All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-1 win over the Angels, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Bradley Jr. is officially on a scorching-hot streak: Since seeing his batting average drop to .178 after Saturday's game, Jackie Bradley Jr. has been on fire. He went 3 for 3 with three singles on Sunday. On Monday, he added a little pop in a 3-for-4 night with a double in the second, home run in the third and an RBI single in the seventh. His average is now .199 – a 21-point jump in two days. Bradley has seen his average hit .200 (and no higher) during just two days since April. "Keeping it simple," said Alex Cora. "He’s seeing the ball a lot better. Good to see him going the other way and up the middle. Some good situational hitting there. Second and third, he goes the other way. And then the homer, obviously, that’s a good sign. I keep repeating myself. He’s been swinging the bat well for three weeks."
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1011772240524992512
Price continues his lengthy hot streak: David Price allowed just one run on six hits with seven strikeouts to run his streak of allowing three runs or fewer to nine-straight starts (7-1, 2.72 ERA). He was able to add a backdoor cutter — without throwing it in the bullpen or warmups — to his repertoire against right-handers during the game. "He’s been good for a while," Cora said. "Fastballs inside, outside, up in the zone. ... He executed."
The Sox own the Angels: The beatings continued in the second matchup between the two teams. After sweeping the Angels in Anaheim in April, the Sox kept it going in the opener at Fenway and now are 4-0 by a combined 36-4 score against the Angels. The Sox have outhit them 57 to 19 in those games. and have at least 14 hits in each of the four wins.
TURNING POINT
After Chris Young's home run made it 4-1 in the third inning, Price seemed to be cruising when he struck out Michael Hermosillo to make it two outs with the bases empty. But back-to-back singles to Ian Kinsler and Mike Trout, and then a walk to Justin Upton as Price battled sudden wildness, and the Angels threatened to make it a game with the bases loaded. But after a visit by pitching coach Dana LeVangie, Price settled down and got Albert Pujols to bounce out to shortstop. "It was good," Price said. "To get two outs and then single, single, walk and to face Pujols in that situation where he’s one swing away from tying the game at that point — against a guy who’s swung the ball against me really well, hit balls hard — to get that ground ball was big.
TWO UP
Christian Vazquez: Hit his second-straight home run on the first pitch of an at-bat and has batted .311 in his last 45 at-bats.
Mookie Betts: Hit the first pitch of the first inning for a home run, his 20th of the season. "Finally, huh? That was cool," Cora said. "That’s his first hit of the season on the first pitch in the first inning." Betts also made a nice running catch of a possible extra-base hit in the next inning.
Bullpen: Heath Hembree, Brandon Workman, and emergency callup Justin Haley each worked perfect innings in relief of Price. They threw a combined 44 pitches.
ONE DOWN
Rafael Devers: Was the only starter not to record a hit in the game.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"They understand transactions and decisions that we made. He understands that we trust him, not only as a defensive player but we know that offensively, he’s a lot better than he showed earlier in the season and he was going to make adjustments and be a lot more consistent than what he showed. It got to a point there where it wasn’t pretty, obviously."
— Cora, on Bradley's recent turnaround from possibly being demoted.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The Red Sox' last five wins have come by a combined 30 runs.
- Boston has hit .344 and scored an average of 7.8 runs in its past five games.
- Red Sox have allowed just one run in the last 20.0 innings (0.45 ERA).
- Boston leads the league with six players (Benintendi, Betts, Bogaerts, Devers, Martinez, Moreland) with 40-plus RBI.
- Bradley is batting .381 in his last 15 games at Fenway.
- Betts has hit three-straight homers to the opposite field. Just four of his previous 95 went the other way.
- Martinez's 24 homers are tied for the most by a Sox hitter ever through the month of June, joining Ted Williams (1960), Joe Canseco and Mo Vaughn (1996), and Manny Ramirez (2001).
- Moreland extended his hitting streak to eight games (.419).