BOSTON - When the Red Sox lineup was released on Wednesday afternoon and three of the team's best hitters weren't in it, there was reason to believe Wednesday might be a long night.
It was a long night - for Indians ace Corey Kluber.
Despite the fact that Torey Lovullo rested Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, and Mookie Betts all on the same night, the Sox still found plenty of offense against Kluber en route to a 6-4 win.
On one hand, the Sox only had 7 hits, but on the other hand, four of those hits were home runs. And both times they came in back-to-back fashion.
David Ortiz started things off and hit his 492 career home run to open the 2nd inning. One batter later, Travis Shaw hit his sixth career home run.
Jackie Bradley Jr. followed up his stellar first-inning catch with a three-run opposite-field home run just over the Monster in the 4th inning to make it 5-0. Ryan Hanigan followed it up with a solo shot into the Monster as well.
Kluber was pulled after 6.0, allowing six runs on six hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.
Boston Red Sox
On the other side of things, Joe Kelly kept the Indians in check throughout. Kelly, too, lasted 6.0 innings but didn't allow an earned run. One Indians runner crossed the plate in the fifth inning, but was in scoring position due to a fielding error by Josh Rutledge.
Kelly put two on in the 6th inning before getting Yan Gomes to strike out swinging to end the inning, one of three strikeouts on the night.
He finished the night allowing five hits and three walks.
Of course, the Red Sox bullpen made it interesting. Tommy Layne came on in the 8th inning and allowed a single before being relieved by Jean Machi. Machi then proceeded to walk Jerry Sands and then allow a three-run home run to Gomes to make it 6-4.