It may have been something of an eyebrow-raiser to see Christian Arroyo ahead of Xander Bogaerts in the lineup as the Red Sox began a pivotal series on Friday in Cleveland.
But ultimately, nothing was lost from the absence of their franchise shortstop.
Instead, it was Arroyo who seemed to be trying to make up for lost time. After spending 10 days away following another bout with COVID-19, Arroyo returned with a vengeance. Stepping in for Bogaerts — who was just taking a day off — the shortstop fill-in’s impact was felt all night, none greater than his go-ahead home run in the seventh as the Red Sox started a big road trip with a 6-3 win over the Guardians.
The Red Sox (40-31), winners of six consecutive series but just one against a team with a record better than .500, began a tough stretch in which they’re playing 33 of 36 games against teams with winning records, including the resurgent Guardians who won 16 of their previous 21 games heading into Friday.
Arroyo, who’s played sparingly off the bench over the first two-plus months of the season and far less than he did last season, when he was the Red Sox’ starting second baseman in the playoffs, has embraced his new reduced role. And given an opportunity in place of Bogaerts, he produced his best game of the season.
His fingerprints were all over Progressive Field. With the bases loaded in the second, he was hit by a pitch to give the Sox an early lead. In the third, he made a heads-up defensive play at shortstop when he tagged Amed Rosario, who was caught barely off the second-base bag by Arroyo after he fielded a grounder up the middle, which helped nix a potential Guardians rally.
It wasn’t all positive for Arroyo, who was thrown out at home to end the fifth in an impressive double play from Cleveland right fielder Oscar Gonzalez that kept it a tied game at 2-2. But Arroyo more than made up for it two innings later. With a man on after Rob Refsnyder drew a leadoff walk, Arroyo made no mistake on a hanging cutter from Bryan Shaw as he crushed it above the high wall in left for a 405-foot, two-run homer.
Other takeaways from Friday’s win:
— Tanner Houck didn’t earn a save on Friday. But protecting a four-run lead ultimately and needlessly — became the hardest job he’s done since becoming the Red Sox’ closer.
The Sox led 6-2 heading into the ninth and it looked like it would be an easy task for Houck as he faced the bottom of the Guardians lineup. Not so fast. He gave up two leadoff singles, then hit Myles Straw with a pitch — though replays showed it may not have hit him — as he loaded the bases for the heart of Cleveland’s lineup.
But Houck escaped. He struck out Rosario on a foul trip and then facing early MVP candidate Jose Ramirez, he fell behind in a 2-0 count before getting the third baseman to ground out to second as the Red Sox successfully avoided a ninth-inning disaster.
— Another night, another seven innings for Nick Pivetta. The Red Sox right-hander gave up a season-high nine hits on Friday, but limited the damage and once again went deep as he gave up two runs over seven innings, making it four starts in his last five he pitched at least seven. His length continues to be critical as the Red Sox rotation continues to be shorthanded due to the continued absences of Garrett Whitlock and Nathan Eovaldi.
Pivetta is now 8-1 with a 1.85 ERA over his last 10 starts as he continues to make a case for his first career All-Star appearance.
— Alex Verdugo was a little bit unlucky — a theme for the Red Sox left fielder at the plate this season — in his first two at-bats as he hit a pair of hard-hit balls to left. But he was ultimately rewarded with his opposite-field approach. He hit a leadoff double in the sixth and hit another double to left in the seventh, which scored J.D. Martinez for a valuable insurance run.
Verdugo, who finished 2 for 5, easily could have had five hits with the contact he made. All three of his lineouts had an exit velocity of 94.1 mph or faster, which included a few tough-luck impressive defensive plays from the Guardians.
