With the series’ first game against the Cleveland Guardians postponed due to inclement weather, the Red Sox needed to wait another day before going toe to toe with an extremely tough AL Central opponent. After dropping two of three to the Mariners, the Red Sox needed a few days to recoup, and getting an extra day to settle in The Land was just the thing they needed to get back in the groove.

Game One started around 1:10 at Progressive Field with the Guardians’ Ben Lively against the struggling Tanner Houck. The bats began to come alive after two days’ rest, and the Sox scored three in the top of the first. After Rafael Devers walked, Alex Bregman singled to right, moving Raffy over to second. Then, after Trevor Story grounded into a fielder’s choice, Wilyer Abreu dug into the box with Bregman on second, and Story on first. After quickly falling into a 0-2 count, Abreu found his perfect pitch, a curveball inside the zone, and launched the ball 390 feet to right, quickly putting the Red Sox up 3-0. The Guardians responded right back with four of their own in the first after left fielder Steven Kwan started his day with a leadoff double. Right after that, Nolan Jones doubled to right, moving Kwan over to third, and bringing the always dangerous José Ramírez to the plate. He started giving Wilyer Abreu a workout with the third consecutive hit out to right field, scoring Kwan and moving Jones over to third. With runners on the corners, Carlos Santana hit a sac fly out to center, and Nolan Jones scored, and the hits just kept coming. Gabriel Arias stepped in and singled to left, tying the game at three apiece. After Arias came Daniel Schneeman, who also racked up a single, finally putting the Guardians above the Red Sox 4-3 in the bottom of the first. Both pitchers eased into the game with a 1-2-3 inning.

That’s our Raffy 🗣 pic.twitter.com/VpXTyOYHw7

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 26, 2025

Raffy started to look more like himself this afternoon, launching a home run to right in the top of the third, tying the game at four. After a lot of traffic on the base paths, the Red Sox couldn’t seem to get the runners home, keeping the game in a stalemate until the bottom of the sixth when left-hander Brennan Bernardino came in for an inning of relief. After hitting the first batter he faced, he eventually paid for it as the runner eventually scored on an infield single from Steven Kwan. Bernie saw only one more batter before Manager Alex Cora emerged from the dugout of his 1,000th game as a coach to replace Bernardino with Greg Weissert. With only three innings left of play, the Red Sox just couldn’t get it done as they lost the game 5-4.

With a left-hander on the mound for the Guardians to start game two at 6:10, some of the offensive stars from game one, Wilyer Abreu and Triston Casas, took a seat to allow right-handed sluggers Rob Refsnyder and Romy González to play outfield and first base against Doug Nikhazy. The Sox remained hot in the first inning of game two as Devers and Bregman managed to work some walks, giving Trevor Story the opportunity for an RBI now with runners on first and second. With a hanging slider in the middle of the zone, he could square his pitch up right away, quickly putting the Red Sox up 1-0. After a 1-2-3 inning from Walker Buehler, the Sox stayed strong in the top of the second, scoring three more thanks to Jarren Duran, Raffy, and Rob Refsnyder’s fantastic eye. Now with a decent cushion for Buehler to work with, he got back on the mound and had another quick, thirteen-pitch inning.

Jarren Duran continued to shine in this evening’s game against the two teams as he tripled in the top of the third, scoring catcher Carlos Narvárez. But Duran didn’t stop there; he scored himself when he stole home, gave the Red Sox a 6-0 lead, and scored the game’s last run in the top of the sixth on an infield single from Alex Bregman.

JARREN DURAN STEALS HOME 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mnWJPQ5HUR

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2025

However, the true hero of tonight’s win must be Walker Buehler, who held it down on the mound after a taxing matinee for the bullpen. He earned his fourth win of the season with six complete innings, seven hits, three earned runs, three strikeouts, and one walk. That quality start allowed just a few relievers and closer, Aroldis Chapman, to work in this evening’s win, allowing Cora to call on a good majority of the pen tomorrow in the final game of this three-game set against the Guards.

Hopefully, the offense can remain on for Brayan Bello as he makes his second-season start in tomorrow’s finale against Logan Allen. With the first pitch slated for 1:40 tomorrow afternoon, this is a big game to win before the Sox head up to Toronto for three against the Blue Jays, who sit just a half game behind them in the standings. It will be a tough road trip for Boston, but if this series indicates the games are coming in Canada, the Red Sox can boost themselves closer to first place.