The Angels started off the Jackie Robinson Day game with a Trout double and a couple of walks to bring up Gio Urshela. All he did was hit a grand slam.
Anderson came in and gave up a two run homer to Rafael Devers. It would have been a tie game about then if the Angels hadn’t earlier turned a double play. 4-2 Angels after one inning.
The Angels failed to score for the next three innings while the Red Sox were able to add a run in the third on an RBI double play ball. 4-3 Angels. The wheels really came off in the bottom of the fourth inning when Connor Wong doubled and Yu Chang homered to make it 5-4 Red Sox. A single by Verdugo and a walk by Justin Turner set the stage for Rob Refsnyder to single in another run and make it 6-4 Red Sox.
Mike Trout doubled again in the top of the fifth inning and Shohei Ohtani singled. Anthony Rendon singled to drive in Trout and make it 6-5 Red Sox.
That chased Nick Pivetta out of the game. Gio Urshela singled to drive in Shohei Ohtani and tie the game.
In the sixth inning, Shohei Ohtani singled to drive in Taylor Ward who had reached on a fielder’s choice after Matt Thaiss had been hit by his second pitch of the day. 7-6 Angels.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, a single and two errors by Matt Thaiss loaded the bases for Yu Chang who singled to make it 8-7 Red Sox in the bottom of the eighth inning. Reese McGuire, one of the catcher interference beneficiaries, scored on a bases loaded walk by Ryan Tepera. 9-7 Red Sox. Tucker Davidson replaced Ryan Tepera at this point.
The two teams combined for 1 catcher interference by Connor Wong, 2 catcher interferences by Matt Thaiss, 3 hit batsmen (Thaiss twice and Tepera hit Justin Turner once), a pitch timer violation by Kaleb Ort, 2 wild pitches by Anderson, one WP by Kaleb Ort, and two more WP by Richard Bleier.
In all, the Angels amassed 10 strikeouts and 18 left on base. Sheesh! Three of the strikeouts were by Brandon Drury for a hat trick.
Title photo credit: Rex Fregosi
