Langston began his dominance in the top of the first inning as Billy Hatcher took strike three to start. Carlos Quintana went down swinging and Mike Greenwell grounded out to second to end the inning. Viola started strong in the bottom of the first as Luis Polonia grounded out to first to start. Chad Curtis grounded out to third and Tim Salmon struck out swinging to end the inning.
Andre Dawson grounded out to third to start the top of the second before Ivan Calderon popped up to short. John Valentin fanned to end the inning. The Angels struck first in the bottom of the second although Gary Gaetti grounded out to third to begin. JT Snow singled and Rene Gonzalez was hit with a pitch before Damion Easley singled home Snow to give the Angels the lead. A ball got away from catcher Tony Pena and Gonzalez tried for home but Pena recovered to gun him down going back to third. Gary DiSarcina popped up to short to end the inning with the Angels ahead 1-0.
Langston cruised in the top of the third as Scott Cooper flied out to center to start. Tony Pena grounded out to third before Luis Rivera popped up to short to end the inning. Viola hung tough in the bottom of the both as John Orton lined out to left to start. Polonia singled to center but Curtis grounded out to third. Salmon flied out to left to end the inning.
Nothing happened in the top of the fourth as Hatcher struck out swinging to start. Quintana grounded out to second but Greenwell doubled to right. Dawson flied out to right to end the inning. Gaetti flied out to right to open the bottom of the fourth but Snow singled to center. Gonzales hit into a double play to end the inning.
Langston dominated the top of the fifth as Calderon grounded out to third to begin. Valentin took strike three before Cooper lined out to left to end the inning. Easley flied out to center to begin the bottom of the fifth before DiSarcina grounded back to the mound. Orton flied out to right to end the inning.
The scoreless streak continued in the top of the sixth as Pena popped up to second to start. Rivera popped up to first and Hatcher grounded out to short to end the inning. 24 consecutive scoreless innings by the Sox offense.
The Angels knocked Viola out in the bottom of the sixth as Polonia beat out an infield single and swiped second. Curtis singled Polonia to third then swiped second himself. Salmon singled home both runners and Gaetti hit a routine grounder to Viola. Frank turned and fired the ball into his own dugout to wake up the sleeping Butch Hobson for an error to score Salmon and send Gaetti to second. Gaetti took third on a grounder by Snow before Gonzalez walked to chase Viola. Frank was due for a stinker and this was it, allowing 4 runs in 5 1/3 innings. Greg Harris came in and Easley popped up to left and DiSarcina flied out to center to end the inning with the Angels up 4-0.
The Sox continued to scuffle in the top of the seventh inning as Quintana lined out to center to begin. Greenwell took strike three and Dawson lined out to third to end the inning. Orton popped up to right to start the bottom of the seventh before Polonia grounded out to second. Curtis was plunked and stole second...but was picked off to end the inning.
Calderon had the unmitigated audacity to draw a walk to open the top of the eighth inning but Valentin banged into a double play. Cooper whiffed to end the inning. Jeff Russell came in for the bottom of the eighth just to get some work in and he blew away Salmon to start. Gaetti whiffed and Snow flied out to center to end the inning.
Somehow the Sox rallied in the top of the ninth although Pena grounded out to second to start. Bob Zupcic pinch hit for Rivera and doubled to left but Hatcher lined out to center. A balk moved Zupcic to third and Greenwell singled him home to break the scoreless streak at 26 innings. Greenwell flied out to left to end the game. The Sox had dropped it 4-1.
Jackass of the Night is Frank Viola. He lasted just 5 1/3 innings and allowed 4 runs to take his first loss of the season.
The Good:
Bob Zupcic was 1 for 1 with a run scored.
Greg Harris tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Jeff Russell tossed a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Billy Hatcher was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Andre Dawson was 0 for 3.
John Valentin was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Scott Cooper was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Tony Pena was 0 for 3.
Luis Rivera was 0 for 2.
The Ugly:
Carlos Quintana was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Mike Greenwell was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ivan Calderon was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Looks like the first two weeks of the season was just a flim flam after the Boston offense has fallen apart in the last 3 days. The Sox have scored exactly one run in 27 innings and looked lifeless against Randy Johnson, Chris Bosio and now Mark Langston. Not that Danny Darwin, Viola and Joe Hesketh were outstanding, but they didn't even have a chance with no run support. Hopefully the Sox can right the ship because they were doing so well the first two weeks of the season. Getting Scott Fletcher back will help but he's not going to help THAT much if they can't generate much offense. Tomorrow the Sox look to finally score some runs when they send John Dopson to the mound up against Scott Lewis at 10:05 PM Eastern Time at Anaheim Stadium.
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