The Boston Red Sox had their chances on Saturday night, but were defeated yet again.
The Los Angeles of Anaheim defeated the Red Sox 5-2, the third time in six games this season the last-place Angels got the best of the Red Sox. With the loss, Boston continues to struggle, as they have lost seven of their last nine games.
Though it was a rough one, Hector Santiago was rewarded with his tenth win of the year. Drew Pomeranz continues to struggle since he was acquired from the San Diego Padres, as the southpaw took his ninth loss of the season, and second since joining the Red Sox.
The Angels improve to 47-57, and are now tied with the Oakland Athletics for last in the AL West. Boston slides to 56-46, and they are now two games behind the newly-first place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East.
Hector Santiago survives a rough game
When Mookie Betts is hitting leadoff for the Red Sox, fans should know to make sure they are at the stadium in time for the first pitch. He has been absolutely mashing the ball out of the leadoff spot, and he continued his success on Saturday. The all-star hit a home run on the third pitch of the game, his fifth leadoff dinger of the season. Betts continues his MVP-like season, as the round tripper was his 21st of the season.
Boston would not be done with the first inning, as Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts had back-to-back walks following the home run. Jackie Bradley Jr. was called out on strikes, but Hanley Ramirez came through with an RBI single to give Boston a 2-0 lead.
But from this point, the Red Sox blew opportunity after opportunity. Still in the first inning, Travis Shaw walked with two away to load up the bases for Bryce Brentz, but he struck out on three pitches.
In the third, Brentz failed to come through in a huge spot yet again. Bogaerts, Bradley, and Shaw all reached, bringing up Brentz once again with the bases loaded and two outs. Though it wasn't on three pitches, Santiago won the battle for the second time, striking out Brentz to leave the bases juiced.
Boston would strand another runner in scoring position in the fourth, as Bogaerts and Bradley both failed to drive in Sandy Leon from second base with one out.
Santiago departed after the fifth inning, yielding four hits, two runs, six walks, six strikeouts, and threw a total of 119 pitches. Boston stranded eight runners with him on the mound.
The Angels bullpen kicked off in the sixth inning, and was dominant. Fernando Salas, Joe Smith, Cam Bedrosian, and Huston Street combined for four innings of work, allowing just two hits and a walk with no runs scored.
Drew Pomeranz continues to struggle with the Red Sox
Ever since Pomeranz was acquired from the Padres for a highly regarded prospect Anderson Espinoza, he had high expectations. The southpaw was named an all-star for the first time this season, but has struggled ever since the Red Sox struck a deal for him.
The Angels would get things going in the first inning as well, as Mike Trout scored on a Jefry Marte groundout to make it a 2-1 game. Pomeranz had a big wild pitch during the at-bat, advancing Trout to third and Albert Pujols to second with just one away.
Despite setting down the Angels in order in the second inning, the Angels offense got to the 27-year-old again in the third. Pujols came up for the second time with two away in the inning with a runner on first, and added to his Hall of Fame résumé. He hit a moonshot, his 20th homer of the season. With the homer, Pujols became the fourth player to record 20 homers in 15 of 16 seasons to kick off their career, joining Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Frank Robinson.
The "Halos" got to Pomeranz twice more in his start, as Johnny Giavotella and Jett Bandy each had RBI doubles to tack on five runs. Pomeranz would exit after the sixth inning, surrendering six hits, five runs, two walks, and struck out four in 5.1 innings of work. Pomeranz's numbers continue to get worse with the Red Sox, as he is 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA with his new team.
Joe Kelly came out of relief, and had his best performance as a reliever this season. He went 2.1 innings giving up two hits and no runs, keeping the game close. However, his efforts were not good enough, as the Angels would hold on to win.