Angels Drop 5-2 Decision To Red Sox For 90th Loss Of Season

The Los Angeles Angels lost again in their series opener against the Boston Red Sox, 5-2, as starter Grayson Rodriguez once again buried the Angels in a deep hole that proved insurmountable. 

Rodriguez has alternated between good and bad starts, and this wasn’t a good one. The Red Sox opened the scoring by playing long ball on him in the second inning, starting with a solo homer by Jarren Duran. Adley Rutschman followed up with a three-run bomb to make it 4-0, and given what the Angels offense has been doing lately that represented the end of the game. 

Boston added another run in the third on an infield hit by Eli White to make it 5-0, and spot starter Brayan Bello made it stick. He wasn’t economical, but he did get through five scorelees innings with four hits and two walks while striking out seven. 

Rodriguez, meanwhile, had another ugly line, as he gave up five runs, all earned on six hits and four walks while striking out three. He’s going to be a confusing question for the Angels going forward into the offseason, but given that he’s a Perry Minasian acquisition he could well be on the move again when the new manager is selected by interim GM John Mozeliak. 

The Angels finally got on the board in the sixth on a solo homer by Moises Ballasteros off reliever Wyatt Olds, and the Halos added another run on a Christian Moore groundout off Alec Gamboa to make things interesting. 

But this game was never out of control for the Angels, and Garrett Whitlock came on in the ninth to quietly close out the game for Boston with Aroldis Chapman unavailable after saving three of four games in the Red Sox’ sweep of the Baltimore Orioles. 

The lone bright spot offensively was Ballasteros, who had a three hit game, and Wade Meckler had a nice bunt single. But this is a Triple-A lineup, and the Angels have now lost 12 of their last 14, and it’s no coincidence that they’ve been held to three runs or less in all 12 of those losses. 

The loss was the 90th of the season for the Halos, and it officially eliminated them from playoff contention. With 18 games lef, tthe big question going forward is whether the Angels will get to 100 losses, which seems like a very reasonable possibility given the way they’ve been hitting for the last three weeks.