Guardians Rally Late In Boston, Come Up Just Short In Extras
Following Shane Bieber's performance on Friday night, Zach Plesac was on the hill for the Guardians and ran intro trouble early -- a recurring theme for his starts all season long.
Plesac entered the night with a 6.50 ERA and has struggled to get a good start during the 2023 campaign. He's allowed first inning runs in four of his five starts, and that trend continued Saturday afternoon in Boston.
In the first inning, Alex Verdugo greeted him with a lead off double and walked Masataka Yoshia. With two on and one out, Rafael Devers made it 3-0 with a home run to right field.
Josh Bell responded in the second with a solo shot, but the Red Sox would tack on two more in the fourth before Plesac's night would end. His final line on the day was 3.1 innings pitched, eight hits, five runs, one walk, and just one strike out.
Before tonight, Plesac's line was 18.0 innings pitched with 19 hits, 15 runs (13 allowed) four walks and 13 strikeouts with a WHIP of 1.83.
The Sox took a comfortable 6-1 lead in the sixth, leaving the Guardians with just nine outs left to get back in the game, but the team that shows fight until the end rallied.
Andrés Giménez would lead off the seventh for the club with a solo shot to make it 6-2. Myles Straw would work a one out walk, and Steven Kwan would follow up with a single.
With two out, José Ramírez walked to get the bases loaded for Josh Naylor, who smashed one down the right field line for a double, cutting the lead to 6-5.
Kenley Jansen, who has been superb so far this season, came in to pitch the 9th. Straw worked a great at-bat and was awarded with a single, followed up by another by Kwan. With one down, Ramírez was up once again and singled to tie the game.
Eli Morgan would pitch the bottom half, and worked himself out of a bases loaded jam to send the Guards to extra innings.
Gabriel Arias would pinch-run for Bell as the runner placed on second, and the club quickly found themselves with two outs. Mike Zunino came through big time with a single to left to give the squad the 7-6 advantage.
But, with closer Emmanual Clase on the mound, Christian Arroyo would single to bring in the runner on second, and Alex Verdugo would end up walking the Sox off with a single for a final of 8-7.
Despite the loss, the Guardians had three players with three hits (Kwan, Ramírez, and Naylor) and Straw had a two-hit game.
The club will look to win the rubber match tomorrow, barring the rain doesn't wash the game out, before heading to New York on Monday.
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