The Guardians arrived at Fenway Park with a chance to move within reach of a postseason berth, but Boston’s pitching and one sixth-inning run kept the champagne on ice. Cleveland fell 1-0 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game winning streak, though Texas’ loss to the Mets left the club able to clinch a playoff spot with a win Thursday.
It was a cold, wind-affected night built for pitchers and ground-level contact. Boston starter Sonny Gray worked six scoreless innings, giving up four singles and a walk, while Foster Griffin matched him through five before the Red Sox finally scratched out the only run.
Griffin keeps Cleveland in it
Griffin navigated traffic from the opening innings. He worked around trouble repeatedly, including a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the third, and produced his only clean 1-2-3 frame in the fourth. The left-hander completed six innings, surrendering 10 hits but no walks while striking out seven.
Boston’s breakthrough came in the sixth. Andruw Monasterio lined a ball to left, and Steven Kwan made a strong throw home, but Jarren Duran slid underneath catcher Patrick Bailey’s tag to score.
That was all Boston needed. Griffin left trailing by one despite allowing a season-high 10 hits, and he extended his streak to six consecutive starts without giving up a home run. In eight recent outings, he has allowed two earned runs or fewer six times.
“These are the games you play for,” Griffin said, pointing to meaningful late-September baseball at Fenway against a strong opponent. “It wasn’t hard to get up for this one.”
Manager Stephen Vogt called it Griffin’s sharpest work since joining the club, noting that the starter attacked the zone and put himself in favorable counts.
“When you’re ahead and getting good counts, you’re going to get weak contact,” Vogt said.
Bailey saw the same thing from behind the plate, praising Griffin’s work both with runners aboard and with the bases empty. The catcher said the left-hander created weak contact and found enough strikeouts to escape several threats.
All singles, no room to rally
Cleveland had rolled up 12 hits the previous night, but the lineup could not find a similar rhythm against Gray and Boston’s bullpen. The Guardians finished with five hits, every one a single, with Kwan collecting two of them. They struck out nine times and did not move a runner beyond second base.
Gray’s mix and command gave Cleveland little to drive. Bailey described the Boston starter as one of the game’s best at changing looks and locating pitches where he intends.
The Red Sox had 12 singles of their own. The clubs combined for 17 one-base hits, the highest total in a game this season without either side recording an extra-base hit.
Vogt said the conditions helped dictate that unusual box score. With the wind suppressing balls hit in the air, both staffs were able to keep contact from doing much damage.
October remains within reach
The loss delayed Cleveland’s celebration, but it did not change the simple assignment ahead. Texas’ defeat Wednesday put the Guardians in position to lock down a postseason place with a victory Thursday.
Griffin said a tight game in a postseason-style setting could still carry value for a club hoping to play beyond the regular season.
“Even though we lost, that kind of game and that environment can prepare us well if we get to the playoffs,” Griffin said.
Vogt kept the focus on the remaining schedule. Cleveland has four games left and still controls its path.
“We control our own destiny,” Vogt said. “I like where we are. We have four games remaining and a chance to get in. That’s all you can ask for.”
