The Sox wasted no time getting to Angels starter Dillon Peters in the top of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts led off with a base hit to center to begin. Betts was erased on the force by Rafael Devers before Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging. JD Martinez continued his hot streak with a double to right to score Betts to put the Sox on top. Sam Travis whiffed to end the inning with Boston up 1-0.
Josh Taylor was the opener for the Sox and David Fletcher singled to left to start. Mike Trout walked but Brian Goodwin whiffed. Albert Pujols walked to load the bases but Taylor froze Justin Upton for strike three. Kole Calhoun flied out to left to end the inning.
Andrew Benintendi flied out to center to start the top of the second before Christian Vazquez flied out to almost the exact same spot. Brock "The Hitman" Holt lined a ball off the glove of Luis Rengifo for a single but Sandy Leon popped up to short to end the inning. Marcus Walden came in to pitch the bottom of the first and Andrelto Simmons singled to short to begin. Rengifo forced Simmons at second but a wild pitch moved Luis to second. Kevan Smith walked but Fletcher flied out to center. Trout singled to right to score Rengifo and send Smith to third. Trout swiped second but Goodwin whiffed to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
The Sox answered in the top of the third as Mr. Mookie doubled to left to begin before moving to third on the Devers grounder. Bogaerts lined out to first but Martinez singled home Betts. Fletcher booted a ball by Travis to allow him to reach on an error and Benintendi made the Angels pay with a base hit to right to score Martinez. Vazquez whiffed to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 3-1.
The Angels bashed Brian Johnson in the bottom of the third as Pujols doubled to right to begin. Pujols moved to third on the Upton fly out to right and scored on the Calhoun double. Simmons flied out to left but Rengifo tied the game with a double to right to score Calhoun. Smith grounded out to third to end the inning but the game was tied 3-3.
The Sox took the lead in the top of the fourth when Holt doubled to center to start. Leon dropped down a bunt to send Brock to third and Mr. Mookie scored Holt with a sac fly. Devers lined out to left to end the inning but the Sox led 4-3.
Johnson had a much easier bottom of the fourth as Fletcher grounded out to second to start. Trout whiffed and Goodwin grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the fifth as Bogaerts flied out to right to start. Martinez lined out to left and Travis grounded out to short to end the inning. Johnson got Pujols to fly out to left to open the bottom of the fifth before Upton whiffed. Calhoun whiffed to end the inning.
Benintendi popped up to third to begin the top of the sixth before Vazquez whiffed. Holt took strike three to end the inning. Johnson came back for one more inning in the bottom of the sixth and got Simmons to fly out to center to begin. Rengifo grounded out to third and Smith flied out to right to end the inning. Johnson allowed the 2 runs in the third but gave the Sox 3 scoreless innings after that.
Leon whiffed to begin the top of the seventh inning and that was it for Peters. Ty Buttrey came in and Betts was plunked before he swiped second. Devers flied out to left and Bogaerts popped up to first to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in for the bottom of the seventh and Fletcher grounded out to short to start. Trout whiffed but Goodwin doubled to right. Pujols grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox blew their chance to increase the lead in the top of the seventh when Luis Garcia walked Martinez to start. Marco Hernandez pinch hit for Travis and hit a ball back to the mound. Garcia threw wide of first and both runners were safe. Benintendi dropped down a bunt to move both runners over and Mitch Moreland pinch hit for for Vazquez. Moreland walked to load the bases but the normally reliable Holt banged into a double play to end the inning. Not making the same mistake twice two days in a row, Sox manager Alex Cora brought Jackie Bradley Jr in to replace Martinez in the lineup but in centerfield with Betts moving to right along with Ryan Brasier on the mound to start the bottom of the eighth. The Angels exploded as Upton and Calhoun ripped back to back singles to start. Simmons singled to left to score Upton to tie the game. Shohei Ohtani pinch hit for Rengifo but whiffed. Matt Thaiss pinch hit for Smith but flied out to center. One out away from going to the ninth tied, Fletcher doubled home Calhoun to give the Angels the lead. Trout was intentionally walked and Goodwin made the Sox pay by scoring Simmons and Fletcher with a base hit. That was it for Brasier who let the lead slip away. Josh Smith came in and Goodwin stole second. Pujols crushed a 500,000 bomb to ice the game. Upton whiffed to end the inning but the Angels rallied for 7 runs to ice the game 10-4.
Jose Rodriguez came in for the top of the ninth and Leon grounded out to short to start. Mr. Mookie singled to right but was forced at second by Devers. Bogaerts hit a ground rule double to left and JBJ walked to load the bases which would have put the tying runs on if it wasn't for the Pujols homer. It didn't matter as Hernandez grounded out to third to end the game. The Angels had won it 10-4.
Jackass of the Night is Ryan Brasier. He allowed the go-ahead runs to score even before the Pujols homer.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 3 for 3 with a hit by pitch, rbi, stolen base and run scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 rbis and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr walked in his only plate appearance.
Andrew Benintendi was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Mitch Moreland walked as a pinch hitter.
Brock Holt was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Josh Taylor pitched a scoreless first inning.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
The Bad:
Sam Travis was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Marco Hernandez was 0 for 2.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Marcus Walden allowed a run in the second inning.
Josh Smith served up the 3 run homer to Pujols in the 8th inning.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 5 but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 5.
Brian Johnson allowed 2 runs in 4 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
Thanks a lot Dave Dombrowski. Since the Sox don't have a proven set-up guy, the Sox have to rely on scrap heap pickups like Brasier, Walden and Smith to get the job done. Guys like Barnes and Brasier must have their arms falling off from overuse because they just don't have pitching depth. That's on Dombrowski who went into the season legitimately thinking Colten Brewer and Tyler Thornburg was the answer to losing Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly. The Sox are trying desperately to hang on but with their rotation in shambles and their bullpen exhausted, it doesn't look good. Still, just the fact the offense has refused to quit shows at least they're going down swinging. The loss dropped the Sox to 73-63, 6 games behind the Cleveland Indians for the second wild card spot. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon when David Price returns from the injured list to make the start up against Andrew Heaney at 4:00 PM Eastern time at Angel Stadium.
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