Four Cleveland home runs left the Red Sox the victims of a 9-6 beating Monday night that saw the end of Daniel Bard's scoreless streak.
Two of those homers belonged to John Lackey, who got into trouble after retiring eight straight batters to start the game. A two-out RBI double from Michael Brantley brought home the Indians' first run in the third, and a pair of early singles in the fourth eventually led to a second. But it wasn't until the sixth that he really fell apart, giving up three long drives, two of which left the park, allowing the Indians to score runs three, four, and five. One of those was to Asdrubal Cabrera, who would strike again later.
The Sox proved able to match the Indians to that point, starting with a run from the bottom-of-the-lineup in the second. In the next inning, Kevin Youkilis would bring home Adrian Gonzalez after a leadoff single with a triple off the wall in center, but made a foolish decision to try and score on the errant throw to third and was thrown out at home. The mistake would prove very costly, as Carl Crawford homered later in the inning.
Facing a 5-3 deficit after Lackey's sixth, it was Jarrod Saltalamacchia who brought the Sox back, smashing a two-run home run to right despite breaking his bat in the process.
The tie would not last, though, as Asdrubal Cabrera would do to Daniel Bard what he did two months ago, and nobody else had done since: drive in a run. With a man on base and nobody out in the eighth, Cabrera hit a fly ball to right field that found its way into the stands just past Pesky's Pole. The ball would bounce off a fan's knee and back into play, leading to a replay, but the umpires made the correct call, and the Sox found themselves down 7-5--a lead they would never overcome.