All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Angels, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES:
Ohtani derails winning streak: The Red Sox had already seen Shohei Ohtani at his best last month at Fenway, when he threw seven scoreless innings against them in a win for Los Angeles. That pitching line doesn't quite do the outing justice, since Ohtani recorded 29 swing-and-misses against the Sox, an almost unheard of total. It was enough for Alex Cora to declare it the best pitched game against the Sox in the last two seasons. But Thursday night, while he wasn't quite as dominant on the mound, he was plenty good enough, limiting the Sox to just one run over seven innings. He more than made up for it, however, by what he did at the plate. After striking out his first two at-bats, he swatted a two-run homer off Nick Pivetta in the fifth inning, turning what had been a 1-0 Red Sox lead into a 2-1 Angels advantage. Los Angeles, which hadn't won in the last two weeks, never trailed again.
Pivetta runs out of gas: Other than the two-run homer by Ohtani, Nick Pivetta made few mistakes over the first five innings. He pitched out of difficulty on a few occasions, working out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, with some help by some horrid baserunning on the part of the slumping Angels. He racked up 11 strikeouts through the first five innings -- a season high -- but with the number of whiffs, combined with the second inning mess, his pitch count soared. In the sixth, he seemed to have hit something of a wall when he began the inning with two consecutive walks -- the first of the night for him. That was a signal to Cora that Pivetta was done at 97 pitches.
TURNING POINT
The Angels led 2-1 in the sixth inning when Hirokazu Sawamura inherited two baserunners from starter Nick Pivetta. Sawamura retired the first two hitters he faced -- one on a fielder's choice and another on a strikeout -- and was ahead of Andrew Velazquez with a 1-and-2 count. Sawamura had gotten the infielder to swing through two straight split-finger fastballs, but oddly decided to go with a fastball. Worse, he didn't get the pitch high enough in the zone, leaving it over the middle. Velazquez, who fanned in all three of his other plate appearances, drove the pitch into the right field bleachers for a three-run shot.
TWO UP
Alex Verdugo: Verdugo made a couple of fine running catches in the outfield and was the only hitter in the Sox lineup to collect two hits -- a double in the second and a single in the eighth.
Bobby Dalbec: Dalbec continues to make strides at the plate, getting a hit in the third and later producing a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
TWO DOWN
Hirokazu Sawamura: Although Pivetta was charged with the loss, it's hard not to hold Sawamura equally responsible, giving up a three-run homer -- the margin of victory -- in his one inning of work.
Rafael Devers: It was a rare off-night for the slugging first baseman, who clearly doesn't see Ohtani well. Devers fanned in each of his first two trips to the plate against him and finished 0-for-4 on the night.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I think he was great in Boston; today, he was good. To see him hit a home run while he's going out for seven inning, that's impressive. And that's why I keep saying he's the best athlete in the world. To compete at this level, the way he does at the plate and on the mound, is eye-opening.'' Alex Cora on Shohei Ohtani.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Shohei Ohtani has faced the Red Sox twice this season and has allowed just one run over 14 combined innings.
* LHP Austin Davis pitched a scoreless seventh inning, extended his streak to 11 straight appearances without allowing a run.
* The loss was the first in the month of June for the Red Sox.
* Rafael Devers (0-for-4) saw his seven-game hitting streak come to an end.
* Seven of Alex Verdugo's last 11 hits have gone for doubles.
* Bobby Dalbec has 10 RBI in his last 19 games, after driving in just four runs in his first 34 games.
UP NEXT: Finally, the Red Sox get to change venue. They'll travel up to Seattle for a three-game weekend series with the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. On Friday night, it will be LHP Rich Hill (2-3, 4.40) vs. LHP Marco Gonzales (3-6, 3.59) at 10:10 p.m.