Lights. Camera. “Shotime.”
Well, not so much.
The Boston Red Sox’s highly-anticipated showdown with the Los Angeles Angels and Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani didn’t live up to its billing Tuesday night — at least on the Angels’ end.
Boston tagged Ohtani for three runs over the first two innings before the 23-year-old left with a blister. And then the bats really got going, as the Sox blasted three home runs in a breakout third inning as part of a 10-1 win at Angel Stadium.
Mookie Betts went deep three (!) times, while Jackie Bradley Jr., Brock Holt and Rafael Devers also touched them all as part of a six-homer showing for the Sox.
The Red Sox improved to 14-2, while the Angels fell to 13-4.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Snooze.
A ton of hype surrounded the first meeting between the American League’s top two teams, but the Sox jumped all over the Angels early and turned the contest into a laugher.
ON THE BUMP
— David Price delivered on his end of the duel-that-wasn’t Tuesday night.
The Red Sox lefty bounced back from his last outing, when he exited after just one inning against the New York Yankees. Price looked every bit the dominant force he had been in his first two starts, chewing up Angels hitters with a sharp cutter. The southpaw struggled with his command a bit but was able to avoid any major damage, as he was able to attack hitters with his fastball thanks to the large lead.
Price allowed one run on three hits while striking out six and walking four in five innings of work.
— Brian Johnson entered in the sixth inning and gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings for Boston.
— Marcus Walden worked an easy 1-2-3 ninth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— It didn’t take long for the Red Sox to get to Ohtani as Betts crushed a leadoff home run to left-center field to open the game.
— Ohtani wasn’t able to fool the Sox on Tuesday night. Boston added to its lead in the second inning, with Holt (RBI single) and Andrew Benintendi (sacrifice fly) driving in runs. The Red Sox led 3-0 after two innings and forced Ohtani to throw 66 pitches.
— Boston continued to pour it on in the third inning. Bradley Jr. launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that gave the Sox a 5-0 lead. But the onslaught was just beginning. Two batters later, Holt hammered a two-run shot of his own and Betts followed with a solo blast, his second of the night, to make it 8-0.
— Devers smacked a solo home run in the fourth to make it 9-1.
— Betts drove the final nail in the coffin in the eighth inning with his third solo home run of the game. He went 3-for-3 with three home runs, three RBIs and two walks.
— Bradley went 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
— Devers went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
— Holt went 2-for-5 with three RBIs.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Decent start.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox continue their series with the Angels on Wednesday night. Rick Porcello is scheduled to take the mound for Boston, while L.A. will counter with Tyler Skaggs. First pitch is set for 10:07 p.m. ET.
