The Angels wasted no time getting to Houck in the top of the first inning although Taylor Ward grounded back to the mound to start. Mike Trout popped up to short but Shohei Ohtani drew a walk. Anthony Rendon got a base hit to right and old pal Hunter Renfroe doubled high off the Monster to score both runners. Jake Lamb struck out swinging to end the inning with the Angels ahead 2-0.
Why can't the Sox have guys like Renfroe?
Patrick Sandoval got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Alex Verdugo walked to start. Justin Turner popped up to second, Rob Refsnyder grounded out to short and Rafael Devers lined out to left to end the inning.
Brandron Drury struck out swinging to start the top of the second but Luis Rengifo walked. Logan O'Hoppe struck out swinging and Rengifo was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Kike Hernandez lined out to center to start. Christian Arroyo struck out swinging and Triston Casas looked at strike three right down the middle to end the inning.
Ward popped up to second to start the top of the third but Trout walked. Ohtani struck out swinging but Rendon singled to center. Renfroe forced Rendon at second to end the inning. Connor Wong struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the third before Yu Chang took strike three. Verdugo got a base hit to center and Turner followed with a single to left, but Refsnyder forced Turner at second to end the inning.
Houck returned for one last inning in the top of the fourth as Lamb walked to start. Drury singled to left but Houck got a big out when he punched out Rengifo. O'Hoppe popped up to short and Ward struck out swinging to end the inning. He had a bad first inning but allowing 2 runs in 4 innings isn't the end of the world. Normally I'd whine about pulling a starter early but Houck threw 90 pitches in 4 innings, not worth getting him hurt early.
The Sox fought back in the bottom of the fourth as Rengifo booted a grounder by Devers to start. A wild pitch moved Devers to second and he scored on the double to right by Hernandez. Arroyo took strike three and Casas struck out swinging, but Wong drew a walk. Chang then hit a routine grounder to Rendon WHO THREW IT AWAY! Hernandez came around to score to tie the game and Verdugo walked as well. That was it for Sandoval as Jimmy Herget came in to face Turner. Turner forced Chang at second to end the inning as the Sox tied the game on two errors, a double and a wild pitch.
Josh Winckowski came in to pitch the top of the fifth and Trout lined out to center to start. Ohtani singled to left and Rendon walked, but Renfroe banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox took command in the bottom of the fifth although Refsnyder struck out swinging to start. Devers then hit a Johnny Damon Special 298 foot home run around the Pesky Pole to put the Sox on top. Hernandez got another base hit to center but Arroyo flied out to right. Aaron Loup came in to pitch to Casas and Triston popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-2.
Winckowski got in trouble in the top of the sixth when Lamb singled to left to start. Drury was plunked but Rengifo hit into a double play. O'Hoppe popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox got some more help from the Angels in the bottom of the sixth as both Wong and Chang were plunked to start the inning. Verdugo moved both runners over with a grounder to the mound but Turner struck out swinging. Refsnyder hit a routine grounder to Rendon WHO THREW IT AWAY AGAIN! Wong scored and Devers drew a walk to put runners at the corners. A passed ball by O'Hoppe scored Chang with another run as the comedy of errors continued. Hernandez lined out to left to end the inning as the Sox scored another two runs without a hit and led 5-2.
The Angels got to Winckowski in the top of the seventh as Ward singled to left to start. Trout doubled to left but Josh got a big out when Ohtani grounded back to him. Rendon grounded out to second to score Ward, but Renfroe grounded out to short to end the inning with the Angels still down 5-3.
Jaime Barria came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and Arroyo flied out to right to start. Casas and Wong drew back to back walks but Chang hit into a double play to end the inning.
John Schreiber came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Lamb singled to center to start. Drury struck out swinging but Rengifo got a base hit to left. O'Hoppe struck out swinging and Ward lined out to second to end the inning. Verdugo flied out to left to start the bottom of the eighth and Turner grounded out to short. Refsnyder took strike three to end the inning. The Sox had just 5 hits all game, pathetic.
Kenley Jansen came in to close out the top of the ninth and Trout struck out swinging to start. Ohtani took strike three but Rendon got a base hit to center. Renfroe struck out swinging to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the Night is a tough one since the Angels pretty much gave this game away but I'll go with Rafael Devers. His home run put the Sox up for good and was one of just two runs they earned all game.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3 with 2 walks.
Kike Hernandez as 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Connor Wong walked twice, was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Josh Winckowski got the win by allowing just 1 run in 3 innings of relief.
John Schreiber pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Kenley Jansen earned his third save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rob Refsnyder was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Justin Turner was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Triston Casas was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Yu Chang was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch and scored a run.
Tanner Houck lasted just 4 innings but allowed just 2 runs. He allowed 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 2.
Final Thoughts:
Like I mentioned in the intro, this was the one time a Boston team won where the other team really did throw up on themselves. The Sox had no business winning this game but 3 errors, 2 hit batsmen, a wild pitch and a passed ball helped the cause. Devers hit a home run that would have been a routine fly out at Yankee Stadium although Hernandez' double was legit. It all counts as a win so no sense squawking too much about the result. Still, the Sox offense is borderline criminal with only Verdugo and Devers hitting over .250. They're not going to win too many games this year with an offense this bad moving forward. Eventually Adam Duvall and Trevor Story will be healthy but the Sox are going to need some help because what they have isn't working. On the other side of the ball Houck struggled to get through four innings and he's going to need to clean up the control. Winckowski looked good despite his last inning and he might have found his role in the bullpen. A back end of Winckowski, Schrieber and Jansen would be a pretty good 7-9 inning combo.....if the starter could go six innings for once. All in all it was a win and the Sox look to make it two in a row tomorrow afternoon when Nick Pivetta takes on Tyler Anderson of the Angels. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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