Erik Bedard

On a day that was meant to welcome a new pitcher into the Red Sox fold, it was an old friend that stole the headlines.

Trade deadline acquisition Erik Bedard lasted five innings in his Red Sox debut, allowing three runs on seven hits while walking none and striking out five, but Justin Masterson, who left Boston for Cleveland in the Victor Martinez trade exactly two years before Bedard came to the Sox in his own deal, was able to keep the Red Sox batters at bay long enough (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) to give Indians hitters a chance at winning the game.

They did just that as the Tribe plated three additional runs off Boston relievers Franklin Morales and Andrew Miller in Cleveland’s 7-3 win over Boston Thursday night at Fenway Park.

With the win, the Indians take the season series between the two teams 6-4 to equal their most wins over a Sox squad since 2001. Masterson also moves to 3-0 against his former club with a 1.94 ERA in four starts.

Here’s what went wrong (and what went right) for the Red Sox in the loss:

WHAT WENT WRONG

– The bottom half of the second inning was one for the memory banks and even the record books. Josh Reddick struck out on a wild pitch and then advanced to first before Masterson set down Jason Varitek, Marco Scutaro and Jacoby Ellsbury on strikes as well. The four strikeouts in an inning tied an MLB record, although it was the 56th time the feat had occurred in the majors and the sixth time it was done by a member of the Indians organization (the most by any franchise). It’s the second time a pitcher has struck out four batters in a single frame this season as A.J. Burnett did the same thing for the Yankees on June 24.

– Although strikeouts certainly were a culprit, the Red Sox were simply unable to get runners in scoring position in the loss. After a two-run first inning, Boston baserunners reached second base only twice over the remaining eight frames, once on a Josh Reddick home run and the other on a throwing error to second that should have retired David Ortiz but instead allowed the DH to stand in scoring position.

– Morales followed arguably his best outing in a Red Sox uniform on Tuesday (2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K) with arguably his worst. The hard-throwing southpaw led off the inning by surrendering a hard-hit ball to center field for a double to lefty Travis Hafner and then on the very next pitch threw a 95 mph meatball over the heart of the plate that switch-hitter Carlos Santana quickly placed on top of the camera booth in center. The outing not only broke a 3-3 but also pushed Morales’ ERA with the Red Sox up to 4.45.

– Miller made his first relief appearance of the season, and it wasn’t a very good one. He retired the first two batters he faced in the seventh but then allowed a single to Asdrubal Cabrera followed by a Wall-ball RBI double to Hafner. Then just when he looked like he had settled down slightly after a scoreless eighth, he allowed another run in the ninth on a Kosuke Fukudome double that followed two walks, Miller’s mortal enemy this season and throughout his career. The southpaw labored through 71 pitches over 2 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, the two walks and a hit batsman while striking out four.

– Varitek may have entered the game on a five-game hitting streak, but he was striking out at a one-strikeout-per-three-at-bats clip entering Thursday. That rate was certainly not helped by his three K’s in four at-bats. Neither was the hitting streak, which met its abrupt end, as Varitek finished 0-for-4.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

– The biggest thing to take away from Bedard’s debut was his impressive control. The lefty had walked four batters in his previous start last Friday, his first since his month-long trip to the disabled list, so the zero walks he allowed Thursday were certainly an improvement. This latest outing represented the fourth time in 2011 that Bedard had successfully lasted an outing without walking a single batter but was the first since June 15.

– Adrian Gonzalez drove a high fastball from Masterson near the height of the Green Monster for an RBI double that extended his hitting streak to a season-long 14 games.

– Reddick smashed his fifth home run this season in the fourth inning to tie the game at three apiece. It was his first bomb since July 18 and his first extra-base hit of any kind since July 25.