FINAL SCORE: Indians 5, Red Sox 4, Cleveland leads the series, 1-0
The Cleveland Indians belted three home runs in the bottom of the third inning against Red Sox starter Rick Porcello, and defeated the Red Sox in the opener of the American League Division Series.
The Red Sox scored a run in the eighth inning on a Brock Holt home run, and had the tying run at third later that inning and on base again in the ninth but they could not push the tying run home.
Cody Allen struck out Dustin Pedroia on a breaking ball to end the game.
While Allen got the save, the key move of the game came when Cleveland manager Terry Francona took out starter Trevor Bauer and replaced him with left-handed ace Andrew Miller in the fifth inning. Miller shut down the powerful Red Sox for two full innings, and that allowed the Indians to hold the lead and maintain momentum.
Roberto Perez, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor all homered for the Indians, while Andrew Benintendi, Sandy Leon and Brock Holt homered for the Red Sox.
The two teams will meet in Game 2 on Friday afternoon.
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