Erik Miller gives up lead in ninth as Red Sox lose third in a row

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Sep 22, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — For all intents and purposes, none of these last games down the stretch mean anything to the Red Sox. They have already punched their ticket to the playoffs and nothing that happens from here on out will change that.

But while readying themselves for the games that matter, the Red Sox would still prefer to go into the postseason with some momentum, and Tuesday’s performance was at times pretty hard to watch.

Playing without three projected postseason starters, the Red Sox suffered a listless 3-2 loss in their series opener against the Cleveland Guardians. Despite a game-tying pinch-hit home run by Mickey Gasper in the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox gave the lead right back in the ninth, capping off a night riddled with poor decisions and uncharacteristic mistakes.

Reliever Erik Miller saw his struggles continue by allowing two hits, a walk, a hit batsman and the go-ahead sacrifice fly by Angel Martinez in the top of the ninth, and outside of Gasper and Adley Rutschman going 3 for 4 with two doubles and a run scored, there wasn’t much to write home about as the Red Sox suffered their third straight defeat.

Making his final start before the playoffs, Payton Tolle wasn’t as sharp as he would’ve hoped, but once again he gave the Red Sox a chance to win.

After posting a scoreless first, Tolle allowed two runs and five baserunners over the course of a challenging second inning. He started by giving up a leadoff double, had a soft grounder from David Fry deflect off his leg and into the outfield for an RBI single, and allowed another single and a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

Tolle was able to minimize the damage from there, allowing a second run to score on a double-play ball by Brayan Rocchio before escaping the inning. He continued facing traffic for the rest of his outing but grinded his way into the sixth and departed to a standing ovation from the Fenway Park faithful.

Tolle finished with two runs allowed on eight hits, two walks and a hit batsman over 5 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. He fell one out short of recording another quality start, leaving him with 13 in 26 outings, and he ends his rookie year with a 3.03 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 148 2/3 innings.

The Red Sox got a run back in the bottom of the second after Rutschman led off with a double and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Andruw Monasterio, but otherwise the bats struggled against Guardians rookie Parker Messick. The left-hander, who came into the game with a 2.57 ERA and projects as a possible AL Cy Young Award finalist, limited the Red Sox to one run on five hits over five innings.

One thing Boston was able to do was drive up the rookie’s pitch count, particularly in the fourth when Monasterio was able to work a 12-pitch walk. That helped force the lefty from the game after five, giving the Red Sox a chance to try their luck against Cleveland’s bullpen.

The Red Sox let a golden opportunity go to waste in the bottom of the sixth, leaving men at second and third, but Alec Gamboa kept it a one-run game in the top of the seventh despite the Guardians taking advantage of some sloppy baseball to get runners at second and third themselves with one out.

Cleveland’s Fry, who had already grounded into a fielder’s choice where the runner was thrown out at the plate earlier in the third inning, did so a second time for the second out of the seventh, and Gamboa struck out former No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana to end the inning.

Then, in the bottom of the eighth, Gasper struck for his 10th home run of the season, hitting the first pitch he saw from Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis 390 feet to the right-field stands.

The good vibes didn’t last long.

Miller, who had proven an impactful bullpen addition since his arrival at the trade deadline, saw his recent control issues continue with his latest ugly outing. The left-hander hit the first batter he faced, gave up the lead on a sacrifice fly by Martinez and eventually loaded the bases before getting a fly out to keep things from spiraling further.

Miller has now allowed six runs and six walks over his past 3 1/3 innings, a trend the Red Sox can’t afford to continue if he’s to remain a high-leverage option in the playoffs.