Final, Red Sox 7-2: Junichi Tazawa finished off the Angels in the ninth inning, and the Red Sox walk away with a 7-2 win in the nightcap of their doubleheader.
The Sox fell to the Halos 9-5 in the first game of the twin bill, but Boston controlled the second game from start to finish. Clay Buchholz was once again fantastic, although he exited the game in the seventh inning with what is being described as neck stiffness.
The Red Sox, who scored three runs in the ninth inning of Game 1, got off to a hot start in Game 2. They put up two runs in the first inning and one more in the second inning en route to the victory.
Jonny Gomes, Dustin Pedroia and Mike Napoli each had two hits in the win. Ortiz, who finished with three RBIs, launched a mammoth two-run homer in the sixth inning.
The Red Sox and Angels will go toe-to-toe again on Sunday. Ryan Dempster will get the start, and the game is scheduled to start up at 1:35 p.m.
Good night, everyone.
End 8th, Red Sox 7-2: Brad Hawpe showed everyone how not to play a fly ball in the eighth inning.
Jerome Williams, who was pitching his third inning, got two quick outs before David Ortiz stepped up and lifted a fly ball into left field. Hawpe ran over toward the line, but there was one problem — he ran a little bit too far.
Ortiz’s fly ball dropped out of Hawpe’s reach and in fair territory, allowing the slugger to get all the way to second base.
Williams made sure the miscue didn’t hurt by striking out Mike Napoli, who has fanned three times in this game.
Mid 8th, Red Sox 7-2: Craig Breslow, who entered the game in the seventh inning when Clay Buchholz departed, came back out to pitch the eighth. He retired all three hitters he faced.
The highlight of the inning came when Josh Hamilton grounded to the right side. Dustin Pedroia made an excellent stop in shallow right field with the shift on, and he fired to first to complete the out.
Hamilton went into a head-first dive in an effort to beat out Pedroia’s throw, but it proved to be a fruitless effort. I’m sure the Angels would prefer that their $125 million man not dive into first base too much going forward.
Albert Pujols and Mark Trumbo each flied out to end the inning.
10:24 p.m., Red Sox 7-2: Clay Buchholz’s injury is being described as neck stiffness. Hopefully, we’ll get some more information after the game.
End 7th, Red Sox 7-2: The Red Sox put a couple of runners into scoring position in the seventh inning, but they couldn’t extend their lead.
Jerome Williams, who gave up three runs in the sixth inning, got two quick outs in the seventh. Daniel Nava struck out and David Ross flied out to center field.
The Sox made a little noise at that point, though.
Stephen Drew smacked a line-drive single into right field. Jose Iglesias followed up by doing the same, and Drew, who was running on the pitch, ended up going from first to third.
Iglesias kicked things up a notch by swiping second base, even with the Angels calling a pitch out. Shane Victorino couldn’t cash in with runners at second and third, though. He grounded out to first baseman Mark Trumbo.
Mid 7th, Red Sox 7-2:Â The big news in the seventh inning was obviously Clay Buchholz exiting. It might just be a precautionary move, but the right-hander still looked bothered by something.
Once Buchholz exited, Craig Breslow took over and retired Mike Trout via a groundout to third base.
9:59 p.m., Red Sox 7-2: Clay Buchholz is coming out of this ballgame.
John Farrell and the trainer came out to check on Buchholz, who could be seen stretching out his right arm during the seventh inning. It’s unclear what is wrong with the right-hander, but Farrell certainly isn’t going to take any chances.
Craig Breslow will enter the game with a runner on first and two outs.
End 6th, Red Sox 7-2: Jerome Williams took over on the mound in the sixth inning, and the Red Sox gave him a not-so-warm welcome.
Jose Iglesias reached to start the inning, and some sloppy defense allowed him to advance all the way to third base. Iglesias took second when Mark Trumbo couldn’t handle Williams’ pickoff attempt, and he took third on a passed ball by Hank Conger with Dustin Pedroia batting.
Pedroia worked the count full, and then inside-outed a single into right field. Iglesias crossed the plate with Boston’s fifth run.
The Red Sox weren’t done, though.
David Ortiz absolutely crushed an inside fastball into the seats in right field. It was a moonshot by Ortiz, who just keeps raking. The Red Sox now have their biggest lead of the night.
Mid 6th, Red Sox 4-2: The Angels added a run in the sixth inning, and it accompanied another quick scare involving Clay Buchholz.
Josh Hamilton, who has had a difficult year to date, shot a double into the left-center field gap. He advanced to third base when Albert Pujols grounded out to short, and he scored when the powerful Mark Trumbo lifted a sac fly to right field.
The scare involving Buchholz came with two down in the inning. Howie Kendrick smoked a line drive right back at Buchholz. The right-hander got his glove up, but the ball appeared to hit near his palm. Buchholz ditched the glove and chased the ball down in an effort to record the out, but Kendrick beat out Buchholz’s throw.
John Farrell and the team trainer checked on Buchholz following the comebacker, and it appears that disaster was averted. It wasn’t without a few tense seconds, though.
Buchholz struck out Brad Hawpe for the third time to end the inning. Hawpe went down looking on a sick four-seamer on the inside corner.
End 5th, Red Sox 4-1: C.J. Wilson is probably a little frustrated after that half inning.
Mike Napoli grounded down the third base line with one out. Alberto Callaspo, who has been playing tremendous defense down at the hot corner in this game, made an excellent backhanded stop. His throw to first base was in the dirt, though, and Mark Trumbo couldn’t pick it.
Napoli hustled and slid into second base safely following Callaspo’s errant throw. That was big, as it allowed Napoli to score two batters later.
After Daniel Nava flied out to right field for the second out, David Ross hit a little blooper into left-center. Three Angels players converged on it, but it dropped in between them, resulting in an RBI single.
Wilson really hung a curveball on the pitch that Ross put in play, so the lefty is actually lucky that the Boston backstop didn’t send it into the seats.
Stephen Drew struck out swinging to end the inning.
Mid 5th, Red Sox 3-1: Clay Buchholz has once again been very sharp. The only hiccup thus far came back in the third inning.
Buchholz enjoyed another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth. Hank Conger, Erick Aybar and Mike Trout were taken down in order.
Conger and Trout were both retired via flyouts, and Aybar grounded out to second.
Buchholz has thrown 77 pitches (57 strikes) through five innings of work.
End 4th, Red Sox 3-1: C.J. Wilson finally enjoyed an easy inning.
Wilson retired Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes and Dustin Pedroia in order in the fourth.
Victorino flied out to left field, Gomes grounded out to third base and Pedroia grounded back to the mound.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 3-1: The top of the fourth inning brought some crazy defense.
First, it was Shane Victorino who made a great play. Howie Kendrick drilled a ball toward the triangle, but Victorino sprinted back and made a running catch to rob Kendrick of an extra-base hit.
Clay Buchholz then struck out Brad Hawpe before turning in a very eventful — for lack of a better word — play to end the inning.
Alberto Callaspo chopped a ball to the right side. Buchholz ran off the mound and attempted to make the play, which should have been relatively routine. He dropped the ball, though, and he ended up hitting the deck while trying to corral it. Eventually, Buchholz gained control of the baseball and reached out while on his back to tag Callaspo just in time.
John Farrell’s heart probably skipped a beat when he saw his ace rolling on the ground, but Buchholz appears to be just fine.
End 3rd, Red Sox 3-1: Nothing has been easy for C.J. Wilson.
Daniel Nava, who had three hits in the first game, singled into left field to get the Red Sox’ offense going. Wilson ended up working around the hit, but he labored a little bit while holding Boston scoreless. The southpaw tossed 23 pitches, and he’s now thrown 78 pitches through three innings.
Nava moved up to second base when David Ross dropped down a successful sacrifice bunt. Ross almost reached safely, but third baseman Alberto Callaspo made a sensational barehanded play to record the out at first.
Stephen Drew struck out for the second out. Drew thought the pitch was low, and he let home plate umpire Marvin Hudson know it.
Jose Iglesias flied out to center field to end the inning.
Mid 3rd, Red Sox 3-1: Clay Buchholz’s command wasn’t quite the same in the third inning, and the Angels have begun chipping away.
Hank Conger led off the inning with a double down the right field line. He moved up to third base when Erick Aybar capped off a terrific at-bat with a ground ball to the right side.
Aybar fouled off three straight pitches, laid off a ball in the dirt, and then fouled off three more pitches before finally grounding out to first base. It was a very productive out, as it advanced the runner and helped elevate Buchholz’s pitch count.
Conger scored when Mike Trout, who had three hits in Game 1 of the doubleheader, singled into right field.
Josh Hamilton put good wood on a first-pitch changeup, but Daniel Nava sized it up and put it away for the second out of the inning.
Buchholz and the Red Sox thought that they were out of the inning when Albert Pujols, who was fooled on the pitch, foul tipped a two-strike curveball. It bounced off the plate, though, and Pujols stayed alive long enough to earn a walk.
Pujols’ free pass put the tying run on base, but Buchholz retired Mark Trumbo on a fly ball to deep center.
End 2nd, Red Sox 3-0: C.J. Wilson looked poised for a bounce-back inning, but the Red Sox’ offense started clicking with two outs.
Jonny Gomes, who hammered an RBI double in the first inning, picked up his second hit of the night. He ripped a base hit into left field that sailed just over a leaping attempt by shortstop Erick Aybar.
Wilson, who has already thrown 55 pitches, then walked Dustin Pedroia to put David Ortiz in a position to do damage.
Ortiz responded by drilling a line-drive double down the left field line. Gomes crossed the plate with Boston’s third run, while Pedroia scampered into third base.
The Red Sox could have done even more damage, but Mike Napoli struck out for the second time to end the inning.
Mid 2nd, Red Sox 2-0: The Angels got their first hit of the game, but Clay Buchholz ensured it didn’t amount to much.
Buchholz struck out Mark Trumbo swinging to begin the inning. Howie Kendrick then shot a single into right field that ricocheted off the wall.
Buchholz retired the next two hitters, Brad Hawpe and Alberto Callaspo, via a strikeout and a flyout. Hawpe was frozen on a filthy cutter that tailed back over the plate.
Shane Victorino will bat second in the third inning, so that should give us a good indication of how he’s feeling after limping briefly in the first inning.
End 1st, Red Sox 2-0: It looks like that momentum that the Red Sox’ offense started gaining in the ninth inning of Game 1 has indeed carried over into Game 2.
Shane Victorino, playing in his first game since May 20, was forced to test his hamstring right away, and it looks to be bothering him a little bit.
Victorino singled into left field on C.J. Wilson’s second pitch of the game, and he came around to score when Jonny Gomes doubled high off the left field wall. Victorino really had to push it to score from first base, and he walked back to the Red Sox’ dugout rather gingerly before then heading down the tunnel with the trainer.
Dustin Pedroia gave the Red Sox a two-run lead with an RBI double into right field. Pedroia did a nice job of going the other way, and his hit streak is up to 12 games. Pedroia’s on-base streak extends to 17 games.
After a mound visit, David Ortiz threatened to add to Boston’s run total. He made solid contact but got under it a little bit, and he was retired via a flyout to left field.
Mike Napoli struck out swinging for the second out. Wilson buzzed Napoli up and in with a 93-mph fastball in an 0-2 count, which really caught the slugger’s attention. Napoli stared back toward the mound before striking out on the next pitch. The up-and-in offering put Napoli on his toes, but he couldn’t catch up to a fastball on the outside corner.
Wilson really labored from there. He walked both Daniel Nava and David Ross to load the bases, but Stephen Drew couldn’t extend the lead any further. Drew struck out swinging on a high fastball.
Wilson threw 32 pitches in the very lengthy first inning.
It looks like Victorino will remain in the game, but it’s worth keeping an eye on him to see if his hamstring tightens up at all as this game rolls on.
Mid 1st, 0-0:Â Clay Buchholz hit the ground running in the first inning, shutting down the Angels’ potent, top-of-the-order trio.
Buchholz retired Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols in order.
Trout popped out to Jose Iglesias along the third base line. Hamilton grounded into the shift on the right side. Pujols popped out to Dustin Pedroia in the middle of the infield.
The Red Sox’ bats will now head up to the dish looking to build on the momentum they generated in the ninth inning of Game 1.
7:18 p.m.: Clay Buchholz’s first pitch is right down the pike for a strike. Let’s get it on!
7:02 p.m.: It definitely makes sense to give Jacoby Ellsbury the night off, seeing as how he just returned from a groin injury. The Red Sox could miss his bat atop the order, though.
Ellsbury owns a seven-game hit streak (dating back to before the injury), during which he’s hitting .500 (16-for-32). He has at least two hits in five of those seven contests.
6:24 p.m.: The lineups are posted, and Shane Victorino will indeed get the start.
Victorino will start in center field rather than right field, though, as Jacoby Ellsbury is getting the night off. Victorino will bat leadoff in Ellsbury’s absence.
The complete lineups are below.
Red Sox (37-25)
Shane Victorino, CF
Jonny Gomes, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, RF
David Ross, C
Stephen Drew, SS
Jose Iglesias, 3B
Clay Buchholz, RHP (8-0, 1.62 ERA)
Angels (27-34)
Mike Trout, CF
Josh Hamilton, RF
Albert Pujols, DH
Mark Trumbo, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Brad Hawpe, LF
Albert Callaspo, 3B
Hank Conger, C
Erick Aybar, SS
C.J. Wilson, LHP (2-2, 4.19 ERA)
6:15 p.m.: The Red Sox didn’t get off on the right foot in their day-night doubleheader against the Angels.
The Sox dropped Game 1 of the twin bill, 9-5, behind a shaky performance from the bullpen. Felix Doubront wasn’t too bad in his start, allowing three runs over six innings, but Franklin Morales was charged with four runs as the Angels blew the game open in the seventh inning.
If you’re looking for positives from Game 1, you can start with Mike Carp, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Daniel Nava (3-for-5) and Jose Iglesias (2-for-4 plus a walk) each had a good game, too.
The Red Sox actually swung the bats well, but they just couldn’t cash in on their scoring chances. They can, however, take some solace in the fact that they started to put everything together in the ninth inning, scoring three runs and showing some fight that they hope will carry over into the nightcap.
Shane Victorino will return to Boston’s lineup, as it was announced between games that he has been activated off the 15-day disabled list. Jackie Bradley Jr. has been optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Clay Buchholz and C.J. Wilson will toe the rubber.
