CLEVELAND — Joe Kelly didn’t mind.
A conversation about his recent lights-out relief streak? No concerns of jinxing it?
None whatsoever.
“It’s for the mentally weak,” Kelly said of such talk. “Same with superstitions and all that.”
It’s more about being healthy again and throwing strikes with electric stuff that has worked for Kelly, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning in the Sox’ 4-2 victory over the Guardians Tuesday, running his scoreless streak to 10 2⁄3 innings.
This one was too eventful for the Sox’ liking though, with Kelly calling out Sox training staff after he pounced on a tap in front of the mound to retire Amed Rosario for the second out. After taking a few warmup tosses, Jose Ramirez hit a 101-mph fastball off the wall that eluded right fielder Clint Frazier, but Kelly got Josh Naylor on a ground out, protecting the two-run lead.
Kelly has retired 34 of the last 36 batters he’s faced.
“It’s probably the story of my career in general,” said Kelly, who until this stretch had not lived up to his two-year, $17 million contract. “It’s my 11th year and at some point it happens like that every season. But I’m about to be 35 in 16 days and I feel good. Like I’m in a good spot with health number one and strength and body and how fast I can get my little quick twitch muscles firing. But I’m in a good spot, definitely.”
The Sox (20-30) were in a better spot after losing 3-0 in the first game of the series and having a chance to win it Wednesday afternoon, although they’ll have to do it without Luis Robert, who exited the game in the ninth inning with hip tightness.
Dylan Cease pitched six innings of two-run ball, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out three, a whiff ratio below his standards (he had five swinging strikes among 88 pitdches) but logging his third straight quality start. In those, Cease has allowed five runs over 18 1⁄3 innings.
Sox starting pitchers own a 2.60 ERA over their last 12 games, ranking third in the majors during that span.
Yasmani Grandal hit a tying solo homer against lefty Logan Allen in the third, and Romy Gonzalez doubled in two runs in a three-run seventh.
Shortstop Tim Anderson is still looking for his first home run, and he’s batting xxx. He entered Tuesday with two hits in his last 16 at-bats in his last five games.
But Anderson found a way to help the Sox win a game, making a diving stop of Andres Gimenez sharp ground ball behind second base in the fourth, saving a run by keeping the ball in the infield with Josh Bell. When Bell kept running around third for some unknown reason, Anderson easily threw him out at home.