Joe Kelly pitched 6 innings, allowing only an unearned run (his first performance without an earned run in 2015), the Red Sox offense backed him with 4 home runs, Junichi Tazawa got his first save of 2015, and Boston beat Cleveland 6-4.

The Win:

Kelly started out hot by using a 2-seam fastball – probably his best out pitch – to get Jason Kipnis looking. But he needed a little help to escape the 1st unscathed. Shortstop Francisco Lindor cracked a fly ball to deep center, but Jackie Bradley, Jr. saved a double on a sensational full-sprint catch that required him to race back to the wall while fully extending his glove arm to his right side. He’s amazing.

From there on, Kelly continued to get help from his defense. He walked Lonnie Chisenhall in the 2nd, but got Yan Gomes to ground into a double play, 5-4-3, to get out of the inning. He gave up back-to-back one-out singles in the 4th, but Carlos Santana hit into a gorgeous double play to end the inning again, 3-6-1.

Even when second baseman Josh Rutledge botched a double play to get the first 2 outs of the 5th, letting the ball under his glove as the runner advanced to third, the very next batter (center fielder Abraham Almonte) gave Rutledge a second chance (of which he took advantage, 4-6-3). The run scored, but the bases were empty and the threat was gone. And when Kelly got himself in trouble again with two outs in the inning, giving up a walk and a single, he struck out Jason Kipnis (batting .321) for the second time on the night to escape. He also registered his 3rd strikeout of the night on Yan Gomes to get out of a 1st and 2nd situation in the 6th.

It’s possible that a game like this is Kelly’s ceiling. His stuff probably isn’t good enough to attack the strike zone with abandon, so his pitch count builds and he’s unable to get deep into his starts. But this was still a good effort. Bully for you, Pumpsie.

The Offense:

Boston’s batters, meanwhile, were facing off against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Corey Kluber. This is a guy who’s not only 5th in MLB in K/BB ratio, but also the league leader in batters faced (739), one of only three pitchers to have faced 700 or more in 2015. And coming into last night’s game, only 13 of Kluber’s 714 batters faced (he faced 25 Red Sox last night) had hit home runs.

But after going down in order in the first, the Sox erupted, sending back-to-back home runs by David Ortiz and Travis Shaw over the wall. Ortiz’s 492nd dinger was a classic pull to right field that juuust cleared the wall, while Shaw went to the opposite field, putting it over the Monster to make it 2-0.

Ortiz and Shaw couldn’t keep the ball rolling in the 4th inning (both struck out), but Pablo Sandoval hit a double in front of them and Rusney Castillo singled after them, setting the table for Bradley, who was coming off a night of rest. Like Shaw, he hit a home run the opposite way into the Monster seats, and drove in 3 runs to make the lead 5-0. Ryan Hanigan got in on the action too, hammering a slider from a defeated Kluber and driving it to the back row of the Monster seats.

Middle Game:

Alexi Ogando relieved Kelly for the 7th and did a bang-up job, more or less. He gave up a single to Almonte, struck out Giovanny Urshela, and got light-hitting Jose Ramirez to fly out to Rusney Castillo, who promptly…tossed the ball into the stands? Two outs, Rusney!

Almonte advanced to third on Castillo’s gaffe, but fortunately, Jason Kipnis’s tough night at the plate continued. He struck out for the third time, and it looked like Castillo only got a gentle ribbing in the dugout.

Tommy Layne fared equally well, striking out two batters and giving up a single in between, before giving way to Jean Machi, who’d been pitching suspiciously well for the Sox thus far. Personally, I have the feeling that those positive performances were kind of a fluke, especially after he walked pinch hitter Jerry Sands and gave up a game-altering 3-run home run to Yan Gomes. 6-4, Red Sox. Lest we forget, this man racked up a 5.14 ERA with Giants through mid-July.

The Save:

I finally saw the 9th-inning Tazawa performance I’ve been waiting for. He kept the ball low in the zone (erring towards bouncing his splitters rather than leaving them high), didn’t get greedy, and let Hanigan guide him through it. Foul out (nice play by Castillo), ground out (nice play by Sandoval), ground out. 2nd save of his career, 1st of 2015. I’m so proud.

Notes:

If you have this game recorded on DVR and haven’t watched it yet, fast forward to the top of the 8th to hear Don Orsillo tell stories about Terry Francona giving him an atomic wedgie and threatening to beat him up and actually beating him up. Gold.

Moves: The Red Sox called up pitchers Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree. They sent down Garin Cecchini and remarkably ineffective reliever Ryan Cook. Barnes was called up to get the start in place of Steven Wright, who was placed on the 7-day DL so that he could recover from a concussion suffered when he was hit in the back of the head by a fly ball during batting practice in Miami. The Sox also signed former Red Sox reliever Rich Hill to a minor league contract. The 35-year-old was last seen tearing it up for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League. I’m betting we see him in Boston before the year is done.

Though Red Sox fans have seen Barnes in relief appearances throughout 2015, he’s been getting stretched out to start in Pawtucket. But what could Boston really expect from a guy who, through 22.1 innings as a reliever in 2015, had racked up a 5.64 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP (yikes)? Unfortunately, more of the same, with perhaps a few more flashes of talent than usual.

Barnes walked leadoff hitter Jose Ramirez, who is 0 for his last 19 and hitting below the Mendoza Line on the season in 209 at-bats, on five pitches. He stole second, and then was sacrificed over to third by Francisco Lindor. Brock Holt, covering at 1st, couldn’t handle Pablo Sandoval’s throw, so Barnes quickly found himself in a first and third, no outs situation. But Hanigan caught Lindor stealing, and Travis Shaw made a great play by throwing home on a ground ball from Michael Brantley to get Barnes out of trouble.

From the bottom of the 1st to the top of the 3rd, both sides went in order, including 4 strikeouts by Barnes. And on the 3rd pitch Shaw saw from Danny Salazar, he took him VERY deep to right field for a 1-0 Red Sox lead.

But as soon as Barnes had the lead, he got into trouble again. After striking out Lindor to start the 4th, he gave up a ground-rule double down the first base line, a clean single, and a bunt single that Barnes himself tried, clumsily, to field. Tie game, 1-1. Now probably a little rattled, he got catcher Yan Gomes to a full count before walking him to load the bases.

It’s funny how easy it seems to get away with putting poor defenders in the field, right up until it comes back to bite you. Lonnie Chisenhall sent a curveball in the air to the Green Monster, and Sox fans who had grown so used to seeing excellent outfield play over the last 7 days watched in horror as Hanley Ramirez backpedaled awkwardly toward the wall, hopped, and missed the ball entirely. Two runs scored, another came in on a ground out, and Mike Aviles plated Chisenhall on a single. 5-1, Indians.

While Hanley was doing things like that and checking his glove to make sure the ball is there after every catch, Mookie Betts was fully laying out to rob Michael Brantley in the 5th and Jackie Bradley, Jr. was climbing the wall in right field for a chance to catch Lonnie Chisenhall’s solo shot off Hembree in the 6th.

Carlos Santana also contributed a solo home run, though his came off Barnes in the 5th, directly after Betts’ spectacular catch. The Indians also got a run off Tommy Layne in the top of the 9th.

Boston never really threatened the rest of the way, though they did score in the last frame on a two-out RBI single by Shaw to drive in Josh Rutledge, who was pinch-running for David Ortiz, who’d singled. 8-2, Indians, final.

Notes:

• Bogaerts, Sandoval, and Hanigan each went 0-4. Bradley was 0-1 with 2 walks.
• Hembree entered the game with an 8.53 ERA and got it down to 7.27, so I guess you’d have to consider that a victory.