CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians lefthander Doug Nikhazy learned a valuable lesson in his major league debut against the Red Sox on Saturday night.
Don’t turn your back on Jarren Duran.
Duran stole home in the second game of a doubleheader at Progressive Field, diving across the plate in the third inning to help give the Sox a 7-3 victory.
After a 5-4 loss in the first game extended their losing streak to three games, the Red Sox needed some kind of spark.
Duran provided it with an RBI single in the second inning then a run-scoring triple to right field in the third.
As he stood on third, Duran heard Nikhazy tell third base umpire Jacob Metz that he would work from the windup against Rafael Devers.
Duran, who had considered a steal of home against Seattle at Fenway Park last week, was determined to go this time and got the nod from third base coach Kyle Hudson.
He broke on the first pitch, beating the ball to the plate. Both Devers and home plate umpire Brock Ballou called him safe.
“Just to keep the offense going and cause a little chaos and keep the momentum on our side was a big thing,” Duran said.
It was the first straight steal of home by a Red Sox player in exactly 16 years. Jacoby Ellsbury stole home against the Yankees and Andy Pettitte at Fenway Park on April 26, 2009.
Like Ellsbury, Duran has the speed to change a game.
“It’s an exciting play,” manager Alex Cora said. “He’s going to take chances. We saw a window there and he took advantage of the situation.”
Devers was 2 for 4 with a walk, a double and an RBI. The Sox had 11 hits, five for extra bases.
The final game of the series is Sunday afternoon with Brayan Bello facing Logan Allen.
Walker Buehler (4-1) allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings. He is 4-0 with a 2.59 earned run average in his last four starts.
“He can pitch,” Cora said. “We don’t talk about [velocity] because he can pitch. Different types of fastballs, breaking balls. Seems like he’s under control the while time.”
With an early lead, Buehler threw strikes and gave the Sox a solid start.
“Acceptable,” was how Buehler judged his start. “In that range.”
It was 47 degrees and only a few thousand fans were in their seats when the doubleheader started.
Wilyer Abreu got his teammates heated up with a three-run homer to right field off Ben Lively in the first inning.
“You feel good about yourself,” Cora said.
That didn’t last. Tanner Houck allowed four runs in the bottom of the inning, which led to the loss.
Houck changed up his game plan between innings and didn’t give up another run. That he kept the Sox in the game was a sign of his experience, but the first inning was a wreck.
Stephen Kwan led off with a double. Nolan Jones followed with a line drive to right field for a double but Kwan stayed at third, respecting Abreu’s strong arm.
No matter, José Ramírez followed with an RBI single to right field. All three hits came on Houck’s splitter.
Ramírez stole second then moved to third when Carlos Santana’s fly ball to center scored Jones. Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann followed with singles and the Guardians had a 4-3 lead.
Houck relied more on his fastball after the first inning and shut the Guardians down.
“Attacked a different zone, a different lane,” he said. “Stuck to the strengths of what I was feeling [and] what I was seeing. It was a lot better from the second inning on. I need to make that adjustment in the first inning.”
Something has to change. The Red Sox are 1-5 in Houck’s starts this season. The Sox tied the game when Devers homered to right field leading off the third inning.
Brennan Bernardino (1-1) started the sixth inning and immediately found trouble.
His first pitch hit Will Wilson. Angel Martinez then reached on an infield single that struck Bernardino’s glove. The Guardians lead the majors in sacrifices and manager Stephen Vogt had Austin Hedges bunt to move the runners over.
It paid off when Kwan dropped a soft single into shallow left field that ticked off the glove of shortstop Trevor Story. That was the difference in the game.
The Sox were scoreless over the final six innings of what was Cora’s 1,000th game as manager. They finished 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.
Ceddanne Rafaela singled and Duran drew a walk leading off the ninth inning against Cade Smith, who is closing with All-Star Emmanuel Clase struggling.
Devers hit a hard liner right at Kwan at third. Alex Bregman followed with a shot to right field that Jones caught. Story than struck out.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.
