Monday, May 22, 2023

Angels Edge Sox Late (5/22/23)

Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. The struggling Richard Bleier was sent down to Worcester and lefty Brennan Bernardino was called up. This is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic but something had to be done.
                                                                            OUT
                                                                    IN

As for the game, great pitcher's duel....too bad the Red Sox didn't win. Jaime Barria of the Los Angeles Angels and Tanner Houck of the Boston Red Sox locked into a duel for five innings with the only run scored on a Luis Rengifo rbi grounder. Masataka Yoshida tied it up in the sixth inning with an rbi single off Aaron Loup but the tide turned in the eighth inning. Mickey Moniak hit a back breaking home run off Kutter Crawford (1-2, 3.58 ERA) to put the Angels on top. The Sox did not have a base runner after Yoshida's single as the Angels bullpen locked it down to hand the Sox a 3-1 loss at Anaheim Stadium.
                                                          Jan's message to Kutter Crawford

Barria got the ball in the top of the first inning and Alex Verdugo struck out swinging to start. Masataka Yoshida grounded out to first and Justin Turner struck out swinging to end the inning. Houck got the ball in the bottom of the first and Mickey Moniak grounded out to first to start. Mike Trout struck out swinging but Shohei Ohtani walked. Old friend Hunter Renfroe lined out to third to end the inning.

Rafael Devers got a base hit to right to start the top of the second but Jarren Duran struck out swinging. Triston Casas popped up to third and Enmanuel Valdez grounded out to second to end the inning. The Angels struck first in the bottom of the second as Jared Walsh flied out to right to start. Brandon Drury walked but Matt Thaiss got a base hit to right to move Brandon to third. Luis Rengifo grounded out to first to score Drury. Zach Neto was hit with a pitch and Moniak got a base hit to right to load the bases, but Trout struck out swinging to end the inning with the Angels up 1-0.
                                                         Rengifo drives in a run

Pablo Reyes popped up to second to start the top of the third before Connor Wong popped up to third. Verdugo grounded out to first to end the inning. Ohtani struck out swinging to start the bottom of the third and Renfroe took strike three. Walsh went down hacking to end the inning. 

Yoshida got a base hit to left to start the top of the fourth inning but Turner swung at air for strike three. Devers flied out to center and Duran went down hacking to end the inning. Drury singled in the hole at short to begin the bottom of the fourth but Thaiss grounded into a double play. Rengifo grounded back to the mound to end the inning. 

Casas struck out swinging to begin the top of the fifth before Valdez lined out to first. Reyes lined out to center to end the inning. Neto grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fifth before Moniak struck out swinging. Trout grounded out to second to end the inning. 

The Sox fought back against Aaron Loup now on the mound for the top of the sixth. Wong doubled to left to start and moved to third on a grounder to short by Verdugo. Yoshida got a base hit to right to score Wong with the tying run. Chris Devenski came in to pitch to Turner and Justin banged into a double play to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
                                                         Yoshida drives in a run

Houck returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth and Ohtani struck out swinging to start. Renfroe grounded back to the mound and Walsh took strike three to end the inning. Houck allowed just 1 run in 6 innings off 3 hits and 2 walks.
                                                       Houck deserved better

Devers' bunt attempt was snuffed out by Devenski to begin the top of the seventh and Duran grounded out to third. Casas struck out swinging to end the inning. Kutter Crawford came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Drury doubled to left to start. Thaiss struck out swinging, Rengifo hit one up the elevator shaft and Zeto grounded out to short to end the inning.

Chase Silseth came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Valdez struck out swinging to start. Raimel Tapia pinch hit for Reyes and grounded out to third. Wong struck out swinging to end the inning. The Angels struck in the bottom of the eighth with Kike Hernandez taking over at short. Moniak hit a home run all the way to Cuba to put the Angels up for good. Trout walked but Ohtani lined out to right. Renfroe and Walsh both struck out swinging to end the inning with the Angels up 2-1.
                                                                    Moniak ices it

Gio Urshela came in for Rengifo to start the top of the ninth and Verdugo grounded out to second to begin. Yoshida flied out to left and Turner grounded out to third to end the game. The Angels had won it 2-1.
                                                                   Angels win


Jackass of the Night is Kutter Crawford. He served up the meatball to Moniak that cost the Sox the game.
                                                              Jackass Crawford



The Good:

Masataka Yoshida was 2 for 4 with an rbi.

Rafael Devers was 1 for 3.

Connor Wong was 1 for 3 with a run scored.

Tanner Houck tossed 6 innings of 1 run ball. He allowed 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8.



The Bad:

Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

Justin Turner was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Jarren Duran was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

Triston Casas was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.

Enmanuel Valdez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

Pablo Reyes was 0 for 2.

Raimel Tapia was 0 for 1 at the plate.



The Ugly:

None



Honorable Mention:

Kike Hernandez played short in the ninth inning.




Final Thoughts:

That was a tough loss to swallow considering Houck pitched very well but when your offense is borderline useless, that's the breaks. The Sox had just 4 hits in the game and was held in check by everyone but Aaron Loup. Because of their inability to remain patient at the plate, they had just four baserunners in the game and that's not going to get the job done. Devers is hitting just .254 and Casas is hitting .176, that's why they're not scoring as many runs when two guys you depend on aren't hitting well. The less said of this game, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 26-22, 8.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night against the Angels when Brayan Bello (3-1) gets the start against Griffin Canning of the Angels. The game begins at 9:30 PM Eastern time at Anaheim Stadium.

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