Sloppy Guardians blasted by Boston, 13-3, drop three-game series

CLEVELAND — The Guardians have played suspect defense all season. Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field, it was a factor in a series-clinching loss to the Red Sox. A poor outing from left-hander Logan Allen didn't help the cause either. Cleveland, which entered the day ranked toward the bottom of the majors with a .984 fielding percentage and 14 errors, committed four more, and Allen allowed seven runs over only 4 1/3 innings in a 13-3 shellacking from Boston. "Everyone in that clubhouse knows that that was not us on the field today," said right fielder Nolan Jones, who hit his first home run since June 29 to put the Guardians on the board in the sixth inning. "That's not the way we play baseball. It was a bad representation of us. We did not do our part defensively. It just can't happen." Center fielder Angel Martinez was charged with two throwing errors in the first two innings, though first baseman Carlos Santana could have saved him one had he been able to handle a high relay on a cutoff to the plate in the second. Another throwing error on second baseman Daniel Schneemann on a relay home accounted for the third error in Boston's five-run fifth. And third baseman Will Wilson booted a grounder in the eighth for the final fielding mistake. "We didn't help ourselves today," manager Stephen Vogt said. "I thought this was a very uncharacteristic game for our guys, just top to bottom in all areas. We just didn't play clean baseball all around. Just as a team, we did not play our type of baseball today. "This team's really good. This is a one-day blip. We're gonna be right back at it tomorrow." Allen, who entered the day having allowed only one earned run over his last three starts, reverted back to his old ways of nibbling. He walked three and matched a career high by surrendering nine hits. "They put together some good at-bats. A lot of balls dropped for them, which obviously worked out well for them," Allen said. "I gotta be better, gotta do a better job of keeping the team in it. "I think we all know it's a long season. Baseball is one of those sports where you lose 60 games and you're probably the best team in the league. It's part of the game, the nature of it. "The beauty of it is we're right back to it tomorrow. Get after it tomorrow and have a chance to win a game. That's an easy way to flush it." The Guardians were shut out on only three hits over the first five innings by right-hander Brayan Bello. Jones ended the Guardians' scoring and his long ball drought by launching a 1-1 pitch from Bello an estimated 411 feet into the seats in right-center. He entered the day batting only .183 with two RBIs over 23 games. "I feel like I'm taking good swings at good pitches," Jones said. "Obviously I'm not having the results that I would want, but I'm hitting the ball hard. Any homer feels good, but it's been a while. I got the monkey off my back and hopefully they start rolling in." "It's always nice to see the ball go over the wall for anybody," Vogt said. "Nolan's been swinging the bat really well, hitting the ball hard without results. It feels good to get a result, I'm sure. We're hoping that this trend continues." Santana snapped an 0-for-25 skid with a line-drive single to left in the eighth. No. 9 hitter Ceddanne Rafaela put the Red Sox in front 12-3 on a three-run homer off Joey Cantillo in the seventh. Rafaela, who entered the day batting .220, had five RBIs. Backup catcher Austin Hedges pitched the ninth, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. He whiffed Red Sox All-Star Rafael Devers to end the inning for his second career strikeout in six appearances. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on X @CAwesomeheimer.