The Boston Red Sox faced a bit of a scare in the eighth inning but ultimately did enough to claim a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon.
Boston, which won the first three games of the four-game set, improved to 8-8 on the campaign. Los Angeles fell to 7-8.
Click here for the full box score of the game, which lasted one hour and 57 minutes.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Garrett Whitlock provided Boston’s best start of the campaign to date, doing so in a bounce-back effort after he was knocked around in his first appearance against the Tampa Bay Rays last week. Whitlock cruised through seven innings, needing just 98 pitches (61 strikes) to do so. Whitlock retired the side in order in the first, fourth, fifth and seventh innings and faced just three batters in the third (lead-off single) and sixth (lead-off walk) as Boston’s defense turned double-plays in each of the two scenarios.
Whitlock, with his slider and changeup leading the way, is the first Red Sox starter to go longer than five innings in a game this season. He allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Angels stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani were a combined 0-for-6 against Whitlock and 0-for-8 in the contest.
Kaleb Ort almost cost the Red Sox in a big way when he came on in relief of Whitlock in the eighth inning. Ort threw just two of his first 10 pitches for strikes and allowed runners at first and second with one out. However, the right-handed reliever picked off pinch runner Brett Phillips at second base for the third out of the frame.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Red Sox slugger Justin Turner (2-for-4, two RBIs, run) recorded his first home run of the season when he hit a four-seam fastball from left-hander Reid Detmers deep into the Green Monster seats. Turner also led off the sixth inning with a single, but the Red Sox weren’t able to capitalize.
— Whitlock threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of the 23 batters he faced. He allowed a two-out RBI single to Brandon Drury in the second inning, which led to the only Los Angeles run in the contest.
— Ryan Brasier retired the side in order in the ninth inning to earn the save in Boston’s win. The fact that Brasier’s 1-2-3 inning came with Trout at the plate with one out and Ohtani at the dish with two outs made his relief appearance all the more notable.
WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook listed Turner 5-1 to hit an anytime home run in Sunday’s contest. A $10 wager on Turner to do so would have earned a $50 payout after his no-doubter, which would have been a home run at 29 of 30 Major League Baseball ballparks.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox will conclude their four-game series against the Angels with a Marathon Monday contest scheduled for 11:05 a.m. ET. You can watch it live on NESN after an hour of pregame coverage.
