Final: Red Sox 1, Dodgers 4 - Dodgers defeat Red Sox off an 8th inning grand slam from Freddie Freeman

Trevor's Game Notes:

Catching Fire: After winning All Star Game MVP on Tuesday, Jarren Duran continued his amazing play with two extra base hits in a game where the Red Sox couldn't find their stride offensively. Duran started the game with a leadoff hustle double off the first pitch he faced. He then followed it up later in the game with a solo home run to give Boston a brief lead. 

Besides Duran, the rest of the offense for the Red Sox was lackluster, as they went 0-11 with RISP. 

8th Inning Collapse: Nick Pivetta pitched another good game today. The starter pitched 6 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts. Despite this dominance, Cora didn't allow Pivetta to pitch past the 6th inning, replacing the starter with Zack Kelly in the 7th. The decision to take out Pivetta is definitely  questionable, but considering the Dodgers were only a run behind it makes sense to bring out fresh bullpen arms. Kelly would pitch 1.1 scoreless innings before Brennan Bernardino would get the call to face off against superstar Shohei Ohtani in a lefty-lefty scenario. Before his 8th inning at-bat, Ohtani struck out twice in this game, however, he came up clutch slicing a double to left field that put two runners in scoring position. Cora wanted another lefty-lefty matchup, so he loaded the bases and made Bernardino pitch to Freddie Freeman. The all star 1st baseman would hit a grand slam that nearly passed the right field wall to give the Dodgers their first lead of the night and close the door for the Red Sox. Closer Daniel Hudson would strike out Wilyer Abreu and convert a double play to solidify a 4-1 victory for the Dodgers.

The Red Sox will continue their series in LA at 7:15 p.m. with Brayan Bello on the mound.

WHO: Red Sox (53-42) at Los Angeles Dodgers (56-41)
WHEN: 10:10 p.m.
WHERE: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
SERIES TO DATE: (0-0)
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta (4-6, 4.18) vs. RHP Gavin Stone (9-3, 3.26)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLB Network, WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Jarren Duran (L) CF
David Hamilton (L) 2B
Tyler O'Neill (R) LF
Rafael Devers (L) 3B
Masataka Yoshida (L) DH
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Dominic Smith (L) 1B
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) SS
Reese McGuire (L) C

SP Nick Pivetta

DODGERS

Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
Will Smith (R) C
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Teoscar Hernández (R) RF
Andy Pages (R) CF
Miguel Rojas (R) SS
Gavin Lux (L) 2B
Miguel Vargas (R) LF
Chris Taylor (R) 3B

SP Gavin Stone

WHAT'S UP

At 53-42 (.558), the Red Sox posted their best record prior to the All-Star break since 2021 (55-36; .604). Boston has qualified for the Postseason in each of the last 5 seasons that they were as many as 11 games above .500 at the All-Star Break (2021, '18, '17, '16, '13).

The Red Sox are 4.5 games out of 1st place in the AL East. Entering play on 6/15, they were 14.0 games out of 1st place.

Jarren Duran and Tanner Houck represented the AL in the 2024 All-Star Game on Tuesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX. Rafael Devers was also selected to the All-Star team, but did not play. 

Duran earned the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP Award, hitting a 2-run HR in the 5th inning to give the AL a 5-3 lead. He was the 5th Red Sox to win the award, joining Carl Yastrzemski (1970), Roger Clemens (1986), Pedro Martinez (1999), and J.D. Drew (2008).

The Red Sox selected 20 players in the 2024 First-Year Player Draft from Sunday-Tuesday. Boston selected 13 pitchers (all from college), 6 position players (5 college/1 HS) and 1 two-way player (HS). With their 1st selection (No. 12 overall), the Sox picked OF Braden Montgomery out of Texas A&M University.

The Red Sox are visiting Dodger Stadium for the 1st time since clinching the 2018 World Series at the venue on 10/28/18.

Major League Baseball released next season’s regular season schedule Thursday, mapping out the 162-game journey each team (including the Red Sox) will embark on. The Red Sox open the season on the road in Texas against the Rangers on March 27th.