The Red Sox took the three-game home series against the Angels and are now tied with the A’s for the second-best record in the American League. In the first game of the series, Nick Pivetta returned off the COVID IL (after experiencing side effects to the vaccine) and threw six innings with seven strikeouts and only two runs. He was really dealing with his slider in this game with an outstanding 55 percent strike rate. The bottom of the lineup sealed the deal as Christian Vázquez, Hunter Renfroe, Marwin Gonzalez, and Bobby Dalbec all had productive at-bats.
In the second game of the series, Martín Pérez was fine, as he went six innings but only struck out five while walking four batters. Dylan Bundy struggled again at Fenway. He only went four innings but gave up seven runs on eight hits and struck out just three batters. Pretty much everyone in the lineup had a hit, and it was nice to see Franchy Cordero have a multi-hit game.
Finally, in the series finale, Nathan Eovaldi struggled through his five innings of work. He gave have up six hits, picked up six strikeouts but, also let four runs score. José Quintana was lights out for 4 1⁄3 innings, but in a surprising move was pulled from the game. Michael Chavis singled and then Rafael Devers hit a three-run home run to put the Red Sox ahead. That score held until a crazy situation in the ninth with two outs. Mike Trout hit a weak ball into right field that neither Gonzalez nor Renfroe could not grab, and then Shohei Ohtani, on the first pitch, hooked a home run around Pesky’s Pole to put the Angels ahead for good.
Next up for the Red Sox is a three-game series against the mighty Blue Jays lineup which includes, Vlad Jr., Marcus Seimen, Bo Bichette, Randal Grichuk, and a recently hot hitter Teoscar Hernandez. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Over The Monster Podcast Network so you never miss an episode!