Angels meet, then finally beat the Red Sox, 7-2
Reporting from Boston — Just when it seemed the Angels had exhausted their supply of clutch hits, breaks and team meetings and were on the brink of irrelevancy in the American League West race, they found some inspiration in a place that for them is usually filled with darkness.
Energized by a 25-minute players-only meeting called by Torii Hunter, the Angels ended a three-game losing streak and a nine-game losing streak to the Boston Red Sox with a 7-2 victory in Fenway Park on Thursday night.
Hideki Matsui keyed a four-run sixth inning with a three-run home run, the Angels scored three runs in the seventh without hitting a ball out of the infield, and Ervin Santana gave up two runs and four hits in seven-plus innings to improve to 13-8.
The Angels (61-61) moved back to .500 and closed to within seven games of first-place Texas, the closest they have been to the Rangers since July 25.
Just as important, they believe they might have snapped out of an emotional funk after Hunter gathered players in the clubhouse before batting practice for another team meeting in a year filled with them. This one was not to divide up potential playoff shares.
“I couldn’t sleep at night,” Hunter said, when asked what prompted the meeting. “Every night the last five games, we were dead. There was no energy. Guys would strike out, they’d sit on the bench, and they were sad.
“The meeting was pretty intense. I told them to go out and play like it’s your last game and give it your all. That’s what we plan on doing the last 40 games of the season.”
It was important to Hunter that neither Manager Mike Scioscia nor the team’s coaches were involved.
“Sometimes, guys are scared of the manager and the coaches,” Hunter said. “We cleared them out, so we could speak freely.”
Hunter sensed a different mood Thursday night.
“Everyone was pretty excited, we had a little more energy, a bounce to our steps,” he said. “We were cracking jokes in the dugout, having fun. That’s what you have to do.”
But Boston starter Josh Beckett blanked the Angels on two hits for five innings, and the Red Sox had a 1-0 lead, thanks to David Ortiz’s fourth-inning homer.
Then the Angels came alive in the sixth. Maicer Izturis doubled with one out and scored on Alberto Callaspo’s double off the wall in left-center. Hunter reached on an infield single, and Matsui belted a three-run homer, his 16th of the season, into the Red Sox bullpen in right-center.
Victor Martinez’s grounder went through the legs of Angels first baseman Howie Kendrick in the bottom of the sixth, putting runners on first and third with two out, but Santana got Adrian Beltre to fly to left, ending the inning.
The Angels cranked up their little-ball attack in the seventh. Peter Bourjos snapped an 0-for-16 slump with a bunt single, Bobby Abreu walked, and Izturis walked off reliever Manny Delcarmen to load the bases.
Callaspo grounded out to third, Bourjos scoring. Hunter walked to load the bases, and Matsui walked to force in a run. Kendrick beat out a run-scoring infield single for a 7-1 lead.
The Red Sox loaded the bases off Santana with no out in the eighth, and Scioscia summoned Kevin Jepsen, whose wild pitch and bases-loaded walk allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score in the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s 7-5 loss.
But Jepsen got Martinez to fly to short center, Beltre to hit a sacrifice fly to center, and he struck out J.D. Drew. The right-hander was glad to be thrown right back into a difficult situation.
“You want to have amnesia out of the bullpen, but at the same time, when you have a rough outing, and the next day you have a good one, it’s a lot nicer than having to sit on the bad one,” Jepsen said. “Bases loaded, no outs … it definitely shows the manager still wants you in those situations.”
The team meeting seemed a lot more meaningful after a win.
“In some respects, it does,” Scioscia said. “It can raise a sense of urgency. … We definitely took the field with a sense of purpose tonight.”
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