Matt Barnes suffered his first blown save of the season and the Red Sox saw what looked to be a comeback win turn into stinging defeat, 6-5, to the Los Angeles Angels.
After Mike Trout collected his first base hit of the series -- a blooper than fell in between three fielders -- with two out, Shohei Ohtani turned on a 97 mph fastball and deposited it into the right field seats for his second homer of the series and 12th of the season.
The Sox had two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't generate anything further.
The Sox had worked to erase a 4-0 deficit and took their first lead when Rafael Devers clubbed a three-run shot into the right field bleachers in the fifth.
WHO: Red Sox (25-16) vs. Los Angeles Angels (16-22)
WHEN: 1:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 2-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.20) vs. LHP Jose Quintana (0-3, 9.00)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS:
ANGELS
Rojas 2B
Trout CF
Ohtani DH
Rendon 3B
Walsh 1B
Ward RF
Iglesias SS
Gosselin LF
Butera C
RED SOX
Chavis 2B
Devers 3B
Martinez LF
Bogaerts DH
Renfroe CF
Dalbec 1B
Gonzalez RF
Plawecki C
Arauz SS
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T9: An out away from notching his 10th save in 10 tries, Matt Barnes gives up a two-run homer to Shohei Ohtani and the Angels re-take the lead.
T8: Matt Barnes inherits a first-and-third, two-out jam from Adam Ottavino and gets Phil Gosselin swinging to preserve the one-run lead.
T7: The middle innings have been most troublesome for the Red Sox bullpen, but today, Phillips Valdez and Josh Taylor combined for two scoreless innings, with just one baserunner from seven hitters.
B5: Angels catcher Drew Butera set up outside, but Aaron Selgers missed badly with his location, catching way too much of the plate and Rafael Devers, on an 0-and-2 pitch, drives it into the bleachers behind the visitor's bullpen. The Red Sox lead for the first time today.
B5: The drought is over! Kevin Plawecki, who invented the concept of the laundry cart ride in the dugout after homers but hadn't hit one himself since, clears everything in left and finally takes his first ride.
T5: Nice play by J.D. Martinez, who field a single off the Wall and fires home to easily nab Shohei Ohtani at the plate.
B3: Red Sox miss out on a golden chance to climb back into this one. After getting a run back, they had second-and-third with no out and couldn't score any more -- two strikeouts and an infield pop-up from the top three in the order.
B3: Red Sox start to break through against Quintana, with three straight hits in the third. Third base coach Carlos Febles was waving Kevin Plawecki home, but Plawecki decided against it -- wisely, as he would have been easy out at the plate.
T2: This one is quickly threatening to get away from the Red Sox. A bloop double to right from Taylor Ward and a line single to left from Drew Butera produce three runs and the Angels are up 4-0
T2: Angels making solid contact against Nathan Eovaldi in the second, with three straight hits and a run.
T1: Mike Trout, who seemingly never hits well at Fenway, is 0-for-7 with two walks and three strikeouts in the series.
WHAT'S UP: At 25-16 (.610), the Red Sox have MLB’s best record...They are also nine games above .500 (also 22-13 on 5/9).... The Red Sox have won each of their last 3 games...The Sox lead the majors in come-from-behind wins (16)....The Red Sox have begun 36 consecutive days in sole possession of first place in the AL East (4/11-5/16)...They moved into 1st on 4/10 and have been there ever since...Their largest lead of the season is 3.5 games....The Red Sox’ plus-46 run differential ranks third in the AL and fourth in the majors...They have won nine games by five or more runs, tied for second-most in MLB. The Sox have lost only two games by five or more runs...The Red Sox lead MLB in runs (212), doubles (92), extra-base hits (146), slugging (.445), and OPS (.772)...They also rank second behind the Astros in AVG (.264). The Sox have 24 HR in their last 15 games, tied with Toronto for most in MLB during that time...: The Sox are out-homering their opponents, 51-29 (+22)...That is the largest difference in the AL and 2nd-largest in the majors (STL, +24)...Sox pitchers have allowed an AL-best 0.72 homers per nine innings....They have allowed multiple home runs only seven times this season, including in only one of their last 13 games. The Sox are the only team yet to allow three homers in a game...Xander Bogaerts (52) and J.D. Martinez (51) rank first and second in the majors in hits...Bogaerts (92) and Martinez (91) also rank first and second in total bases. Martinez is tied for the MLB lead in RBI (33) and leads the AL in runs scored (32) ...Bogaerts ranks second n the majors in AVG (.354), trailing only the White Sox’ Yermin Mercedes (.361). Bogaerts also ranks among the top five in MLB in SLG (5th, .626), OPS (4th, 1.039), doubles (T-3rd, 13), and extra-base hits (T-3rd, 22)....The Red Sox are 12-3 against the Angels since the start of 2018, including 7-2 at Fenway...The Red Sox have allowed four runs or fewer in each of their last seven games, their longest streak of 2021... They rank sixth in the AL and 12th in the majors in ERA (3.75), after posting a 5.58 ERA in 2020...Sox starters have thrown six or more innings in each of the last five games and in seven of the last nine..In those nine games, Sox starters have a 2.55 ERA....In the club’s last 20 games, Sox starters have a 3.33 ERA with 0.55 HR/9.0 IP....Sox starters have thrown five or more innings in 34 games this season, tied with the Dodgers for most in the majors...Nathan Eovaldi has not allowed a homer in his last 58.0 IP, MLB’s longest active homerless streak. Eovaldi is the only qualified pitcher to not allow a HR in 2021...He has faced 239 batters since his last HR.
NOTES:
* Kike Hernandez deserved as DH for Worcester Saturday and had four plate appearances. He's set to play the outfield for seven innings Sunday and is expected to join the team on its upcoming road trip. Meanwhile, Christian Arroyo will get treatment in Worcester the next few days and is expected to take batting practice starting Wednesday.
* The Red Sox reinstated RHP Garrett Whitlock from the IL-Covid related list and optioned RHP back to Triple A Worcester.