Hard to believe but Mike Trout is no longer the most feared player on the Los Angeles Angels. Shohei Ohtani has taken over as the man as the modern day Babe Ruth, beating teams on both sides of the ball. Tonight the Boston Red Sox fell victim to Ohtani offensively and defensively as Shohei pitched 7 innings and held the Sox to just 2 runs. Nathan Eovaldi (9-5, 3.66 ERA) got pounded for 5 runs in just 5 2/3 innings, 1 of those runs driven in by Ohtani himself. Max Stassi hit a 2 run blast to give the Angels the lead they wouldn't relinquish. The Sox bats were held to just 6 total hits as the Angels beat them 5-3 at Angels Stadium
The Sox wasted no time getting to Ohtani in the top of the first inning as Kike Hernandez doubled to right to start. Hernandez moved to third on a grounder to first by Alex Verdugo. JD Martinez hit a rocket to the left field wall caught by Phil Gosselin, scoring Hernandez with a sac fly. Xander Bogaerts grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The Angels bushwhacked Eovaldi in the bottom of the first as David Fletcher pounded a ground rule double to right to start. Ohtani also doubled to right to score Fletcher but Jared Walsh struck out swinging. Phil Gosselin struck out swinging but Max Stassi smashed a home run all the way to ET's Homeworld to give the Angels the lead. Jose Iglesias dumped a base hit to right but Taylor Ward hit a bullet to second to end the inning with the Angels up 3-1.
Ohtani cruised in the top of the second inning as Rafael Devers grounded out to second to start. Hunter Renfroe grounded out to first and Christian Arroyo flied out to right to end the inning. Eovaldi rebounded in the bottom of the second as Juan Lagares struck out swinging to start. Luis Rengifo took strike three but Fletcher doubled to right. Ohtani was frozen for strike three to end the inning.
Danny Santana grounded out to second to start the top of the third before Connor Wong struck out swinging. Hernandez flied out to right to end the inning. Walsh struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third before Gosselin lined out to second. Stassi doubled to center but Iglesias flied out to right to end the inning.
Verdugo doubled to left to start the top of the fourth but Martinez went down swinging. Bogaerts flied out to center and Devers grounded out to second to end the inning. Eovaldi cruised in the bottom of the fourth as Ward struck out swinging to start. Lagares took strike three before Rengifo lined out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Renfroe grounded back to the mound. Arroyo grounded out to short before Santana flied out to left to end the inning. Fletcher singled to right to start the bottom of the fifth before Ohtani popped up to third. Walsh banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox got a run back in the top of the sixth as Wong doubled to right to start. Wong moved to third on the fly ball to center by Hernandez but Verdugo struck out swinging. Martinez dumped a base hit to left to score Wong but Bogaerts was robbed of a home run in center to end the inning with the Sox down 3-2.
The Angels knocked out Eovaldi in the bottom of the sixth as Gosselin doubled to right to start. Stassi blooped a base hit to center to put runners at the corners and Iglesias singled to third to score Gosselin.....but wait! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that Iglesias was out at first. Sure enough, replays showed he was out, but the run still scored. Ward struck out swinging but Lagares walked. Rengifo was plunked to load the bases and chase Eovaldi. Brandon Workman came in and the suddenly red hot Fletcher beat out a roller to third to score Stassi and ice the game. Ohtani struck out swinging to end the inning and Eovaldi ended up being charged with 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings of work, trailing 5-2.
The Sox tried to rally in the top of the seventh when Devers hit a seeing eye single into right field to start. Devers took second on a passed ball but Renfroe struck out swinging. Arroyo popped up to second and Santana grounded out to second to end the inning.
Bobby Dalbec took over for Santana at first to start the bottom of the seventh and naturally Walsh singled to left to start. Walsh was thrown out trying to steal second before Gosselin flied out to center. Stassi struck out swinging to end the inning.
Mike Mayers came in to pitch the top of the eighth with Jack Mayfield now at third in Ohtani's batting spot. Wong struck out swinging but Hernandez walked. Verdugo lined out to center and Martinez lined out to third to end the inning. Yacksel Rios came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Iglesias lined out to short to start. Ward struck out swinging and Lagares grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Raisel Iglesias came in to close out the top of the ninth and Bogaerts was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to start. Devers struck out swinging but Renfroe smashed his 13th home run of the season to cut the lead. Arroyo struck out swinging to end the game. The Angels had won it 5-3.
Jackass of the Night is Nathan Eovaldi. He got lit up for 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 1 for 3 with 2 rbis.
Connor Wong was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Yacksel Rios pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Danny Santana was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Alex Verdugo was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run.
Brandon Workman tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings but allowed an inherited runner to score.
Honorable Mention:
Bobby Dalbec played third base in the final innings.
Final Thoughts:
A disturbing trend has popped up with the Red Sox recently is their offense hasn't been getting it done lately. The Sox have been carried by good pitching for too long and the warts showed tonight. The Sox have been averaging 3-5 runs and while that's good enough if you allow 2-4, its not going to be enough all the time. One of the reasons the bullpen has been taxed is the offense hasn't been putting teams away. One of the staples of 2018 or even 2013 for that matter was turning a 4-3 game into 7-3 or better. This year's team rarely has done that. A lot of that has to do with the bottom of the order not getting it done but that can be fixed. Tonight the 1-4 hitters were just 3 for 15, definitely need some improvement there. Still, give credit to the Angels and especially Ohtani for holding them to 2 runs and playing flawless defense. Eovaldi just didn't have it tonight or the bats and this was their 15th game in a row without a day off. The Sox are tired and most likely just want to go home. Thankfully relief is on the way because they have an off-day Thursday, 3 home games and then the all-star break to rest. After the all-star break the Sox have some big decisions to make regarding Tanner Houck, Jarren Duran and possibly bringing in an experienced bat off the bench. As for this game, the less said of it the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 54-33, 4 games in front of the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox have one last game on this 16 game stretch and that's tomorrow afternoon against the Angels. Eduardo Rodriguez (6-4, 5.42 ERA) takes on Andrew Heaney of the Angels. The game begins at 4:07 PM at Angel Stadium.
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