The Boston Red Sox were swept Wednesday night at Angels Stadium, leaving southern California with a 7-3 loss in the finale of their three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels.
Boston fell to 26-24 on the campaign, while Los Angeles improved to 28-23.
You can check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox entered their series finale with the Angels struggling on the offensive end.
In 27 innings prior to Wednesday night’s matchup, Boston’s offense scored a grand total of one run, failing a Red Sox pitching staff who put together an admirable stretch of seven games in which it held a 3.29 ERA against some of the best individual bats (Julio Rodriguez, Xander Bogaerts, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani) in baseball.
Things had gotten ugly out on the West Coast, but they couldn’t get worse, right?
Wrong. Just about everything fell apart Wednesday.
The Red Sox offense continued to struggle putting runs on the board, leaving seven runners on base and going 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. James Paxton, who was superb in his first two starts with Boston, finally ran into trouble as he was tagged for five earned runs in three innings pitched. Nick Pivetta was slightly better, but still gave up two runs across three innings thanks to a Trout tank.
This cold streak won’t last for Boston, but it certainly isn’t coming at an ideal time as the Red Sox seem to have started solidifying their roster for the long-haul over the course of the week.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Zach Neto, who is Los Angeles’ second-rated prospect, had the game of his young career against Boston. The 22-year-old shortstop went 3-for-3 with a home run, and scoring two of the Angels’ seven runs.
— Tyler Anderson continued the trend of starting pitchers shutting down Boston’s offense, giving up just one earned run across six innings pitched.
— Kenley Jansen put together a scoreless inning of work, throwing 9-of-14 pitches for strikes. Perhaps that performance is good news for his immediate future.
WAGER WATCH
Connor Wong crushed a 396-foot home run to center field in the seventh inning, netting a solid payday for those who saw the young catcher break out of his slump. DraftKings Sportsbook gave him +425 odds to hit one out, netting $100 bettors a $525 payout.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox will move on to the final leg of their West Coast road trip Friday, meeting the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field for the first of three games. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. ET, following an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.
