BOSTON -- Seeking to set up a postseason clinching scenario on Wednesday night, the Guardians first needed to win at Fenway Park. But with little offense, the visitors couldn’t extend their evening as they lost, 1-0, ending a six-game winning streak and pushing off any celebration for another day.
Starter Foster Griffin put his team in a decent position despite allowing a lot of early-inning traffic, including loading the bases with two outs in the third. The Cleveland hurler got his lone 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, keeping the game scoreless.
“This is what you play for,” Griffin said. “Late in September, meaningful games in Fenway Park against a really good team. It wasn’t hard to get up for this one.”
With Texas losing to the Mets on Wednesday night, however, Cleveland is now in position to clinch a postseason berth with a win on Thursday.
Red Sox starter Sonny Gray turned this into a full-on pitchers' duel, limiting the Guardians to four singles and a walk over six innings.
“What a night for starting pitching,” said manager Stephen Vogt, who happens to have caught more games for Gray than any other backstop. “I thought they were both excellent. Foster was great. Gave up some soft-hit singles. He pitched out of a lot of trouble. That’s as good as we’ve seen him since he’s been with us.”
“He’s one of the best in the game,” catcher Patrick Bailey said of the Boston hurler. “He mixes and matches a lot better than anybody. He locates the ball, throws it where he wants to. He’s always a tough at-bat.”
Traffic finally got flowing for Boston in the sixth, when Andruw Monasterio hit a line drive to left field, and despite a strong throw by Steven Kwan, Jarren Duran was able to slide in under the tag of Bailey for the game’s lone run.
Griffin went six innings and allowed a season-high 10 hits, but he did not walk a batter and struck out seven, departing with his team trailing by only a run. It was the sixth straight start in which the left-hander did not allow a home run.
“He was pumping the zone,” Vogt said of his starter. “That’s as sharp as we’ve seen his stuff. When you’re pitching ahead and when you’re pitching in good counts, you’re going to get weak contact.”
“I thought he was good with runners on and off base,” said Bailey. “This is the best I’ve seen him. Got a lot of weak contact, got some punchouts.”
Over his past eight starts, the southpaw allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of them.
Unfortunately, the team’s bats were as cold as the Boston evening. Just one night after pounding out 12 hits, Cleveland could only muster five, all singles, two off the bat of Kwan.
With Boston accumulating 12 singles on the night, the two teams’ 17 combined one-base hits were the most in a game this season without an extra-base hit.
“It was the night for it,” Vogt said of the singles fest. “With the wind, you weren’t going to hit anything in the air that was going to travel, and so credit to them for keeping it low.”
Guardians hitters struck out nine times, and no baserunner advanced past second base.
“More than anything, even though we lost, I feel like that kind of game, that kind of environment will prepare us well if we get to the playoffs,” noted Griffin.
“We know we control our own destiny still,” concluded Vogt. “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.”