On top of all of that and a 44-58 (.431) record through July 29 that found the team in last place in the AL East yet again, the Red Sox received news in mid-August that manager John Farrell had been diagnosed with Stage 1 lymphoma and had to leave the team for the remainder of the season to undergo chemotherapy.
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The Red Sox are in last place entering the season finale.
Josh Tomlin allowed a season-high five runs (all earned) in just 3.2 IP last Saturday in Kansas City, but was bailed out by the Indians’ offense, and got a no-decision in the contest.
“For the number of starts he’s had, he had a heck of a year, especially with what he has had to battle back from”, said Indians manager Terry Francona. “I don’t think I pitched drastically different from the way I pitched previous year”, Kluber said.
“Everybody’s going to look at his record and immediately say it was an off-year or however you want to put it”, Francona said. “It’s been a long time, Hopefully that’s all in the past”.
Alright, so there’s one more game to go.
Boston acting manager Torey Lovullo doesn’t disagree with that.
Cleveland closer Cody Allen closed the game out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 33rd save of the year.
Breslow (0-4, 4.15) handled himself well. And two of the times the Red Sox did actually manage to pick up hits off Kluber-coming from Sandy Leon, believe it or not-he was quickly erased, first because of a botched hit-and-run, and then later by way of the double play. Y.Gomes doubled to right. But Kluber retired the next three batters to end that inning. His fastball command wasnt as consistent as it had been. “It was fun to watch”. Owens struck out Lindor, but designated hitter Ryan Raburn singled, loading the bases with one out. He finished the season with 245 strikeouts, and has 514 strikeouts in the last two years.
What went wrong in 2015: Big-money-free-agent additions Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez were bad, costing the team roughly two wins compared to what a replacement-level third baseman and leftfielder could have contributed. Fellow 25-year-old Travis Shaw had a similar late-season breakout, seizing the first base job with a.281/.341/.528 line and 13 home runs in 220 PA since August 1.
It was only Santana’s fourth homer from the right side of the plate. If the Sox are so lucky to find a willing (translation: foolish) buyer on either player, they would most likely have to pay a significant amount of their contracts for another team to take them off their hands. The veteran left-hander made his second career start after 522 relief appearances. Santana later scored on a Chris Johnson single, giving the Indians a 4-0 lead.
The Tribe is 8-3 when Salazar pitches at home this season.
Ortiz is 2 for 14 against Tomlin in his career, but both hits have been home runs.
“No, I don’t think so”, he said. Urshela flied out to right fielder Betts.
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Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Craig Breslow delivers against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, October 3, 2015, in Cleveland. Red Sox rookie pitchers have combined to win 24 games this season – tied with the Rays and Phllies for second most in Major League Baseball (Braves – 27).
