Zach Neto and rookie Christian Moore help lift Angels to win over Red Sox
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Zach Neto hit a leadoff homer and rookie Christian Moore had a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in a four-run eighth inning that sent the Angels to a 9-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.
LaMonte Wade Jr. opened the eighth with a single off reliever Garret Whitlock (5-1). Wade stole second and went to third when catcher Connor Wong’s throw bounced into center field for an error.
Luis Rengifo walked, and Moore hit a sacrifice fly for a 6-5 lead. A single by Neto, who had three hits, and an intentional walk to Mike Trout loaded the bases with two outs. Taylor Ward walked to force in a run, and Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run single made it 9-5.
Angels left-hander Reid Detmers escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh by striking out Roman Anthony and Trevor Story with 96 mph fastballs. Sam Bachman (1-0) retired the side in order in the eighth to get the win for the Angels (38-40).
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Angels closer Kenley Jansen left because of injury after four pitches in the ninth, and Hector Neris got the final three outs.
Handed a 3-0 lead before he took the mound, Boston starter Walker Buehler walked four and hit two batters with pitches during a five-run first. The right-hander finished with a career-high seven walks in four innings. But the Red Sox took him off the hook when Story hit a solo homer off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn for a 5-5 tie in the sixth.
Boston (40-40) scored three runs on five hits, including Wilyer Abreu’s two-run single, off Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the first and later pulled to 5-4 on Wong’s sacrifice fly in the fourth.
The Red Sox squandered a chance to tie it in the fifth when they ran into two outs on the bases on the same play. Jarren Duran led off with a double but hesitated on Abraham Toro’s grounder to shortstop.
Duran was tagged out by Moore in a rundown, and the second baseman spun and threw to second to nail Toro trying to advance. Boston manager Alex Cora was ejected — for the second consecutive game — while arguing that Rengifo blocked second base with his knee.
Cora is 0 for 2 in arguing obstruction calls with umpire Alan Porter, who made the out call. Porter ejected Cora for arguing a similar play in a game against Minnesota last Sept. 22 after Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta threw to second baseman Vaughn Grissom in an attempt to pick off Byron Buxton.
Buxton was safe, but the Twins argued that Grissom blocked Buxton’s path to the bag with his knee. The umpires ultimately agreed, and Buxton was awarded third base.
“Our point of view was that he was blocking the bag,” Cora said, referring to Monday night’s play. “I guess the rule is if he’s going to be out easy, they can do that. But we had a similar situation last year with the same (umpiring) crew … and Alan reversed the call.
“That was the whole point I was trying to make — it happened six months ago, the same situation, and it was reversed. Maybe he’s right, you know, if he was going to be safe, but I wanted to make sure.”
Major League Baseball Rule 6.00(h) awards the base to the runner when the fielder is ruled to have impeded the runner’s progress while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball.
Porter, however, told a pool reporter there was an extenuating circumstance — mainly, that Moore’s throw arrived well before Toro, who was out by several feet, essentially making an obstruction call moot.
“Did the fielder obstruct, or was the runner just out?” Porter said. “We felt that the runner, no matter what the fielder had done in that situation, was out. He was out by a lot. And that’s part of also not calling the obstruction.
“And the other side of it is that it’s a very quick developing play there. So we’re able to give them a little bit of leeway when they don’t have time to set up because it was the rundown, and (Rengifo) is running back (toward second base).”
Key stat: Neto has six leadoff homers this season, one shy of the franchise record set by Brian Downing in 1987.
Up next: Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet (7-4, 2.20 ERA) opposes Angels lefty Tyler Anderson (2-5, 4.56) on Tuesday night.
