CLEVELAND (AP) Greg Allen singled with one out and the bases loaded in the 11th inning and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Red Sox 4-3 on Sunday night to deny Boston’s bid for a club-record 106th victory for the second straight game.
Allen singled through the left side on a 3-2 pitch from Robby Scott to give Cleveland an 11th inning win for the second night in a row.
William Cuevas (0-2) walked leadoff man Jose Ramirez, who moved to second on Rajai Davis’ sacrifice. Shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin, who replaced the injured Xander Bogaerts in the seventh, booted Erik Gonzalez’s ground ball, sending Ramirez to third.
Yandy Diaz, batting for Yonder Alonso, was intentionally walked to load the bases and set the stage for Allen’s winning hit. Michael Brantley’s bases-loaded single gave the AL Central champions a 5-4 win in the 11th on Saturday night
Josh Tomlin (2-5) pitched two scoreless innings.
Mookie Betts homered and had four hits in his return to the lineup, but the Red Sox will also have to wait at least one more day before wrapping the home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
Betts, who didn’t play Friday and Saturday, hit his 31st homer in the fifth to tie the game after Cleveland scored three times in the fourth. He had four hits, a three-run homer and five RBIs on Thursday against the New York Yankees when Boston clinched the AL East.
Betts, who leads the majors with a .343 batting average, started the game with a double off the wall in left. He singled in the third and doubled again in the seventh.
Betts played right field for the first time in a week. He’s been dealing with soreness in his left side and was the DH twice last week.
Edwin Encarnacion got his 100th RBI of the season with a fourth-inning single, reaching the century mark for the fourth straight year.
Melky Cabrera’s two-run double off Steven Wright put Cleveland ahead 3-2. Boston had two errors, a wild pitch and a passed ball in the fourth.
Bogaerts was removed during his at-bat in the seventh inning because of a sore left shoulder. He fouled off a pitch and was visited by manager Alex Cora and a team trainer. Bogaerts walked to the dugout after a lengthy conversation and is listed as day to day.
Cuevas held Cleveland to one run and two hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Right-hander Hector Velazquez started for Boston and gave up two runs in 3 1/3 innings. Cabrera, a switch hitter, batted right-handed against the knuckballer Wright and lined a double down the line in right.
Cleveland starter Adam Plutko allowed three runs in six innings. The right-hander allowed five hits and threw 109 pitches.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: C Roberto Perez was removed from the game in the fifth with a bruised right shoulder.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-7, 3.98 ERA) takes on Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy (8-15, 5.37 ERA) in the three-game series opener in Boston.
Indians: RHP Corey Kluber (19-7, 2.93 ERA) goes for his career-high 20th win of the season. RHP Dylan Covey (5-13, 5.33 ERA) starts for the White Sox.
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