Indians Beat Red Sox 7-6
CLEVELAND -- Mike Napoli's home run in the bottom of the seventh inning broke a 6-6 tie and lifted the Cleveland Indians to a 7-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night at Progressive Field.
Napoli, who played for the Red Sox from 2013-15 before signing with Cleveland as a free agent during the winter, belted a 2-2 pitch from reliever Junichi Tazawa (0-1) over the left-field wall for his first home run.
The win went to reliever Zach McAllister (1-0). Cody Allen pitched the ninth inning to pick up his first save.
Trailing 5-2, the Red Sox in the sixth inning sent eight men to the plate and scored four runs to take a 6-5 lead. The inning began with a towering home run by David Ortiz over the center-field fence off Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco. It's Ortiz's second home run in as many days and the 505th home run of his career, moving him past Eddie Murray and into 26th place on the all-time list.
Hanley Ramirez then made it back-to-back home runs by hitting an opposite-field line drive that sailed into the right-field seats to cut the Cleveland lead to 5-4.
Ross Detwiler relieved Carrasco and Detwiler got pinch hitter Chris Young to hit a routine flyball to shallow left-center field that fell between left fielder Jose Ramirez and center fielder Tyler Naquin for a gift double. Tyler Holt drew a walk, and so did Blake Swihart, loading the bases with nobody out.
Jackie Bradley Jr.'s sacrifice scored Young with the tying run, and moved Holt to third. Zach McAllister relieved Detwiler. Mookie Betts hit a ground ball to third baseman Juan Uribe, who ignored Holt, the runner at third, and threw to first for the out, but Holt scored on the play to give Boston a 6-5 lead.
The Indians tied it in the sixth inning as Yan Gomes led off the inning with a walk, went to third on a single by Marlon Byrd and scored on a sacrifice fly by Uribe off reliever Noe Ramirez.
Napoli's home run in the seventh gave Cleveland the lead, and the Indians bullpen got the final six outs to preserve the win.
The Indians, who could manage just two runs in nine innings in a 6-2 loss on Opening Day Tuesday, scored four runs in their first five batters on Wednesday. Jose Ramirez started that first-inning rally with a one-out single. Jason Kipnis followed with a booming double into the right-center-field gap, scoring Ramirez with the first run of the game.
Napoli drew a walk. Carlos Santana then belted the Indians' first home run of the year, a three-run blast estimated at 431 feet into the Indians' bullpen in center field, giving Cleveland a 4-0 lead.
Boston countered with two runs in the top of the second inning off Carrasco. Travis Shaw led off with a single, and he rode home on a home run into the right-field seats by red-hot Brock Holt, cutting the Indians' lead to 4-2.
Cleveland struck for another run in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, rookie Tyler Naquin singled to right field for his first major league hit. Naquin went to second on a groundout, and scored on a two-out single by Ramirez to make it 5-2.
NOTES: Indians OF Lonnie Chisenhall is scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment at Triple-A Columbus on Thursday. He is on the disabled list with a left wrist impingement. ... Indians INF Jose Ramirez made his third major league start in left field on Wednesday. "His versatility helps us a lot," manager Terry Francona said. ... Boston C Christian Vazquez is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday. He is on the DL as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery. ... Four Red Sox pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts on Opening Day. That's the most by Boston pitchers on Opening Day since at least 1913.