BOSTON — Center fielder Greg Allen made two superb catches to help fellow rookie Shane Bieber hold down Boston, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Red Sox 6-3 Tuesday night in a matchup of AL division leaders.
Melky Cabrera homered for the second straight game and Yan Gomes also connected for Cleveland. The Indians have won nine of 10, including the first two of the four-game series at Fenway Park.
Boston, with the best record in the majors, has lost three in a row for just the second time this season.
Allen, who hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning to beat Boston on Monday, came back to double, single and drive in a run. But he made the biggest impact with his glove.
First, Allen raced back and slammed into the padded wall to take away an extra-base hit from Xander Bogaerts leading off the fifth inning.
Then, with the Red Sox trying to rally in the seventh, Allen again came through.
The Red Sox had already scored once to make it 5-1 and had two on with no outs when Mitch Moreland hit a long drive toward the dirt triangle in deep center. Allen slid to a stop as he caught the ball over his shoulder — it was a sacrifice fly and finished Bieber, but thwarted Boston’s momentum.
Bieber (7-2) took a shutout in the seventh. He went 6 1-3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.
Down 5-0, Boston scored three times in the seventh. Brad Hand got his 25th save as the Indians improved to 15-4 in August.
Nathan Eovaldi (5-5) had been 2-0 in four starts for the Red Sox since coming over from Tampa Bay in a trade at the deadline.
Gomes singled home Cabrera early, and hit a solo homer in the eighth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: DH Edwin Encarnacion, out since Aug. 12 with a right wrist contusion, could be activated from the DL Thursday for the last of the four-game series at Fenway Park. Manager Terry Francona said Encarnacion is close, but the Indians won’t rush to get him back in the lineup. “He’s doing so good that we just want to do the right thing,” Francona said.
Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (right ankle ligament) will likely make one more rehabilitation start before returning to the club, manager Alex Cora said. Rodriguez threw four scoreless innings four Double-A Portland on Monday.
UP NEXT
Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco (15-6, 3.33 ERA) pitched seven scoreless innings Friday against Baltimore while winning his 15th start of the season.
Red Sox: LHP Brian Johnson (4-3, 4.00) has won three of his last four starts as makes his first career appearance against Cleveland.
