All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Angels, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
A mixed afternoon for ERod. In the first inning, Eduardo Rodriguez fell victim to some bad luck, as the Angels used an assortment of end-of-the-bat hits and well-placed, soft bloopers to amass three hits and grab a quick 2-0 lead. That was emblematic of Rodriguez's season, who, time and again, has given up seeing-eye hits and bleeders through the infield. His ERA is about two-runs higher than his FIP, the most obvious evidence of the tough luck he's suffered through. But if Rodriguez was almost blameless for the first two runs, that certainly wasn't the case in the fifth when, in the span of a few pitches, he allowed consecutive solo homers to Shohei Ohtani and Jared Walsh. On the first, Rodriguez left a changeup; on the second, he failed to locate his cutter properly. Those two runs were particularly ill-timed since they came immediately after the Red Sox had rallied to tie the game in the top of the inning with two runs of their own. The Sox will need a better Rodriguez in the second half.
Sox again miss out on chances: In losing to the Angels and Ohtani Tuesday night, the Sox were a woeful 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Wednesday wasn't quite that bad, as they went 4-for-13. But time and again, the Sox seemed poised for a big inning, but then failed to come up with the big hit at the right time. That was never more true than in the eighth when the Sox got a gift, sun-aided triple from J.D. Martinez and a follow-up double from Xander Bogaerts to bring them within a run. But with Bogaerts in scoring position and no out, the Sox wasted the prime scoring opportunity as Rafael Devers popped up, Hunter Renfroe fanned, and Christian Arroyo hit a rocket up the middle that was gloved behind the second base bag in shallow center by David Fletcher, who then threw Arroyo out to end the threat
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox appeared to be the victims of a bad umpiring call -- and a worse review -- in the sixth inning. Trailing by a run. the Sox had runners at first-and-second with one out when Christian Vazquez hit a ball to second baseman David Fletcher. .Fletcher flipped the ball to shortstop Jose Iglesias who came gliding past the second base bag before firing to first to retire Vazquez on an inning-ending double play. Arroyo immediately called to the dugout to review the play, believing that Iglesias failed to touch the second base bag. Indeed, replays revealed that Iglesias never came closer than a few inches from the bag, but incredibly, on the replay challenge, the call on the field was upheld. Instead of having baserunners at second and third with two out, the Sox were out of the inning.
TWO UP
Garrett Whitlock: Called on to keep the Sox within a run in the eighth, Whitlock blew away the Angels, fanning the side and needing just 13 pitches to do so.
Xander Bogaerts: Bogaerts banged out three hits -- including two doubles -- as he began a new on-base streak.
TWO DOWN
Kike Hernandez: In this one, Hernandez was unable to generate any offense at the top of the order, striking out twice at the top of the order and chasing some bad pitches in doing so.
Rafael Devers: This was a rare off-day at the plate for the slugging third baseman, who was 0-for-4 and stranded a total of four teammates in his final three at-bats.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Anytime we lose a series, we're disappointed.'' -- Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* J.D. Martinez extended his on-base streak to 25 straight games, the longest active streak in the big leagues.
* The Red Sox have lost only six games in which they scored four or more runs -- two of them came in the last five games on this trip.
* The Sox have had five losing series on the road all season and three have them come against AL West opponents - Texas, Houston and Anaheim.
* Before Wednesday, Red Sox starters had allowed just one homer in the previous six games. Then, Eduardo Rodriguez allowed two in the span of two at-bats in the fifth inning.
UP NEXT: The Red Sox are off Thursday and start the final series of the first half Friday at 7:10 when they host the Philadelphia Phillies. RHP Garrett Richards (4-5, 4.88) vs. RHP Vince Velazquez (3-3, 4.50)