Cleveland — The Boston Red Sox rallied for six runs in the seventh inning Sunday to overcome the Cleveland Guardians 9-4, securing their first series victory since May 20 and their first back-to-back wins of the season.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the pivotal seventh inning, Red Sox rookie Wilyer Abreu drew a bases-loaded walk on a close pitch that was ruled a ball by home plate umpire Austin Jones. Guardians reliever Tim Herrin had intended to close the inning with a strikeout, but the Guardians had exhausted their ball-strike challenges, leaving the call to stand. The walk allowed the tying run to score and extended the inning for Boston.

The Red Sox capitalized immediately. Masataka Yoshida delivered a two-run single to center field to give Boston the lead. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with an RBI single, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Rookie Caleb Durbin then contributed two more runs with his first career triple.

Interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy highlighted the quality of the at-bats that turned the game around. “You got to tie the game before you can take the lead, so those were really quality at-bats,” he said. “We keep stacking on after that to get into a comfortable lead.”

The entire Boston starting lineup recorded at least one hit and at least one run or RBI. Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth inning, marking his first outing since May 20 despite the game not presenting a save situation. Tracy noted the move was to get Chapman back into action.

The game featured a seesaw battle through the early innings, marked by defensive miscues and pitching struggles. Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez surrendered four runs over five innings with 10 strikeouts but expressed frustration with the runs allowed. Guardians starter Tanner Bibee gave up three runs in six innings.

The scoring began promptly as Red Sox batter Jarren Duran hit a leadoff home run for Boston’s initial lead. Cleveland responded in the bottom of the second with a two-run single from catcher Austin Hedges, who had loaded the bases with no outs via two free passes from Suarez.

In the fifth inning, Boston briefly regained the lead on singles from Marcelo Mayer and Connor Wong but the Guardians answered with a two-run rally. A notable defensive lapse occurred when Masataka Yoshida, playing left field, lost sight of a routine fly ball hit by José Ramírez, allowing a run to score and setting up another.

Tracy acknowledged the error but emphasized its occasional inevitability. “You can’t catch what you can’t see,” he said. Yoshida also took responsibility for the mistake but redeemed himself with the key two-run hit in the seventh. “I know I put us in that bad spot right there, but I’m glad I was able to come through in that situation and help the team win,” Yoshida said via an interpreter.

The Guardians, now 34-27, faced frustration not only for the defensive miscues but also for their ineffective use of ball-strike challenges. After unsuccessful challenges in the fifth and sixth innings, the team no longer had options to contest Jones’ crucial call in the seventh.

The Red Sox improved to 25-33 ahead of Monday’s scheduled off day, marking progress as they strive to climb in the American League East standings.