Bryan Shaw allows big home run as Guardians fall to Red Sox in series opener

CLEVELAND — Manager Terry Francona's old team cooled off his current one Friday night at Progressive Field. In a matchup of two of the hottest teams in baseball, the Red Sox stayed that way at Cleveland's expense, opening a three-game series with a 6-3 victory over the Guardians. Boston improved to 17-4 this month, while Cleveland, which entered the game tied with Minnesota atop the Central Division, fell to 15-6 in June. The Guardians matched the Red Sox with 12 hits and rallied for a run in the ninth before leaving the bases loaded when Jose Ramirez grounded out to end the game. "We just couldn't get a big hit when we needed it," Francona said. "I thought we had a pretty good approach against a really good pitcher (Boston starter Nick Pivetta). We just couldn't get one (hit) to get things moving — kinda like they did. "But we've proven that those aren't just losses. You do that enough, you're gonna win some of them. I'll take my chances with Josey up there a lot of times." Reliever Bryan Shaw allowed a tiebreaking two-run homer to Christian Arroyo in the seventh to put the Red Sox in front for good. Boston beat the Guardians for the seventh time in the last nine meetings. "He came out and I thought the first two pitches were as good as we've seen from him," Francona said of Shaw, who has allowed runs in six of his 30 appearances. "He might have felt too good, because then he started firing it and lost the strike zone." Arroyo, whose blast to center traveled an estimated 405 feet, had a big game, reaching base in four of five trips to the plate and driving in three. It was a brief outing for Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill, who allowed two runs over five innings. The right-hander labored over the first three innings, allowing three straight to reach with one out in the second — two on walks — before hitting Arroyo with a pitch to force in the game's first run. "I think, by his own admission, it was a grind," Francona said of Quantrill's outing. "But he doesn't break. There's some bend, but … it was a shorter outing than we're used to with him, but if that's the worst, he's a pretty good pitcher." The Guardians tied it on a two-out single from Myles Straw in the bottom of the inning. It was a rare clutch hit from Straw, who entered the night batting .133 (6-for-45) with runners in scoring position. Rafael Devers (third inning) and Andres Gimenez (fourth) traded solo shots and Quantrill got a big defensive play from Oscar Gonzalez, who made a basket catch in right before cutting down Arroyo at the plate with a strong throw to keep the game tied at 2 in the fifth. "That was a nice play, a really nice play," Francona said. "I think he knew if he left his feet we probably didn't have a play. He got himself in position where he didn't have to and he didn't try to do too much. That was a really good play." Gimenez, who entered the day batting .304, had three hits. Ramirez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a bloop single to right in the fifth. It was a rough night otherwise for Ramirez, who in addition to leaving the game-tying runs on base in the ninth, fouled out to first after the first two reached in the opening inning and flied to right after Amed Rosario started the third with a single. Yohan Ramirez, who was acquired this season from Seattle, made his Guardians debut, allowing a run in the ninth. The right-hander got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth thanks to a diving play from Gimenez at second to end the inning. The loss came in front of the largest crowd outside of the home opener for Cleveland, which announced 29,106 tickets sold. Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.