It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
That’d be a good sentiment for the Boston Red Sox to embrace at the moment considering the American League wild card standings, and it certainly rang true Friday night at Fenway Park.
After falling into a three-run hole off the bat, the Red Sox rallied back to absolutely rout the Los Angeles Angels 16-4 in the second game of their four-game set.
It was a short start from Brian Johnson, but five home runs and a solid performance from the bullpen paced the Sox to a breezy win. J.D. Martinez was dominant, going 4-for-5 with four RBI’s.
The Red Sox moved to 62-56 with the win, while the Angels fell to 56-61 with the loss.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Boom.
The Sox certainly brought it Friday night.
ON THE BUMP
— Johnson’s night got off to a pretty rough start, getting tagged for three runs in the first inning.
It looked like the southpaw was out of the inning, but a 3-2 curveball that appeared to be in the zone to Justin Upton was called a ball, putting two runners on for Albert Pujols, who promptly put the Halos up 3-0 with a home run into the Monster seats.
He bounced back to throw a 1-2-3 second, but his night was over after allowing another walk in the third after just 2 2/3 innings. He struck out one and allowed two hits while tossing 50 pitches.
— Marcus Walden entered in the third and did not allow a base runner over 2 1/3 innings, striking out one.
— Nathan Eovaldi took over in the sixth inning and tossed a 1-2-3 frame. He ran into trouble in the seventh, however, giving up a double, then hitting a batter and walking the next two to bring in a run to make it 10-4. He got out of the inning by getting Matt Thaiss to ground into a bases-loaded double play.
— Hector Velazquez tossed a spotless eighth with a strikeout.
— Josh Taylor tossed a scoreless ninth, striking out two.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox got one run back in the first inning. Martinez and Mookie Betts traded places with a pair of doubles to make it 3-1.
— It was Martinez once again in the fourth inning, tying the game with a two-run home run into the bullpen.
— And it was Betts in the fifth inning giving the Sox a 5-3 lead with a two-run shot over the Green Monster.
— Boston took complete control in the sixth inning.
Sam Travis, pinch-hitting for Brock Holt, drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-3. Jackie Bradley Jr. followed by rifling a ball toward second base that could not be handled by Luis Rengifo, which brought in two more runs to make it 8-3.
After a Betts walk, Rafael Devers broke it wide open with a one-out, two-run single that made it 10-3.
— For good measure, Martinez went bridge again in the seventh to make it 11-4.
And Boston was not done there, with Mitch Morland adding an RBI double to make it 12-4.
— Devers and Moreland each homered in the eighth inning as the Red Sox extended the lead to 16-4.
— Betts, Devers, Moreland and Christian Vazquez each had two hits, while Xander Bogaerts and Bradley Jr. added knocks.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Love this.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will look to clinch their four-game set against the Angels on Saturday. First pitch from Fenway Park is slated for 4:05 p.m. ET. Rick Porcello (10–8, 5.54 ERA) is scheduled to face LHP Andrew Heaney (1–3, 5.09 ERA).
