Naylor homer in 9th sends Guardians past stumbling Red Sox

BOSTON (AP) — Josh Naylor hit a solo home run in the ninth inning and the Cleveland Guardians took advantage of three errors by Boston first baseman Franchy Cordero to beat the Red Sox 7-6 Wednesday night.

“I live for those opportunities,” Naylor said. “I worked on those as a kid with my dad and my brothers. So, in their eyes, I enjoy them and I just try to make the best out of them.”

Bobby Dalbec hit two homers and drove in five runs for the Red Sox, who have lost seven of eight and 15 of 19.

Naylor connected for his 14th homer with one out off Tanner Houck (5-4).

“I think you got to be good, but I think you got to want to be up in that situation. I do think he relishes that,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “When he stays that way, he becomes so dangerous. He’s a really good hitter.”

Enyel De Los Santos (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Emmanuel Clase worked a scoreless ninth for this 21st save.

Cleveland made it 6-all in the eighth when Nolan Jones singled and advanced to second on a wild throw by Cordero. Myles Straw doubled home the tying run.

Two of Cordero’s errors came on throws. He also was involved in a strange play in the fourth when he hit a double that resulted in a pair of Cleveland errors.

“We didn’t play good defense,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “At the end, that’s the result. You give the opposition more than 27 outs at this level, you’re going to pay the price. It’s been going on for a while here. Defensively, we were really good for a while. We haven’t been good for the last 2 ½ weeks.”

Straw’s RBI double capped a three-run second that included two errors by Cordero as Cleveland took a 3-0 lead against Nathan Eovaldi. Dalbec homered in the bottom half.

Steven Kwan hit an RBI double in the fourth as the Guardians made it 5-2 in the fourth. Dalbec’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half got Boston within 5-4.

Dalbec hit his 10th homer in the sixth for a 6-5 lead.

Eovaldi went six innings, giving up three earned and nine hits with no walks.

Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill went 5 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits and two walks.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: All-Star 3B Rafael Devers, out since July 23 with right hamstring inflammation, is expected to be activated as soon as he’s eligible, without needing a rehab stint. … LHP Rich Hill, out since July 2 with a left knee sprain, had his scheduled rehab start on Wednesday pushed back. Depending on Boston’s bullpen usage on Wednesday, Hill could either be activated to pitch for the Red Sox on Thursday or make a rehab appearance on Thursday. … INF Christian Arroyo, sidelined with a left groin strain since July 9, served as the DH for Double-A Portland on Wednesday, going 1 for 1, with a run scored, an RBI and two walks. He is scheduled to play second base on Thursday. … RHP Matt Barnes, out since May 31 with right shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to make his first back-to-back rehab appearances on Thursday and Friday. … 2B Trevor Story, out since July 14 with a right hand contusion, is feeling better, Cora said, but is not yet scheduled for a rehab assignment. … CF Kiké Hernández, out since June 8 with a right hip flexor strain, is scheduled to start swinging a bat on Saturday. … RHP Michael Wacha, out since July 5 with right shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox and Guardians wrap up their season series on Thursday. Boston RHP Kutter Crawford (2-3, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to start, opposed by RHP Triston McKenzie (7-6, 3.11). This will be Crawford’s second career appearance against Cleveland, first this season. He allowed five runs in a two-inning appearance against Cleveland in 2021. This will be McKenzie’s first career appearance against Boston.

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