Red Sox lose finale, win series: 'Very proud'

BOSTON -- There was no late-inning magic for the Red Sox this time.

Forced to switch their starting pitcher after scheduled starter Nick Pivetta was placed on the COVID-19-related injured list before the game, Kutter Crawford was knocked out in the third inning of his Major League debut and Boston fell to Cleveland, 11-5, on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Coming off an emotional walk-off win a day earlier, the Red Sox fell behind 6-0 after three innings.

Boston chipped away, cutting it to 6-5 on J.D. Martinez’s two-run homer in the sixth inning, after scoring three times in the fifth, but it couldn’t pull it off late, ending its winning streak at four games.

“We felt like we were in a good spot when J.D. hit the homer,” manager Alex Cora said.

Then the Indians pulled away with a five-run ninth.

In Friday’s series opener, Boston also rallied late, so it still ended up taking two of three from Cleveland.

It was just the Red Sox’s third loss in their last 12 games at Fenway.

“It’s not about winning 30 games in a row at this point. It’s winning series,” Cora said before the game. “If we win series, we’ll be there.”

Now, the race to the finish and a push for a postseason berth starts.

The old saying in baseball is: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Well, with the Red Sox's next game on Labor Day, there are just four full weeks and 23 games left in the regular season for Boston.

Let the sprint begin.

It was also the beginning for the 25-year-old Crawford, who was recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Sunday morning. He gave up five runs in two-plus innings.

“I was told to be on standby, tried to get as much sleep as possible,” Crawford said. “Unfortunately, it didn't go as I wanted it to, but we live and we learn and we're going to make adjustments and move forward.”

It may not have gone how the rookie dreamed of his big league debut, but Cora still was happy for him. When the skipper walked out to the mound, he chatted briefly with the righty before making the call to the 'pen.

“I wanted him to actually take a deep breath and enjoy the situation,” Cora said. “It’s Fenway Park on a Sunday afternoon, and there’s nothing better than that.

“There’s only one Major League debut. It doesn’t matter if it’s a good one or you struggle. It’s something you dream about as a kid and I wanted him to take a deep breath and look around. He probably didn’t have a chance to do that before.”

The Red Sox banged out 13 hits in the loss, stranded 12 baserunners and went just 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

“There were a lot of empty at-bats with men in scoring position and the infield back,” said Cora, who pinch-hit Rafael Devers with two on in the fifth. Devers originally had the day off.

“We went for the jugular there with Raffy,” Cora said.

But Devers struck out and the Red Sox ended up leaving runners on second and third, trailing 6-3 in the fifth.

Hunter Renfroe and Martinez had three hits apiece for the Red Sox (79-60).

Now, Boston enters the home stretch of the season, holding the AL’s second Wild Card spot, just a half-game behind New York (78-58), which currently has the top Wild Card slot.

It was a series victory, even with the added names on the COVID-related IL.

“Very proud. They’ve done an amazing job,” Cora said. “It’s weird here in the clubhouse. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the clubhouse, some things we have to do to hopefully stop this. But at the same time, we’ve won a series and that’s what we try to do every time we compete.”