list of players on the COVID-19 injured list growing again.

“This is what we expected, right?” manager Alex Cora said of Schwarber. “He was hurt, but we knew he was going to impact the lineup whenever he was ready.”

Cora said afterward that Jarren Duran tested positive for the coronavirus. He was put on the COVID-related injury list before the game, bringing the total on the list to nine -- five position players and four relievers in just over a week -- and it may have been easy for the Red Sox to start feeling like things weren’t going to go their way.

Instead, Schwarber hit his double into the right-center gap before Renfroe belted his shot to the Green Monster seats, capping a nine-pitch at-bat against reliever Trevor Stephan.

“I kept fouling off a fastball and I was a hair late on it,” Renfroe said. “I was hoping for a mistake, and he finally made one.”

Jonathan Araúz added a couple of big hits, including a double after Travis Shaw’s pinch-hit walk in the seventh.

Adam Ottavino struck out the only two batters he faced in the seventh, earning the victory, while Garrett Whitlock worked the final 1 1/3 innings for his second save of the season.

The bullpen pair was cruising along behind a solid start by Eovaldi and a couple of homers from two unlikely players, but Cleveland tied it on Austin Hedges’ two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning.

That’s when Boston’s bats -- namely, Schwarber and Renfroe -- took over.

Coming off a satisfying four-game series split, in which the club won the final two against AL East-leading Tampa Bay to go 4-3 on its road trip, Schwarber got things started right for the Red Sox, belting Cal Quantrill’s (yes, son of former Boston pitcher Paul from 1992-94) second pitch of the game deep into the center-field bleachers.

It was Schwarber's 29th of the season, and fourth since he was picked up from the Washington Nationals at the Trade Deadline. It was also his eighth leadoff homer of the season. On Aug. 28 in Cleveland, he also homered in the first inning against Quantrill.

Kevin Plawecki and Araúz each added unlikely solo shots for the Red Sox, their second homers of the season.

There’s going to be some nail-biting moments this month.

But, on this night, they came up with timely hits.