Red Sox 5, Angels 3: The Man in the Mirror

I’ll tell you what, it’s really nice to win a game when you aren’t playing your best. Playing against the Angels felt a lot like what I imagine playing against the Red Sox feels like. A couple of hitters at the top of the order that scare you, followed by a whole lot of nothing, some decent pitching but nothing that really blows you away, and a comedy of errors in the field that leaves you wondering, “Why am I even spending my time on this?” Anthony Rendon was skipping balls to first base left and right, practically hand-delivering a win to a Red Sox offense that probably didn’t deserve it. They put together quality at-bats all night and had Sandoval out of the game in the fourth inning, but didn’t really hit the ball all that hard, outside of Devers’ home run in the fifth inning. Long at-bats have been a constant this season, now they just have to figure out a way to turn them into runs.

Ohtani Watch

Over the Monster is actually a Shohei Ohtani blog disguised as a Triston Casas blog disguised as a Red Sox blog. I’d be doing the people a disservice if I didn’t comment on what Ohtani did on Friday night. In the fifth inning, Ohtani slid into second base and brushed off Christian Arroyo’s pants. I don’t know Japanese or sign language, but I believe this is the universal signal for “I’m signing with the Red Sox this winter”. Again, my translation skills are shoddy at best, but I think that’s what we’re seeing here.

Closing Thoughts

Man is it nice to have a real closer again. Last season, going into the ninth inning up by two was pretty much a death sentence regardless of who was coming up to hit, let alone Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. This year, 2017 Kenley Jansen is back with 96 MPH cutters that seem to be untouchable. He’s bound to have one or two blow-up appearances, but having some security at the back end is a breath of fresh air. Even if the team isn’t a real contender, Jansen is playing his way into becoming the belle of the ball at the trade deadline this summer. That is, if we trust Bloom to cut bait at the right time.

Let that be a lesson to the rest of the league, nobody hands the Red Sox their fifth straight loss. Also, keep rocking with the yellows. They’ve got some wins in them.

Three Studs

1. Josh Winckowski: .0.14 WPA, 3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER
2. Rafael Devers: 0.20 WPA, 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
3. Kenley Jansen: 0.08 WPA, 1 SV, 3 Ks

Three Duds

1. Christian Arroyo: -0.11 WPA, 0-4, 2 KS
2. Justin Turner: -0.18 WPA, 1-5, 1 K
3. Triston Casas: -0.07 WPA, 0-4, 1 BB, 1 K

Play of the Game

If we’re going by the book, the play of the game was Hunter Renfroe’s first-inning double to put the Halos up 2-0, but the Angels didn’t win, and this is a Red Sox blog. I’m going to give the play of the game to Rafael Devers for his fifth-inning laser into the right-field seats.