Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras each homered, and the Boston Red Sox leaned on outstanding bullpen work to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 7-5 on Sunday night, completing a three-game sweep.
Boston overcame the early loss of All-Star starter Ranger Suárez, who exited in the third inning with left adductor tightness, by receiving 6 1/3 innings of effective relief from five pitchers. The Red Sox won for the eighth time in their last 10 games, while the Angels extended their losing streak to six games and dropped 12 of their last 19 contests.
The Angels grabbed an early lead, but Boston capitalized on defensive mistakes and timely power hitting before its bullpen shut down the Los Angeles offense through the middle innings.
Angels Jump Ahead Early
Los Angeles struck first in the opening inning against Suárez.
Jorge Soler drove in the game’s first run with a groundout before Jo Adell followed with an RBI single to give the Angels a 2-0 advantage.
Suárez settled down after the first but left the game with two outs in the third inning. The left-hander, who had been selected to the American League All-Star team one day earlier, suffered left adductor tightness while leaping to field a ground ball hit by Adell.
His early departure forced Boston to rely heavily on its bullpen, which responded with one of its strongest collective efforts of the season.
Red Sox Respond With Power
Boston erased the early deficit in the second inning.
Jarren Duran connected for his 13th home run of the season, launching a two-run drive to right-center field off Angels starter Ryan Johnson to even the score at 2-2.
The Angels answered immediately in the bottom half.
Zach Neto doubled home a run to restore a 3-2 Los Angeles lead, but Boston quickly took control in the third with help from an Angels defensive mistake.
Error Opens The Door
Boston’s decisive rally began with two outs.
Tsung-Che Cheng reached on a bunt single before Anthony Seigler and Ceddanne Rafaela were retired. Wilyer Abreu then hit a routine ground ball to shortstop that appeared set to end the inning.
Instead, Neto bobbled the ball for an error, extending the inning and giving the Red Sox another opportunity.
Contreras made the Angels pay immediately.
He crushed Johnson’s next pitch 446 feet into the left-center field seats for his 20th home run of the season. The three-run blast came off the bat at 112 mph and turned a one-run deficit into a 5-3 Boston lead.
All three runs in the inning were unearned because of the error.
Bullpen Takes Control
After Suárez exited, Boston’s bullpen prevented the Angels from building any momentum.
Greg Weissert earned the victory before Tyron Guerrero and Garrett Whitlock combined with him to throw 4 1/3 hitless innings. Their work kept the Angels off the scoreboard while the Red Sox gradually expanded their lead.
Boston added two insurance runs in the seventh inning.
Abreu lifted a sacrifice fly to score one run before Masataka Yoshida followed with an RBI single, stretching the advantage to 7-3.
The Angels mounted a late push in the eighth.
Donovan Walton doubled and later scored before Adell added another RBI single to trim the deficit to two runs. Zach Neto also homered in the ninth inning against Aroldis Chapman, but the veteran closer finished the game to record his 18th save of the season.
Angels Unable To Overcome Defensive Mistake
Johnson absorbed the loss after allowing Boston to seize control in the third inning.
The rookie right-hander surrendered the decisive home run to Contreras after the inning had been extended by Neto’s error. The defensive miscue proved costly, as Boston transformed what could have been the final out into a three-run rally.
Despite collecting early offense and scoring twice in the final two innings, the Angels struggled to generate consistent pressure after Boston’s bullpen entered the game.
The relief corps limited Los Angeles to just two runs over the final 6 1/3 innings while allowing the Red Sox to maintain control throughout the second half of the contest.
Boston’s balanced effort at the plate, combined with dependable bullpen work and timely power hitting, completed a series sweep and continued the club’s recent surge.
Up Next
The Red Sox begin a road series against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night. Left-hander Payton Tolle, who is 4-6 with a 3.39 ERA, is scheduled to start against White Sox left-hander Noah Schultz, who enters with a 2-5 record and a 5.86 ERA.
The Angels open a road series in Texas on Tuesday night. Right-hander José Soriano is expected to start against Rangers ace Jacob deGrom, who is 7-5 with a 3.48 ERA.
