Bauer Makes His Return as Indians Fall to Red Sox 7-5 at Progressive Field; Three Takeaways

The Indians and Red So could wind up meeting again in a a few weeks with everything on the line and a trip to the World Series up for grabs. While that's a few weeks away, the two teams are playing for nothing more than more pride this weekend at Progressive Field.

Boston and the Indians payed in game one of the three-game set on Friday night, with the Red Sox putting up a 7-5 win with their 'hangover' lineup, meaning a lineup that was not their normal after they clinched the AL East in a win over New York on Thursday night.

The game had little drama, but it will be remembered for the return of Trevor Bauer for the Indians, who pitched just 1.1 innings before leaving the game, but that was the plan for him going in.

The offense was paced by a couple of homers as Yan Gomes and Josh Donaldson both went deep in the setback for the Tribe, who with the loss drop to 85-68 on the season.

The Red Sox with the win now have their all-time mark for regular season wins, as they are sitting at 105-49 on the year, and they are the heavy favorites to win the American League.

For now, here's three takeaways from the loss.

1. The Return of the All-Star

Trevor Bauer was back on the mound for the Indians, and while there might have been some nerves for Tribe fans about how Bauer was going to do, he looked just fine in his first start since August 11th.

Bauer threw 34 pitches in going 1.1 innings, allowing two hits with a walk and strikeout. He'll get another start on Tuesday against the White Sox, and then will pitch in the finale on Sunday in Kansas City against the Royals.

The thought is that Bauer will pitch in game three of the ALDS at home against the Astros, and it will be interesting to see how much more he gets to throw in the next two starts before that critical playoff game.

2. Beat Up Bieber

Indians starter Shane Bieber didn't have a good night at all for the Indians, as he suffered the loss to drop to 10-5 on the season.

It's already been determined he's going to come out of the pen as the long man for the playoffs, but in his outing on Friday he was beat up by the Red Sox secondary lineup.

Bieber in 4.2 innings, he allowed six runs on eight hits with two walks and one K in throwing a total of 82 pitches with 53 strikes.

The team will likely get Bieber more work as the postseason gets closer.

3. Good Night for Gomer

The offensive hero for the Indians in the 7-5 loss was catcher Yan Gomes, who after going 3-for-4 with a homer is now hitting .266 on the season for the Tribe.

He hit his 15th homer of the season in the 4th inning, a two-run shot for the Indians. He also got two more hits on the night to go along with a walk.

Having production from the catcher spot for the postseason would be huge, and Gomer is having a solid season at the plate in 2018.