CLEVELAND -- In the bottom of the fifth inning at Progressive Field on Sunday, Masataka Yoshida lost a fly ball in the sun that resulted in the Guardians tying the game before taking the lead one batter later.
Two innings later, Yoshida helped make up for that mishap with a go-ahead two-run single off Tim Herrin that was part of a six-run rally that helped push the Red Sox to a 9-4 win and also secured a much-needed series win.
“He took some great at-bats,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “You can’t catch what you can’t see. He didn’t look like he saw it off the bat. He was coming toward the dugout while the ball was going toward the pole. But it happens.”
After the game, Yoshida confirmed he never saw the ball, which landed about five feet away from him in the left field corner. It had an expected batting average of just .100 (though it did come off the bat at 102.7 mph).
At the time, it looked like rotten luck for the Red Sox. Not only did it tie the game at three, but it also meant that Ranger Suarez needed to throw more pitches to get out of the inning.
“That would have been the second out and could have led to another quick one where he could have gone out for another [inning], but at the end of the day, he threw the ball well,” Tracy said.
It was the worst of both worlds.
Yoshida atoned for that with that key single off Guardians lefty-killer Herrin.
“I know I put us in a bad spot there, but I’m glad I was able to come through in a tough situation and help the team win,” Yoshida said through an interpreter. “I try to turn the page and get a fresh start, but [that play] was in the back of my mind.”
Yoshida’s single was set up by a seven-pitch plate appearance from Wilyer Abreu that resulted in a game-tying bases-loaded walk. While the final pitch that Abreu took looked to catch some of the plate, the Guardians were out of ABS challenges, so all Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges could do was jump around demonstratively as Abreu walked to first base.
“It’s a good at-bat,” Tracy said. “Obviously, it’s well documented how he's done against lefties. He sees the ball well and stays in there, but that’s obviously huge. You’ve got to tie the game before you can win.”
The Red Sox weren’t done there either. After Yoshida gave Boston the lead, they blew things open with an RBI single from Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed by a two-run triple from Caleb Durbin off Cleveland reliever Codi Heuer -- the first triple of his career.
While the ABS system worked in the Red Sox's favor on Sunday, they’ve had their own struggles with the system this year. They entered the game having won just 35% of their challenges -- the worst team-wide mark in the Majors -- but went 4-for-6 on challenges in the series finale.
The two biggest were Connor Wong’s in the fifth inning that turned a called strike two into a ball ahead of his RBI double, and in the eighth when Carlos Narváez’s challenge got Austin Hedges to strike out looking.
“We did great with it today … in our case, it’s been let's not hesitate,” Tracy said. “But I do think there are times where you need to be confident in what you see and overturn calls that are egregious, but if you’ve got one late, it’s helpful. I’ve seen it.”
Although Suarez only managed to go five innings largely due to the amount of traffic he had to work around, he still recorded 10 strikeouts, which ties his season-high.
“Ten strikeouts is good, but four runs, I’d rather prevent the runs from coming in,” Suarez said through an interpreter.
The Red Sox got out to an early lead thanks to a leadoff home run from Jarren Duran on the fifth pitch of the game. The homer gave Duran nine home runs in May, which is a new career-high for a calendar month. Although he got off to a slow start, hitting just .170 in 100 at-bats through April, he posted a .261/.331/.548 slashline in May.
“Heck of a month,” Tracy said. “I know he got off to a slow start, but it’s a long season, and you have to have faith in what you’ve seen in the past.”