Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Red Sox 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
BATTER OF THE GAME: Jackie Bradley, Jr.
It's gotta be Bradley, right? This guy is still hot, and nothing proved that more than his three-run home run in the 4th inning to give the Sox a 5-0 lead. Bradley has completely changed the way people think about him over the last two weeks. He was once considered basically an automatic out. Now he's hitting home runs left and right. Oh, and he made another amazing catch out in center field, a position he hasn't even played lately.
STARTERS REPORT: Credit where it's due: Joe Kelly out-dueled Corey Kluber Wednesday night. Kelly pitched one of the best games of his season, lasting 6.0 innings and allowing a run, though it wasn't earned. Kelly has put together to nice starts in a row.
Corey Kluber . . . not your night. While he still struck out nine batters, Kluber allowed four home runs. He let up back-to-back jacks in the 2nd inning and back-to-back jacks in the 4th inning. The three-run bomb to Jackie Bradley, Jr. really hurt.
Boston Red Sox
BIG PLAY: Aside from the Bradley Jr. three-run bomb, Joe Kelly's strikeout of Yan Gomes in the 6th inning was pretty big. Kelly had put two men on, and even though the Sox had a 6-1 lead at the time, the last thing he wanted to do was allow a couple runs to come in and then turn it over to the Sox bullpen. Instead, he struck out Yan Gomes to end the inning and turn it over to the bullpen with a 6-1 lead (not that any lead is big enough…)
WHAT I LIKED: The David Ortiz home run. Hey, he's at No. 492 now and every one you get to see at this point is special as we get closer to No. 500. The fans in the ball park will remember these moments, and in a season with not many memorable ones, that's pretty much all they have to really look forward to.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Meh. More runs allowed for the bullpen. There's really not much else to say about them at this point. Dave Dombrowski probably can't wait to rid himself of every single one, aside from Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa, anyways.
WHAT'S NEXT: The beasts of the American League invade Fenway Park tomorrow for a four-game series. We're talking about the Kansas City Royals. Wade Miley will try to limit the damage for the Sox and Danny Duffy takes the mound for the Royals. Buckle up.