Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move when Kike Hernandez was put on the 10 day Injured List with a right hip flexor strain. Hernandez hasn't been hitting well at all and the Sox have called up Jonathan Arauz to replace him for the time being.
It was a great night for Boston sports as the Boston Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the NBA Finals and the Boston Red Sox once again defeated the Los Angeles Angels by the skin of their teeth. Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 3.16 ERA) tossed 5 shutout innings to keep the Angels off the board who were trying to break a 13 game losing streak. The Angels did the best they could on the pitching side as the Sox offense once again were held to just one measly run for the second time in three games. Bobby Dalbec drove in Alex Verdugo in the top of the sixth but the much maligned Boston bullpen stepped up. Tyler Danish, Jake Diekman, John Schreiber and Matt Strahm all tossed zeroes the rest of the way and the Sox won their seventh game in a row by handing the Angels their 14th straight loss with a 1-0 win at Angel Stadium.
Reid Detmers got the ball in the top of the first inning and Christian Arroyo struck out swinging to start. Christian Vazquez grounded out to short but JD Martinez drew a walk. Xander Bogaerts flied out to center to end the inning. Eovaldi got the ball in the bottom of the first and Shohei Ohtani struck out swinging to start. Jo Adell flied out to center but Jared Walsh singled to center. Matt Duffy struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the second as Trevor Story singled in the hole at short to start. Alex Verdugo forced him at second but Bobby Dalbec drew a walk, only for Kevin Plawecki to bang into a double play to end the inning. It was the Angels turn to blow a rally in the bottom of the second as Juan Lagares singled to left to begin. Brandon Marsh singled to right but Jack Mayfield flied out to center. Kurt Suzuki popped up to second and Tyler Wade grounded out to short to end the inning.
Jackie Bradley Jr was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to begin the top of the third and Arroyo flied out to right. Vazquez lined out to right to end the inning. Ohtani grounded out to third to start the bottom of the third but Adell got a base hit to center. Walsh was rung up on a check swing strike three but Duffy singled to center. Lagares struck out swinging to end the inning.
Martinez flied out to right to start the top of the fourth but Bogaerts got a base hit off of Detmers. Story flied out to left and Verdugo hit a routine grounder to Mayfield but Wade dropped the throw for an error. Dalbec grounded out to short to end the inning. Marsh lined out to left to start the bottom of the fifth before Mayfield grounded out to short. Suzuki grounded out to short to end the inning.
Plawecki was hit with a pitch to start the top of the fifth but JBJ forced him at second. Arroyo doubled to left to chase Detmers from the game and Archie Bradley came in to pitch. Vazquez got Arroyo thrown out at second on a grounder to second and Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning. Wade grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fifth but Ohtani singled to right. Adell forced Ohtani at second and Walsh struck out swinging to end the inning. Despite throwing just 84 pitches, that was it for Eovaldi who tosses 5 shutout innings while allowing just 6 hits.
The Sox struck first in the top of the sixth with Jimmy Herget now on the mound. Bogaerts and Story both struck out swinging but Verdugo drew a walk. Dalbec stepped up with a double to right to score Verdugo...but was thrown out at home on a Plawecki base hit in the hole at short to end the inning with Boston up 1-0.
Tyler Danish came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Duffy flied out to right to start. Lagares singled to center but Marsh lined out to center. Mayfield lined out to third to end the inning
Andrew Wantz came in to pitch the top of the seventh and JBJ got a base hit off Wantz to start. Franchy Cordero pinch hit for Arroyo but lined out to second. Vazquez got a base hit to right but Martinez forced him at second to put runners at the corners. Bogaerts flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox now up to 9 men left on base. Suzuki was hit with a pitch to start the bottom of the seventh and Jake Diekman came in to pitch. Angels manager Phil Nevin had Andrew Velazquez run for Suzuki and Max Stassi pinch hit for Wade. The gamble backfired as Stassi grounded into a double play and Ohtani struck out swinging to end the inning.
Story hit a routine grounder to second to start the top of the eighth but Mayfield threw the ball away for an error. Verdugo popped up to third and Dalbec flied out to center, but Story stole second base. Plawecki popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox now at 10 men left on base. John Schreiber came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Adell took strike three to start. Walsh grounded out to third and Suffy flied out to right to end the inning.
Jose Quijada came in to pitch the top of the ninth and JBJ struck out swinging to start. Cordero popped up to third and Vazquez struck out swinging to end the inning. For the second time in three games the Sox scored just one run. Schreiber returned briefly for the bottom of the ninth and Lagares lined out to center to start. Sox manager Alex Cora wanted lefty Matt Strahm to face the lefty hitting Marsh and it looked like Strahm hit Marsh with a pitch. Sox manager Alex Cora challenged the ball never hit him and the replays showed it didn't. On.the re-do, Marsh lined to a running JBJ for the second out. Mayfield struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won their seventh game in a row with a 1-0 win.
Hero of the Night is Bobby Dalbec. He drove in the game's only run and drew a walk as well.
The Good:
Christian Arroyo was 1 for 3.
Kevin Plawecki was 1 for 3 with a hit by pitch.
Nathan Eovaldi earned the win by tossing 5 shutout innings while allowing just 6 hits and striking out 5.
Tyler Danish tossed a full scoreless inning.
Jake Diekman pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
John Schreiber tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Matt Strahm got the save by getting the final two outs of the ninth.
The Bad:
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 2.
The Ugly:
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but stole a base.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 3 but walked and scored a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Final Thoughts:
Everything's coming up Red Sox lately. This was the second time in three games the Sox had won a 1-0 shutout and as bad as the offense has been, the pitching has been that good. Hats off to not only Eovaldi but the rag tag bullpen who tossed 4 shutout innings. John Schreiber and Matt Strahm have become a 1-2 punch in situational baseball and for a guy with a career record 17 games under .500 in the minors, Danish hasn't pitched that bad this year all things considering. Still, the offense is concerning since this was the second time in three games they scored just one run but they still won the games. Even better news was the Toronto Blue Jays got smacked by the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins finally beat the New York Yankees so the Sox picked up a game on both of them. The Sox are only 3.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays and the Blue Jays for the wild card slots and there's plenty of time left to blow past them. The win improved the Sox to 30-27, good for fourth place in the AL East. The Sox look to win their eighth game in a row, hand the Angels their 15th straight loss and sweep this four game set tomorrow night when Nick Pivetta (5-4, 3.50 ERA) takes on Shohei Ohtani himself. The game begins at 9:38 PM at Angel Stadium.
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