The Red Sox suffered a double blow on Marathon Monday as Tyler O'Neill was forced to leave the game following a collision in left field, and their offense faltered once again.
Cleveland's Will Brennan delivered a go-ahead two-run home run off Greg Weissert, giving the Guardians a 6-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning.
Boston struggled to generate any offense, managing just three hits and being shut out for the fourth time this season.
The Red Sox's woes at the plate extended their streak of scoring one run or fewer to six games.
With the loss, Boston fell to 9-8 on the young campaign.
Kutter Crawford pitched admirably for the Red Sox, limiting Cleveland to two hits and striking out five and a third innings.
The collision occurred with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
The fifth inning presented the Red Sox with their prime opportunity to counteract Xzavion Curry, following Wilyer Abreu's walk and stolen base.
Curry continued to shine on the mound, retiring the next trio of batters and maintaining his shutout.
In the seventh inning, Brennan Bernardino replaced Weissert and allowed a single to Josh Naylor before yielding to Bo Naylor, who grounded out with two outs.
With the game on the line and just two outs to go, Weissert delivered a slider, which Will Brennan sent flying out of the ballpark in right field, earning a well-deserved win.
The Collision
The collision between Tyler O'Neill and Rafael Devers occurred immediately after the home run, leaving both players shaken up.
The two converged on a pop fly from Estevan Haniel Florial in shallow left field.
Shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela would have been part of the collision but he backed off as Devers was backpedaling and calling for the ball.
With Devers retreating and O'Neill coming in, their heads collided as they tried to make the catch.
Both men lay motionless on the ground for several moments before being attended to by team trainers and manager Alex Cora.
Devers remained in the game but O’Neill was not able to return to play. In an update provided by Alex Cora after the loss, he said that "he got stitches, eight of them...so we’ll see what happens next. He’s going through concussion protocol. Hopefully everything’s fine. Raffy, same deal. He says he feels good. So we’ll wait and see."
Any extended absence for O'Neill is devastating to the Red Sox lineup. He is tied with Marcell Ozuna for the most home runs, at seven this year.
An early highlight came in right field when Ramírez made a leaping catch at the short fence off Abreu's bat, denying him an extra-base hit.
Garrett Getts Whitlock is scheduled to start Tuesday as the Red Sox look to rebound from this disappointing loss.
Wager on the Most Anticipated Face-Off
For Boston's second game versus Cleveland, Garrett Whitlock, who boasts a record of 1-0 and an impressive ERA of 1.26, will face off against Tanner Bibee with a record of 1-0 but a higher ERA of 5.93. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
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