FINAL: Los Angeles Dodgers 7, Red Sox 6 (11) - Jansen Blows Save, Will Smith Walks It Off In Eleventh

The Red Sox (53-44) lose the opening series of the second half to the Los Angeles Dodgers (58-41), with a 7-6 walk off loss in extra innings.

The Sox' offense was lead by two players tonight, those being Jarren Duran and Tyler O'Neill. Duran got the Sox on the board with a two run double in the fifth inning, and O'Neill would hit two two-run home runs in the seventh and tenth innings. Ceddanne Rafaela would have two hits himself, and Connor Wong, Romy Gonzales, and Wilyer Abreu all doubled for Boston.

Brayan Bello got the start on the hill tonight, and it was a good one against the powerhouse lineup of the Dodgers. He pitched six full innings, allowing three runs on five hits, and he struck out seven batters. He gave up a solo home run to Gavin Lux in the bottom of the second to open the scoring, and would give up two more runs in the sixth on a Teoscar Hernandez single and an Andy Pages sacrifice fly. Cam Booser would pitch an inning of no hit ball, and Josh Winckowski got himself out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth with a 1-2-3 double play. Kenley Jansen would come in to close the game, but gave up a solo home run to Kiké Hernandez, which tied the game. Greg Weissert would attempt to close the game in the tenth, but would also blow that save, giving up an RBI double from Pages, and an RBI single from Hernandez. He would stay in the game for the eleventh, and he would load the bases with a walk of Chris Taylor and an intentional walk of Shohei Ohtani. Will Smith would be the Dodgers hero tonight, as he floated a single into left center field to bring the winning run across the plate.

My Player of the Game: Tyler O'Neill - O'Neill went 2-5 with four RBI, and both of his hits being home runs. He was a big part of why the Red Sox were able to stay in the game throughout.

Boston will try to avoid a sweep tomorrow night on Sunday Night Baseball, with first pitch at 7:00 p.m. sharp. Probable pitchers are Kutter Crawford (6-7, 3.04 ERA) and James Paxton (7-2, 4.38 ERA).
                                                                                                                                                                                                                       _____________________________________

WHO: Red Sox (53-43) at Los Angeles Dodgers (57-41)
WHEN: 7:15 p.m.
WHERE: Dodger Stadium
SERIES TO DATE: 0-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Brayan Bello (10-5, 5.32 ERA) vs. LHP Justin Wrobleski (0-1, 6.30 ERA)
TV/RADIO: FOX, WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Rob Refsnyder RF
Jarren Duran LF
Tyler O'Neill DH
Rafael Devers 3B
Connor Wong C
Romy Gonzales SS
Jamie Westbrook 2B
Dominic Smith 1B
Ceddanne Rafaela CF

SP Brayan Bello

OPPONENT

Shohei Ohtani DH
Will Smith C
Freddie Freeman 1B
Teoscar Hernandez LF
Andy Pages RF
Miguel Rojas SS
Gavin Lux 2B
James Outman CF
Chris Taylor 3B

SP Justin Wrobleski

WHAT'S UP

The Red Sox lost yesterday's game 4-1, after Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 4-1 lead, which would be the final score. Jarren Duran hit a solo home run in the fifth to put up the one Sox run.

Boston has won 7 of their last 9 road games and 11 of their last 14...Their 29-18 (.617) road record is 2nd best in MLB behind BAL (29-16, .644). They lead MLB in road ERA (3.29)...On offense, BOS ranks 2nd in the AL in road AVG (.255) and OBP (.322).

The Red Sox have trailed in 19 of their last 36 wins (52.8%), compared to just 2 of their first 17 (11.8%). The Sox have won despite trailing after 7 innings 5 times in their last 14 such games (previously 0-28).

In Interleague play, BOS owns MLB’s most all-time wins and best record (328-236; .582). BOS is 20-15 vs. NL teams this year...They're 7-4-1 in Interleague series, including 3-2-0 on the road.

The Sox have recorded 10+ hits in 36 games, 3rd-most in the AL (HOU-43, MIN-38)...They're an MLB-best 33-3 (.917) when recording 10+ hits (21-0 in last 21 such games).

Red Sox rookies lead the majors in HR (25), RBI (102), stolen bases (42), SLG (.431), and OPS (.733) (min. 20 PA)...Rookies have recorded 849 plate appearances for Boston, 2nd-most in the majors behind DET (856) and 119 PA ahead of the next-highest team (STL: 730).