CLEVELAND — Shane Smith had an impressive encore, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians during his second major-league appearance.
José Ramírez broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out infield hit in the sixth. Smith allowed another single before getting out of the inning by striking out Kyle Manzardo.
The right-hander allowed two hits in six scoreless innings, but the Sox lost 1-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 33,722 during Cleveland’s home opener at Progressive Field.
Nolan Jones drew a bases-loaded walk with no outs in the bottom of the ninth against reliever Mike Clevinger to bring home Carlos Santana with the game’s only run as the Sox suffered their sixth straight defeat — and second consecutive in walk-off fashion.
Smith struck out six, walked one and hit one in the 83-pitch performance.
“Leaned heavily with the changeup today, which we talked about after the last outing,” Smith said. “(We were) throwing pitches for strikes, getting strike one and then kind of just going from there.”
Pitchers dominated Tuesday as the teams combined for five hits (two for the Sox, three for the Guardians). The Sox drew five walks but couldn’t make the Guardians pay.
Clevinger surrendered a leadoff single to Santana in the ninth and then walked the next three, including Jones to end the game.
“Just trying to make pitches and I felt like I handed away what was a really well-played ballgame and a great start by Shane,” Clevinger said. “I’ve got to be better in those situations.”
Here are three more takeaways from Tuesday at Progressive Field.
1. LF Andrew Benintendi is ‘not there yet’ in injury recovery.
Andrew Benintendi had been one of the top hitters for the Sox through the first nine games.
The left fielder was not in Tuesday’s lineup as he recovers from left adductor tightness.
Before Tuesday’s game, manager Will Venable said Benintendi “progressed a little bit, but he’s not there yet.”
“Doesn’t feel as good as we thought he was, so he’s going to continue to get evaluated and we’ll do some scans on him,” Venable said.
Benintendi entered Tuesday leading the Sox in hits (nine) and RBIs (six). He was tied for the team lead with two home runs. His .290 average, .333 on-base percentage and .484 slugging percentage were tops on the club among qualified hitters — as was his .817 OPS.
Benintendi crashed into the left-field wall while making a leaping catch Saturday against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. He played that whole game and also had two at-bats as a designated hitter in Sunday’s series finale before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the fifth.
Brooks Baldwin started in left field Tuesday.
“Until we have more information on (Benintendi) and where he’s at, I think we take it day by day,” Venable said. “We have (Baldwin) out there today. We have (Austin) Slater, you’ve seen (Michael A.) Taylor out there against right-handed pitchers.
“So we’re comfortable about the guys that we have behind him. Obviously Beni’s one of our dudes, and hate to not have him in there. But we’re covered, we’ll be all right.”
2. Brandon Drury returns to the organization on a minor-league deal.
Few players had a better spring camp than Brandon Drury.
The veteran infielder — who was with the club on a minor-league deal — slashed .410/.439/.821 (16-for-39) with seven doubles, three home runs and a 1.260 OPS in 13 Cactus League games. The sizzling spring came to an early end when Drury suffered a fractured left thumb.
The Sox released Drury on March 23. He returned to the organization on a minor-league deal Tuesday.
“We’re really excited that he signed back,” Venable said. “With what he showed us in spring training, it looked like the version of Brandon Drury that everyone’s been used to and not the (20)24 version that we know looks like more of just a one-off.”
Drury hit .169 with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 97 games last season with the Los Angeles Angels. He hit 28 home runs in 2022 with the Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres, and 26 in 2023 with the Angels.
“So excited to get him back, get him some at-bats and see if he can help us down the road,” Venable said.
The Sox assigned Drury to extended spring training in Arizona.
“I think he’s going to spend a couple of days in Arizona, just getting his feet underneath him, getting some at-bats and then go to (Triple-A) Charlotte,” Venable said. “And then we’ll just kind of take it day by day and see what happens.”
3. Tyler Gilbert made his first bullpen appearance of the season.
The Sox plan on utilizing Tyler Gilbert as a multi-inning reliever.
The lefty got his first opportunity Tuesday after returning from the injured list. Gilbert struck out three and walked one in 1 2/3 hitless innings against the Guardians.
The Sox returned Gilbert from his injury rehabilitation assignment at Charlotte and reinstated him from the 15-day injured list before Tuesday’s game. He had been on the IL retroactively since March 23 with left knee bursitis, an injury suffered during spring training.
“It always sucks getting injured but fortunately this was pretty minor and it’s nothing that I should be too worried about,” Gilbert said before the game. “Happy to get back and help out.”
The Sox acquired Gilbert in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies on Jan. 1.
In Tuesday’s corresponding move, the Sox optioned left-hander pitcher Brandon Eisert to Charlotte.
