Hardcore fans of this blog will note that I have rarely written about losses by the Red Sox (54-33 overall, 27-16 away) this season, not only because they have been few and far between but since it is hard to make a loss in baseball remotely interesting to read about. Tonight was one of those rare occasions where a 5-3 loss by Boston to the Angels (43-42 overall, 25-20 home) at Angel Stadium of Anaheim nevertheless was headline news. The most exciting thing to happen to the sport in years-Shohei Ohtani (4-1)-was the starting pitcher for LA and he also batted second in the Angels' lineup. The man who is the first player ever to be named a two-way All-Star (pitcher and hitter) in the same season went seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts to earn the win. He also had an RBI double and scored a run, haha is that all?
On paper, it looked like an awesome matchup since the Red Sox had won 10 of their last 11 games and they had their own All-Star starting pitcher-Nathan Eovaldi (9-5)-opposing Ohtani. Eovaldi has been really great in his last few outings (part of the reason that he was a bit of a surprise first-time All-Star) but that was not the case this evening as he allowed three runs in the first inning and he could never really get into a groove. Boston only had one brief lead all game: designated hitter J.D. Martinez drove in center fielder Kike Hernandez with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Ohtani and the Angels responded right away as he knocked in second baseman David Fletcher (4-for-4 with 2 doubles) with that RBI double then his catcher Max Stassi hit a two-run homer (his 6th of the season) to left field to score his batterymate.
From there, Ohtani efficiently (89 pitches) started to mow down the Sox until Martinez hit an RBI single in the sixth inning that scored catcher Connor Wong and cut LA's lead to 3-2. Boston could have taken a 4-3 lead in that frame but center fielder Juan Lagares robbed Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts of what would have been a two-run bomb to right center. Just like in the first inning, the Angels answered with a pair of runs in the sixth: former Red Sox great Jose Iglesias drove in a run with a ground out then Stassi scored on an infield single by Fletcher. Los Angeles' set-up man Michael Mayers pitched a scoreless eighth inning for his 11th hold of the season before Angels closer Raisel Iglesias struck out two in the ninth inning as he recorded his 17th save of the season. The other Sox run came on right fielder Hunter Renfroe's solo shot off Iglesias (his 13th of the season) with two outs in the ninth.
The Red Sox conclude their six-game trip to California tomorrow afternoon (4:07, NESN) with Eduardo Rodriguez (6-4) facing crappy lefty Andrew Heaney (4-6). No more late night start times for awhile! After winning two of three games over the weekend in Oakland (49-38), Boston has gone 3-2 on this West Coast swing so ending it with one last victory going into a much-deserved day off on Thursday would be sweet. E-Rod has been much better in his last two starts, giving the club hope that he is finally regaining his stellar form of a few years ago.
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