Curry's dominant debut powers Guards' win

BOSTON -- Xzavion Curry was ready for his first start of the season, even if it came in the morning.

With an 11:13 a.m. ET start for Boston’s traditional Patriots’ Day game following a flight here after an emotional walk-off win over the Yankees on Sunday, the Guardians got a solid season debut by Curry.

After starting on the injured list due to a viral illness, the 25-year-old right-hander breezed through five scoreless innings, allowing only two singles while striking out three and walking one in his 73-pitch outing.

“It’s tough to get the body going for an 11 a.m. game,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “These guys are incredible to be able to do it. But for Xza, he was hungry for this start. We could have started at 6 this morning and he would have been ready to go. You can’t say enough about the job Xza did to give us exactly what we needed coming off a long weekend for the bullpen.”

Will Brennan hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Guardians posted a 6-0 victory over the Red Sox on Monday at Fenway Park.

But it was Curry’s start that propelled the Guardians to their eighth win in 10 road games.

“He came out and attacked and put guys away,” Vogt said. “It was beautiful.”

Curry had a sharp slider from the start, striking out back-to-back hitters swinging to start the second. He got one called on strikes to open the third.

“It felt great to be back with the team, be with the boys,” said Curry, who was isolated in a hotel in Spring Training for a while with the illness.

As for his slider, that’s the pitch he worked on in his career.

“That’s the pitch that throughout the Minors, throughout my career that I’ve been really trying to hone in with,” he said. “When that pitch is going, it can help me play-off other pitches. To have that working today and locate that today really helped me.”

Cleveland’s best scoring chance in the early innings came in the third when Gabriel Arias’ drive off the center-field wall took a crazy carom and he ended up with an easy triple. But Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan both grounded out to end the threat.

Then, Brennan belted a pitch that hooked around Fenway Park’s Pesky Pole in the seventh.

“The dugout got fired up,” said reliever Tim Herrin, who worked two hitless innings and got the victory. “That was awesome. The last two days have been very exciting. We have a very fun team, and it makes it a lot more fun when you’re winning.”

Now, they hope to keep building on the late-inning heroics of the past two days.

Early wake-up call
The Guardians’ players were relaxed in their clubhouse just after 8:30 a.m., planning to play a game that felt like high school for a few. Certainly it was a much different vibe for big league players.

“I don’t mind it at all. I really enjoy it,” said first baseman Josh Naylor. “I don’t care when the game is at. I think the best comparison is bringing myself back to high-school days, it’s really cool, unique to play that early.”

Center fielder Tyler Freeman was excited to be a part of Boston’s traditional Patriots’ Day early start.

“Absolutely,” Freeman said when asked if it’s going to feel a bit more special. “You’ve got the Boston Marathon going on here today. You’ve got Jackie Robinson Day. You have everything going on here today, which is really exciting to be a part of.”

• MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson Day

The 24-year-old Freeman had to think back a bit for the last time he played that early.

“Reminds me of travel ball days growing up. I don’t think I’ve played an 11 o’clock game since, gosh, probably the Minors, like Kids’ Day,” Freeman said.

President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti even said he was looking forward to taking in the game with his daughter, who was seated on a bench in the dugout waiting for him.

It was the first time since 1998 that Cleveland played in Fenway Park on Marathon Monday.