It looked as if the Red Sox were on their way to making it two consecutive wins against Los Angeles … until the eighth inning.
The Angels tied the game twice and took their first and only lead in the eighth with a seven-run frame after Boston’s bullpen blew its 25th save of the season and dropped the second game of the series 10-4 on Saturday night.
It was a bullpen game for the Sox, as Josh Taylor was the opener before five other pitchers were used. Brian Johnson retired 10 Angels in a row, but Ryan Brasier couldn’t keep the lead in tact as the Red Sox dropped to 73-63 with the loss. The Angels climbed to 65-72 with the win.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Messy.
The Red Sox had a chance to gain some ground in the wild card race, but things unraveled in the eighth.
ON THE BUMP
— Taylor found himself in a one-out, bases loaded jam in the first, but was able to escape unscathed.
— Marcus Walden pitched the second and gave up an RBI single to Mike Trout to tie the game at 1-1.
— Johnson surrendered three doubles and two runs to allow the Angels to come back and tie the game at three runs apiece in the third.
The lefty settled down after that and tossed a 1-2-3 fourth, fifth and sixth inning, retiring the last 10 batters he faced.
— Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless seventh.
— Brasier got two outs in the eighth before running into a world of trouble.
The right-hander gave up three straight singles to make it 4-4 before David Fletcher drove in the go-ahead run. Brian Goodwin then plated two more runs to make it 7-4, ending Brasier’s night.
— Josh Smith was called upon to clean up the mess, but Albert Pujols hit a three-run home run that just barely made it out of Angel Stadium to blow the game open 10-4.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Boston jumped on the board in the first when J.D. Martinez doubled Rafael Devers in to make it 1-0.
— Martinez collected his second RBI of the game when he drove in Mookie Betts to break the tie and give the Sox a 2-1 edge in the third.
Andrew Benintendi followed that up with a two-out double to plate Martinez for the 3-1 lead.
— A Brock Holt double, Sandy Leon sacrifice bunt and Betts sacrifice fly helped Boston take a 4-3 advantage in the fourth.
— Boston loaded the bases in the seventh and again in the ninth, but couldn’t do any damage. It proved costly as Los Angeles put together a seven-run eighth inning to help secure its victory over the Red Sox.
— Betts had three hits on the night, while Martinez and Holt had two accounted for two apiece. Xander Bogaerts and Benintendi each had a hit.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Martinez is having one heck of a road trip.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox wrap up their series against the Angels on Sunday. David Price is slated to make his return from the injured list with first pitch from Angel Stadium set for 4:07 p.m. ET.
