At this point in the season, the Boston Red Sox aren’t nearly as concerned with the how as much as they are the W.
A disastrous bullpen outing led to another blown save, which saw a two-run lead disappear in the ninth inning and turn a late night into an even later one.
But it was Mookie Betts, who led the game off with a home run, who came up with the clutch swing late, blasting a home run in the 15th inning to propel the Sox to a 7-6 win.
Nathan Eovaldi gave an encouraging outing in terms of his progress since rejoining the rotation, but turned things over to the ‘pen quite early, ultimately using eight pitchers. Betts led the offense, which had just eight hits, with a 3-for-7 performance.
The Red Sox moved to 73-62 with the win, while the Angels dropped to 64-72 after the loss.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Breakfast.
Who’s buying?
ON THE BUMP
— Eovaldi put forth his most encouraging outing since moving back into the starting rotation, tossing four innings.
He settled in after 27-pitch first inning, not allowing another hit until a Brian Goodwin solo shot made it 4-1 in the third inning, though he did strikeout three that frame.
He finished with eight strike outs, walking one and allowing three hits. He threw 81 pitches (54 strikes).
— Josh Taylor turned the fifth into quite the adventure.
A single and two walks loaded the bases for Mike Trout, who the southpaw got to pop out. Taylor then got Shohei Ohtani to ground into a force out at the plate.
— Marcus Walden came in with two outs and the bases juiced in the fifth. He immediately allowed Albert Pujols to single up the middle and plate two runs, both of which were charged to Taylor.
He returned to throw a 1-2-3 sixth.
— Matt Barnes also had trouble with Goodwin, allowing the outfielder to club his second home run of the game to make it 6-4 in the seventh. The righty escaped the frame without further damage.
— Ryan Brasier struck out two, but issued two walks and was pulled.
— Brandon Workman inherited two runners with two outs in the eighth. The Angels loaded the bases after an infield single ricocheted off Workman, but the righty got out of the jam unscathed.
Back-to-back walks came back to bite Workman in the ninth, who allowed Pujols to single home two runs and tie the game.
— Darwinzon Hernandez struck out four over two innings of scoreless ball.
— Andrew Cashner entered to toss four scoreless frames and earn the win.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Betts got things started quickly, leading the game off with a home run.
— Brock Holt tacked on for the Sox in the second, plating a run with a single in the second inning.
— J.D. Martinez checked in during the third, drilling a two-run shot to left to make it 4-0 — his 33rd of the season.
— Boston added some much-needed insurance in the sixth, extending its lead to 6-3. Martinez doubled home Xander Bogaerts, then later scored on a sacrifice fly from Andrew Benintendi.
— From the sixth inning through the 12th, 19 straight Red Sox batters were set down.
— It was Betts in the 15th with a solo home run to make it 7-6.
— Betts went 3-for-7 and Martinez went 2-for-5. Bogaerts and Holt were the only other Red Sox batters to record a hit.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Mr. Abraham, asking the important questions at 3:27 a.m. ET.
UP NEXT
The Sox continue their three-game stint against the Angels on Saturday. First pitch is slated for 9:07 p.m. ET.
