Major League Baseball
Boston 8, Cleveland 5
When: 7:10 PM ET, Friday, September 3, 2021
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Temperature: 72°
Umpires: Home - Daniel Bellino, 1B - Larry Vanover, 2B - Marvin Hudson, 3B - Sean Barber
Attendance: 31127

Kyle Schwarber delivered a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning and had three RBIs as the Boston Red Sox prevailed 8-5 in a slugfest against the visiting Cleveland Indians to open a three-game series Friday night.

Schwarber (2-for-5) also clubbed a solo blast for his 150th career home run. Hunter Renfroe added a three-run homer in the seventh and Kevin Plawecki and Jonathan Arauz each had solo shots for Boston (78-59), which has won three straight and eight of 12 games overall.

Red Sox reliever Adam Ottavino (4-3) earned the win after striking out a pair to cap the visiting seventh. Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi gave up three runs on six hits with a pair of walks and nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

The Red Sox moved three games ahead of the Oakland A's for the second American League wild-card spot.

Austin Hedges hit a two-run homer and Jose Ramirez had a solo shot and two RBIs for Cleveland (67-65). Indians starter Cal Quantrill (4-3) allowed five runs on seven hits -- including three home runs -- while walking two and striking out six over six-plus innings.

The loss snapped Cleveland's four-game winning streak that began with a 7-5 win over Boston to avoid a three-game sweep at home last Sunday.

Schwarber's 29th home run of the season put Boston ahead 1-0 in the first inning.

A rare Plawecki home run doubled the Red Sox's lead in the second. With two outs in the inning, 28-year-old Red Sox second baseman Jack Lopez doubled to right field to record his first major league hit.

Ramirez put the Indians on the board with his team-leading 32nd home run in the fourth. Boston got the run back in the bottom of the inning as Arauz cleared the bullpens in right field to make it 3-1.

Hedges tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run bomb for his eighth homer of the year off Eovaldi in the seventh.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cleveland   Boston
Cal Quantrill Player Nathan Eovaldi
Loss W/L No Decision
6.0 IP 6.1
6 Strikeouts 9
7 Hits 6
7.50 ERA 4.26
Hitting
Cleveland   Boston
Jose Ramirez Player Jonathan Arauz
3 Hits 2
2 RBI 1
1 HR 1
7 TB 6
.600 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Cleveland 11 2 18 .289 15 13 5 3 1 0
Boston 10 4 25 .294 12 8 8 5 0 0