Red Sox Notes: Ranger Suarez injury clouds Angels sweep

The Red Sox started their West Coast stop in Anaheim with a three-game sweep of the Angels, extending their recent surge before the All-Star break.

Willson Contreras and Jarren Duran paced the offense, combining for two home runs and five RBI in Boston’s 7-5 victory Sunday night. The sweep marked the Red Sox’ first in Anaheim since 2018.

The victory came at a cost, as the Red Sox may have lost another member of their starting rotation to injury.

Ranger Suarez exited in the third inning after experiencing left adductor and groin tightness. Suarez left with two outs after allowing a ground-ball single to Jo Adell.

After the game, Suarez said he first felt the injury while making a defensive play earlier in the inning. He attempted to pitch through it, but the discomfort intensified on his next throw, prompting the Red Sox to remove him as a precaution.

"Felt a big pinch around the groin area," Suarez said through interpreter Daveson Pérez. "Tried to throw another pitch, but still felt it. So I came out."

Suarez needed 53 pitches (37 strikes) to get through 2 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out five without issuing a walk.

The Angels grabbed their first lead of the series early, but it didn’t last long.

Boston answered immediately, an encouraging sign for a club that entered the night just 12-34 when its opponent scored first. Masataka Yoshida lined a one-out single in the second before Duran crushed his 13th home run of the season, a 422-foot blast to straightaway center that tied the game at 2-2.

Los Angeles reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Logan O’Hoppe opened the frame with a single before Josh Lowe reached on a fielder’s choice. Lowe then stole second and came around to score on Zach Neto’s RBI double, giving the Angels a 3-2 advantage.

It would be the last time the Angels led. 

Tsung-Che Cheng sparked Boston’s third-inning rally with a leadoff single, and Wilyer Abreu reached on a two-out error by Neto to keep the inning alive.

That’s when Contreras delivered the biggest swing of the night.

The veteran first baseman hammered the first pitch he saw from Ryan Johnson, a 90.2 mph sinker, 446 feet into the left-center field seats at 112.2 mph off the bat, giving the Red Sox a 5-3 lead they would never relinquish.

The homer was Contreras’ 20th of the season, marking the seventh 20-homer campaign of his 11-year career. It also matched his 2025 home run total and moved him within four of tying his career high of 24, set in 2019.

Contreras continues to make a compelling case as one of baseball’s biggest All-Star snubs. He’s batting .284 with a .920 OPS, and his 18 multi-RBI games are tied with the Dodgers’ Andy Pages for the most in Major League Baseball.

“He played a heck of a series,” Chad Tracy said of his first baseman. 

Contreras’ outstanding season continued despite his surprising omission from the American League All-Star roster, at least for now. The veteran first baseman has done everything possible to make himself a strong replacement candidate.

Boston added some much-needed breathing room in the seventh inning. Anthony Seigler and Ceddanne Rafaela opened the frame with back-to-back singles before executing a double steal against reliever Chase Silseth. Abreu followed with a sacrifice fly, and Yoshida lined an RBI single to center to extend the Red Sox’ lead.

Outside of Carlos Narváez, who finished 0-for-4 as his offensive struggles continued, every Red Sox starter reached base at least once.

Boston collected 10 hits, drew three walks and went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position while leaving seven men on base. Narváez’s bases-loaded strikeout to end the seventh prevented the Red Sox from turning the game into a complete rout.

The bullpen picked up the slack after Suarez’s early departure and was outstanding.

Greg Weissert (1 1/3 innings), Tyron Guerrero (2 innings) and Garrett Whitlock (1 inning) combined to keep the Angels hitless from the moment Suarez exited with two outs in the third through the end of the seventh, giving the offense plenty of time to put the game away.

“We were very, very fresh down there,” Tracy said of the bullpen, “with an off-day (Monday), which helps. But they were phenomenal having to pitch from the third inning on, and they did an outstanding job.”

The Angels finally broke through against Boston’s bullpen in the eighth inning. Donovan Walton delivered a pinch-hit, two-out double before Adell followed with an RBI single to trim the deficit. Justin Slaten, however, prevented the inning from snowballing by striking out pinch-hitter Wade Meckler swinging to end the threat.

Aroldis Chapman, who became Major League Baseball’s all-time strikeout leader among relievers in Friday’s series opener, surrendered a two-out solo homer to Neto in the ninth but closed out the 7-5 victory to secure Boston’s first sweep in Anaheim since 2018.

The save was the 385th of Chapman’s career, leaving him just five shy of tying Red Sox legend Dennis Eckersley for ninth place on MLB’s all-time saves list.

Despite the sweep, the Red Sox left Anaheim with a major question surrounding the health of Suarez.

Boston is already awaiting a second opinion on Connelly Early’s injured elbow, and losing Suarez for any length of time would further test the club’s pitching depth. Patrick Sandoval appears close to completing his rehab assignment and is the leading candidate to step into the rotation, while Brayan Bello remains at Triple-A Worcester continuing to refine his mechanics.

The Red Sox improved to 40-48, capping an impressive 8-2 stretch over their last 10 games. Boston is off Monday before opening a three-game series against the White Sox on Tuesday night. Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett are the scheduled starters for the first two games, while Thursday’s finale has yet to be announced.

More on Early

Early’s status remains one of the biggest concerns facing the Red Sox.

The southpaw underwent an MRI that revealed elbow inflammation and, according to Tracy, the club received “some good news.” Even so, the rookie left-hander is headed for a second opinion with renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, a development that rarely eases concerns.

If Early is forced to miss significant time, Sandoval appears increasingly likely to make his long-awaited Red Sox debut.

Sandoval, 29, tossed five scoreless innings for Double-A Portland on Saturday and has reached the end of his 30-day rehab assignment. His recovery from the internal brace procedure he underwent in 2024 has been a lengthy one, slowed by a handful of minor setbacks, but he’s now on the verge of returning to a major league mound.

Across eight rehab appearances, Sandoval posted a 3.42 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 13 walks.

The Red Sox wanted to see how Sandoval recovered from Saturday’s outing before making a decision on activating him. With both Early and Suarez now dealing with injuries, however, it appears even more likely Sandoval will finally make his Red Sox debut.

Boston signed the left-hander to a two-year, $18.25 million contract before the 2025 season, but he has yet to throw a pitch for the club while working his way back from surgery.

Suarez IL-Bound?

Suarez is no stranger to the injured list.

Since the start of the 2022 season, the left-hander has made five trips to the IL, three of which came because of back issues while he was with the Phillies. His only previous lower-body injury came in August 2023, when he missed roughly two weeks with a right hamstring strain.

The timing couldn’t be much worse for the Red Sox.

Boston’s rotation is already dealing with uncertainty after Early’s elbow injury. If Suarez is forced to miss significant time, the Red Sox would suddenly have two openings in a rotation that has been the club’s biggest strength over the past month.

Losing Suarez would be a significant blow for a team that has finally begun climbing out of the hole it dug early in the season. Boston enters the week just 4.5 games out of an American League Wild Card spot, and Suarez has been a driving force behind the rotation’s resurgence.

Over 16 starts, the left-hander owns a 2.94 ERA across 88 2/3 innings with a 25.5% strikeout rate and a 7.2% walk rate, all better than league average. His 2.8 fWAR ranks 10th among qualified major league starters, underscoring just how valuable he’s been to Boston’s turnaround.

It’s also unclear whether the injury could affect Suarez’s availability for next week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia. The left-hander, however, made it clear after Sunday’s game that his priority isn’t the Midsummer Classic.

His focus is on getting healthy and back on the mound as quickly as possible for the Red Sox’s playoff push.

"No, not thinking about that," Suarez said. "For me, the most important thing is just to be as healthy as possible for the second half. So no, not thinking about anything other than that."

The Red Sox have not yet determined whether Suarez will require a stint on the injured list or undergo an immediate MRI. Instead, the club plans to use Monday’s scheduled off day to see how the groin responds to treatment before deciding on the next course of action.

"I don't have a feel on it yet," Tracy said, regarding a potential IL decision. "Things like that pop up and then you check the next day and they get better quick. It's hard to say right now until we see how he feels coming out of it tomorrow. With an off-day, we'll be able to check back on him."

Roman Anthony Sees New Doctor

The Red Sox are also seeking additional reassurance on Roman Anthony’s lingering hand injury.

The outfielder will travel to