A nor’easter is expected to hit Boston over the weekend, but the Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians have played with an October-like chill in the air this week.
With their eyes on the start of the postseason, the two American League contenders will complete their competitive three-game, penultimate series of the regular season on Thursday night at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox (85-73) snapped a three-game slide with a 1-0 win on Wednesday. Andruw Monasterio hit the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning after Sonny Gray pitched six shutout frames, lifting Boston to its AL-leading 17th shutout.
“You (have to) keep guys out there, engaged and ready to go,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said. “I told the guys before, we earned the right to be in position to be able to line things up. That being said, we still want to go out and win the games.”
The series will conclude with the rubber game, as Cleveland (82-76) was a 3-2 winner in the opener on Tuesday.
Given his postgame comments, the Red Sox hope to have avoided a scare regarding center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, who left his first game back from the injured list with right hamstring tightness. A quad injury sent him to the IL on Sept. 3.
“Not even close,” Rafaela said of the severity comparison of the two injuries. “I think it was just a cramp.”
After the game, Tracy said Rafaela would have an MRI exam on Thursday.
Left-hander Ranger Suarez (8-4, 3.27 ERA), who will start for Boston on Thursday, carries a three-game win streak after a 5 2/3-inning outing Friday against the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays. Suarez struck out five and allowed one run, working around three hits and five walks in a 4-2 victory.
“He’s a very good competitor, a good pitcher that even when he gets traffic, you trust that he’s going to find his way through it,” Tracy said of Suarez, who has surrendered just two runs across his last 19 2/3 innings. His ERA in three September starts is 0.92.
Suarez is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against Cleveland, including a May 31 road outing in which he struck out 10 and allowed four runs across five frames in a 9-4 win.
The Guardians are on the verge of sealing their postseason berth after entering Wednesday with a magic number of two, needing a win themselves and a loss by either the Texas Rangers or Houston Astros to clinch.
Both Texas and Houston lost, leaving the Guardians with a magic number of one to make the playoffs. That’s the same as the Chicago White Sox. If both win on Thursday, they both will earn a postseason berth.
Cleveland, which had a six-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, has a one-game lead over Chicago in the race for the AL Central title, and the White Sox own the division tiebreaker.
“We know we control our own destiny still,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “So, I like where we are. We’ve got four games left, and we have a chance to get in. That’s all you can ask for.”
Vogt’s lineup managed five singles on Wednesday, including two by leadoff hitter Steven Kwan, who has hits in 13 of his past 15 games, with a .373 average over that span.
The Guardians entered the series without a scheduled starter for Thursday, but Vogt determined that Daniel Espino (0-0, 4.73 ERA) will open before Joey Cantillo (10-9, 3.74) pitches in a bulk role.
That combination was used in a 5-3 win over the Athletics last Friday, with Espino allowing three runs in the first inning and Cantillo firing six shutout, two-hit frames.
“The biggest difference is that you don’t have as much time to get ready,” Cantillo said of the difference between being a starter and reliever.
Cantillo is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in eight career innings against the Red Sox, and Espino has not faced them.
–Field Level Media
