The Sox for the second night in a row wasted no time scoring in the top of the first inning off Tyler Skaggs. Mookie Betts grounded out to short to begin but Hanley Ramirez doubled. JD Martinez whiffed but Mitch Moreland singled home Hanley to give the Sox the early lead. Eduardo Nunez drew a walk and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Rafael Devers popped up to third to end the inning but it was 1-0 Sox.
Porcello got in trouble early in the bottom of the first inning. Ian Kinsler lashed a hard hit single as did Mike Trout, but Justin Upton whiffed. Albert Pujols lashed a single to load the bases but Kole Calhoun whiffed. Zack Cozart struck out to end the inning and that was the closest the Angels would come the rest of the night.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Sandy Leon was rung up for strike three to begin. Jackie Bradley Jr grounded out to second and Tzu-Wei Lin grounded out to first to end the inning. Porcello cruised in the bottom of the second as Luis Valbuena lined out to a running JBJ to start. Andrelton Simmons lined out to short as did Martin Maldonado to end the inning.
The Sox exploded in the top of the third to put the game away early. Betts singled to start before Cozart tried to nail him at second on the force by Ramirez, but failed and everyone was safe. Martinez singled to load the bases and Moreland singled home Betts to re-load them. Nunez was rung up for strike three but Devers stepped up big by launching a grand slam to right to ice it early. Leon flied out to left and JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning but it was now 6-0.
The Angels tried to fight back in the bottom of the third when Kinsler was plunked and Trout singled to start, but Upton lined out to center. Pujols whiffed and Calhoun grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox threatened again in the top of the fourth although Lin whiffed to start. Betts flied out to left but Simmons threw a routine grounder by Ramirez away for an error. Martinez singled but Moreland grounded out to second to end the inning. Porcello whiffed Cozart to begin the bottom of the fourth but Valbuena singled. Luis was erased on the force by Simmons and Maldonado watched strike three go by to end the inning.
Nunez singled to start the top of the fifth but was foolishly thrown out at second trying to stretch. That was it for Skaggs as Jose Alvarez replaced him to punch out Devers. Leon grounded out to first to end the inning. Kinsler tried to start a rally in the bottom of the fifth with a single but Trout flied out to center. Upton lined out to right and Pujols flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox knocked Alvarez out in the top of the sixth inning although JBJ lined out to left to start. Lin whiffed but Betts beat out an infield single to third to chase Alvarez. Blake Wood came in to pitch and Ramirez was rung up for strike three to end the inning. Porcello ended his night in the bottom of the sixth inning. Calhoun grounded out to second, Cozart grounded out to short and Valbuena lined out to right to end the inning. Porcello had tossed 6 shut-out innings on 6 hits, no walks, 6 k's and 101 pitches.
The Sox got another run in the top of the seventh when Martinez belted his fourth homer of the year to right to start the inning. Moreland walked but Nunez banged into a double play. Devers whiffed to end the inning but it was 7-0 Red Sox.
Carson Smith took over for the bottom of the seventh and got Simmons to fly out to right to start. Maldonado whiffed but Kinsler walked. Trout popped up to first to end the inning.
Cam Bedrosian came in to pitch the top of the eighth and whiffed Leon to start. JBJ doubled and Lin walked before Betts lined a ball into no man's land, getting Lin thrown out at second to put runners at the corners. Blake Swihart pinch hit for Ramirez to give him the night off and whiffed to end the inning. Marcus Walden came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and got Upton looking to start. Pujols popped up to second and Calhoun grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox offense continued to roll in the top of the ninth against Kenyan Middleton. Martinez singled and Moreland blasted a 2 run bomb to increase the lead. Nunez whiffed but Devers doubled. Leon whiffed for the hat trick and JBJ lined out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 9-0.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth just out of pure boredom. Cozart grounded out to third, Valbuena flied out to center and Simmons grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox annihilated the Angels 9-0 for the Sox sixth win in a row.
Hero of the Night is Mitch Moreland. He drove in 4 runs including the first two then with a two run home run to put the Sox up for good.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
JD Martinez was 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored and a solo home run.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 5 with a grand slam.
Rick Porcello earned his 4th win of the season with 6 innings of shutout ball, striking out 6.
Carson Smith pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Marcus Walden pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Blake Swihart struck out as a pinch hitter.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4 but scored two runs.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 5.
Tzu-Wei Lin was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Know what the absolutely scary part about this season is? The Sox are still missing some guys. Dustin Pedroia, Drew Pomeranz, Xander Bogaerts, Tyler Thornberg and Steven Wright are still MIA. How deadly will the Sox be with .300 hitting Bogaerts and Pedroia back with Nunez going into the sixth man role? How unhittable will the Sox rotation be with Pomeranz and Wright back in it after Drew won 17 games last year and Steven 13 in 2016? The Sox 8th inning woes would be over with Thornberg settling into the set-up man role to bridge the gap to Kimbrel. The Sox are rolling at 15-2 to start the year missing most of those guys (sans Bogaerts) since the beginning. Yankee fans are running out of excuses now. They were so sure the Sox would be done for when they played "a real team" and now they're in position to sweep the first place Angels out of Anaheim. JD Martinez has laid waste to Giancarlo Stanton and Mookie Betts has blown past Aaron Judge. If it wasn't for the injury, Xander Bogaerts would be making Didi Gregorious look like Luis Rivera. What's the next excuse going to be? Tomorrow night the Sox look for the sweep with Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 3.72 ERA) looking to duplicate last week's good start against Nick Tropeano at 10:07 PM at Angels Stadium.
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