Carlos Carrasco of the Cleveland Guardians delivers a pitch to a Boston Red Sox batter in the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Boston.
11:08 JST, Apr 19, 2024
BOSTON (AP) — Carlos Carrasco picked up his first win with Cleveland since 2020 and Andrés Giménez had two RBIs to lead the Guardians to a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.
Ramón Laureano, Josh Naylor and José Ramírez also added points for Cleveland, which took three of four at Fenway Park and improved to a Central Division-best 13-6. The Guardians are 10-3 on the road.
You want to win every series. Every team talks about it, says first-year Guardians manager Stephen Vogt. “It’s not this new idea, but any time you can go out and win a series, especially against a really good team on the other side, you feel good going home.”
Carrasco (1-1), who re-signed with the Guardians after spending three seasons with the New York Mets, allowed two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. It was his first win with Cleveland since September 20, 2020.
He left after allowing a two-out single to Reese McGuire in the sixth, with Cleveland ahead 5–1.
Trying to be too perfect led to the initial run, said Carrasco, who was with Cleveland for 11 years before being traded in the 2020 offseason. “Then I went back and thought the same way I did in the bullpen (for pre-game warmups). I just went out and attacked.
We win series. That is important to us.
Emmanuel Clase pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save as the Guardians won three games in a series in Boston for the first time since 2000.
Giménez had two hits entering Thursday and is batting .293 overall this season.
He is the Swiss army knife of the lineup. He hits everywhere, Vogt said. “His at-bats since the beginning of the year have been phenomenal…clutch hit after clutch hit.”
After starting the season with seven wins in ten road games, the Red Sox went 3-7 in their first homestand.
Trailing 5-1, Boston cut into Cleveland’s lead behind Jarren Duran’s two-run triple in the Red Sox’ three-run sixth inning.
Left-hander Brennan Bernardino had two scoreless innings in the start for the Red Sox, who used five pitchers. Cooper Criswell (0-1) was charged with the loss after allowing four runs (three of them earned) in 2 1/3 innings.
Boston made two more errors that led to three unearned runs. The Red Sox have committed the worst 20 errors in the MLB in 20 games.
It sounds repetitive, but we have to play better defense, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “That is the starting point. We don’t play twice routinely or play doubles, and we lose by one. They are good defenders. We’re not making any plays right now.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Guardians: RHP Pedro Avila was added to Cleveland’s Major League roster one day after acquiring San Diego. … RHP Wes Parsons was optioned to Triple-A Columbus to make room for Avila.
Red Sox: All-Star 3B Rafael Devers was not in the lineup for the series finale against Cleveland. He underwent an MRI before the match to investigate the knee pain he had been experiencing in recent days. After the match, Cora said Devers is dealing with a bone bruise. “At least we have an idea of what it is,” Cora said. “He should be fine.” … OF Tyler O’Neill was placed on the seven-day injured list retroactive to April 16. Taking his place on the active roster was OF Rob Refsnyder, who started the season on the injured list (left toe fracture). Refsnyder was used as a pinch hitter in the seventh and played the final two innings in leftfield.
NEXT ONE
Guardians: RHP Triston McKenzie (1-2, 6.23) is scheduled to open the three-game series against Oakland on Friday. McKenzie hasn’t played against the Athletics since the 2022 season. RHP Joe Boyle (1-2, 5.68) is listed as the likely starter for the A’s.
Red Sox: Travel to Pittsburgh for a three-game series starting Friday. RHP Brayan Bello (2-1, 3.92) makes his fifth start of the season for Boston. The Pirates have not yet announced a starter.
