Six outs away from their fourth straight win which would have moved them to within 4.5 games of the second wild-card spot, the Red Sox instead folded miserably in the eighth, allowing seven runs to turn a one-run lead into a six-run deficit and a crushing 10-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
Ryan Brasier faced eight hits and allowed five hits. Josh Smith inherited two runners from Brasier and promptly allowed a three-run homer to Albert Pujols. The blown save was the 25th for the Red Sox bullpen this season and second in as many nights.
J.D. Martinez knocked in two runs and Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi delivered one each. But the Red Sox didn't score after the fourth inning.
WHO: Red Sox (73-62) vs. Los Angeles Angels (64-72)
WHEN: 9:07 p.m.
WHERE: Angel Stadium
SERIES TO DATE: Boston 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Boston 3-2
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Josh Taylor (1-1, 3.15) vs. LHP Dillon Peters (3-2, 4.11)
TV/RADIO: NESN/ WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS
12:20 Ryan Brasier suffers through one of the worst innings for a Red Sox reliever this year. Entrusted with a one-run lead, he allows five hits and four runs.
12:19 Brasier's poor inning continues - line drive double to left by David Fletcher,
12:14 Three straight singles off Ryan Brasier -- the last of which from Andrelton Simmons -- produces a run and a tie game. That's blown save No. 26 for the Red Sox bullpen and second in as many nights.
12:03 Costly squander - Red Sox load the bases with one out, but Brock Holt grounds into an inning-ending double play.
11:21 For the second night in a row, the Red Sox offense has shut down in the middle innings. One hit over the last three innings.
11:03 To his credit, Johnson has settled in nicely, retiring the last seven in a row after allowing three doubles to the first five hitters he faced.
10:40 Sandy Leon knows how to get a bunt down. Sox don't do it much, but it's nice to have someone who can execute a sacrifice on occasion.
10:35 Luis Rengifo. See below.
10:32 Brian Johnson isn't going to get anybody out throwing 91 mph fastballs over the heart of the plate. Calhoun ropes a first-pitch double into the corner, scoring Albert Pujols. Johnson has to work the outer edges of the zone to stay out of trouble.
10:21 Andrew Benintendi stays on a breaking ball and drives it to right, scoring Martinez and sending Sam Travis to third.
10:16 Martinez can't be stopped, shooting a single up the middle to knock in Betts, giving him 17 RBI in the first seven games on this road trip.
9:45 It takes a staggering 31 pitches to get out of it, but Taylor leaves the bases loaded, freezing Justin Upton with a full-count fastball and retiring Calhoun on a flyout to left.
9:39 Rocky start for Josh Taylor, who is working at a slower pace and, as was the case Friday night, is having trouble finding the strike zone. He's walked two of the first four hitters he's faced.
9:18 Spectacular attempt by Kole Calhoun, who lays out in an attempt to take extra bases away from J.D. Martinez. But as he hits the ground, the ball pops free, giving Martinez a run-scoring double and the Red Sox a quick 1-0 lead.
LINEUPS:
RED SOX
Betts CF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez RF
Travis DH
Benintendi LF
Vazquez 1B
Holt 2B
Leon C
ANGELS
Fletcher 3B
Trout CF
Goodwin LF
Pujols 1B
Upton DH
Calhoun RF
Simmons SS
Rengifo 2B
Smith C
WHAT'S UP: The Sox have won five of six and 10 of 13...The win was their second-longest game of the season, lasting 15 innings and the third-longest in terms of time elapsed (5:23)...The Sox have played a league-high 14 extra-inning games..They're 9-5 in those 14 games, including 6-1 on the road.... and They've won seven of their last eight on the road and are 36-18 away from Fenway since their initial 13 games (3-10)...The win left the Sox 11 games over .500, one their season high...They were 12 games over at 59-47 on July 28....Mookie Betts became the only player in MLB history to lead off a game with a homer, then hit another homer in the 15th inning or later...In the process, Betts also extended his franchise record of leadoff homers to 18, most homers as a leadoff hitter (104) and multi-homer game as a leadoff hitter (12)….The only players who have had more multi-homer games in the leadoff spot are Alfonso Soriano (19), Brady Anderson (14) and Bobby Bonds (13)...In the six games on the road trip so far, J.D. Martinez has five homers and 15 RBI....In the last 34 games, Martinez leads the majors in homers (14), batting average (.393), on-base percentage (.462), slugging percentage (.785) and OPS (1.247) and is second in RBI (39)….The Sox have homered in each of their last 19 games, matching the second-longest streak in franchise history (19 in 1996); the franchise record is 22 straight in 2016...They have three or more homers in each of the last three games....The Sox have also homered in 31 of the last 32 games and 52 of the last 56...The Sox are on pace to hit 256, which would easily topple the franchise mark of 236 set in 2003...The Red Sox lead all major league teams in doubles with 303 and rank second in average (.275), OBP (.346), extra-base hits (541). They're third in runs (781) and fourth in OPS (.827)...Andrew Benintendi has a four-game hitting streak...Sandy Leon is hitless in his last 11 at-bats....Martinez has hit safely in seven straight and has 10 homes and 27 RBI in the month of August.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- The Red Sox announced that they signed free agent RHP Jhoulys Chacin to a minor league contract. Chacin threw in front of Alex Cora and Dave Dombrowski in a workout Friday in Anaheim. He was released earlier this month by Milwaukee after going 3-10 with a 5.79 ERA. As recently as last year, he was 15-8 with a 3.50 ERA. The year before that, he was 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA for San Diego. In 11 big league seasons -- he also pitched for Colorado, Arizona, Atlanta and the Dodgers - he's 77-85 with a 4.00 ERA.
- The Sox will apparently add five players from Pawtucket when rosters expand Sunday: catcher Juan Centeno; outfielder Gorkys Hernandez; and pitchers Hector Velazquez, Travis Lakins, and Ryan Weber.