Ricky Nolasco had absolutely nothing in the top of the first inning when the Sox pounded him. Mr. Mookie Betts doubled and Andrew Benintendi singled him in, Betts flying head over heels at the plate although he was safe. Benintendi advanced to second on the throw to give the Sox the lead two batters into the game. Dustin Pedroia grounded out to second but Benny moved to third. Mitch Moreland lashed a single to right that scored Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez singled as well, moving Moreland to third. A wild pitch scored Moreland and advanced Ramirez to second, and he scored on the Xander Bogaerts single. JBJ singled home Bogaerts but was thrown out at second trying to stretch to end the inning. The Sox had given Sale a 5-0 lead to work with.
JBJ made up for his baserunning blunder with a great diving catch to rob Yunel Escobar of extra bases to lead off the bottom of the first. Mike Trout walked but Albert Pujols flied out to right. CJ Cron looked at strike three to end the inning.
The Sox offense went quiet in the top of the second inning as Brock Holt grounded out to second, Mr. Mookie lined out to center and Benny The Kid flied out to left to end the inning. Sale cruised in the bottom of the second inning as Andrelton Simmons looked at strike three, Kole Calhoun lined out to left and Martin Maldonado struck out to end the inning.
Pedroia grounded out to open the top of the third before Moreland flied out to right and Ramirez grounded out to third to end the inning. Sale blew away Shane Robinson to open the bottom of the third but Cliff Pennington singled. Cliff was erased on the force by Escobar and Trout watched strike three go by to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fourth inning although Bogaerts flied out to right to start. JBJ singled but Leon struck out. Holt singled and Betts singled home JBJ for another run. Benintendi grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-0.
Sale cruised in the bottom of the fourth a Pujols and Cron both popped up to first and Simmons grounded out to third to end the inning.
Ben Revere took over in left as Yusmeiro Petit replaced Nolasco for the top of the fifth inning. Pedroia whiffed, Moreland flied out to left and Ramirez watched strike three go by to end the inning. Sale returned for the bottom of the fifth and got Calhoun to watch strike three go by. Maldonaldo singled but Revere to flied out to left. Pennington doubled to put two men in scoring position but Escobar struck out to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the sixth inning as Bogaerts grounded out to first, JBJ grounded out to short and Leon whiffed to end the inning. Sale returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth inning although he walked Trout to begin. Pujols whiffed and Cron lined out before Simmons singled. Sale blew away Calhoun to end the inning. Sale wasn't his sharpest but still hung on to throw 6 shut-out innings.
Jose Alvarez took over on the mound in the top of the seventh inning and got Holt to ground out. Mr. Mookie walked but Benintendi struck out. A wild pitch moved Betts to second but Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Kyle Martin came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and immediately served up a solo home run to Maldonado. Revere grounded out to short, Pennington grounded out to second and Escobar grounded out to third to end the inning but the Angels were on the board 6-1.
Kenyan Middleton was brought in to pitch the top of the eighth and Moreland whiffed. Ramirez and Bogaerts grounded out to end the inning. Martin returned for the bottom of the eighth and got Trout to ground out to begin. Pujols walked and Cron singled to chase Martin from the game. Matt Barnes came in and got Simmons to bang into a double play to end the inning.
Cam Bedrosian had mop up duty in the top of the ninth for the Angels. JBJ lined out to right, Leon looked at strike three and Holt struck out to end the inning. Barnes returned for the bottom of the ninth and got Calhoun to line out to left. Maldonado walked, took second because nobody cared and scored on the Revere single. Luis Valbuena pinch hit for Pennington as Revere took second because nobody cared. Valbuena whiffed and Escobar grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-2.
Hero of the Night is Chris Sale. The Sox exploded early and he responded by not allowing a single run for 6 solid innings. He allowed just 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 3 with a walk, run scored and an rbi.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
The Bad:
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Mitch Moreland was just 1 for 4 with an rbi and run scored.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4.
Kyle Martin allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings.
Matt Barnes allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
That's a pretty good way to start a west coast trip with every game starting at 1 in the morning or so it seems. Sale has been the savior this season and this game was no different. The Sox finally scored some runs for him and he pitched accordingly. Its too bad the offense can't produce like this more often, otherwise the Red Sox would be the clear favorite to win the AL East. The win improved the Sox to 55-44, 3.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night David Price (5-2, 3.39 ERA) takes on JC Ramirez in the second game of this series. First pitch is at 9 PM Eastern time.
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