Tag: shohei ohtani

Tanner Houck strikes out 8 over 6 strong innings, but Red Sox muster just 4 hits in 2-1 loss to Angels

Despite Tanner Houck’s strong start, the Red Sox were held to just one run on four hits in a series-opening loss to the Angels on Monday night. Boston fell to Los Angeles by a final score of 2-1 at Angel Stadium to drop to 26-22 on the season.

Houck, making his ninth start of the year for the Sox, put together a solid outing in his bid to remain in the rotation. The right-hander allowed just one run on three hits, two walks, and one hit batsman to go along with a season-high eight strikeouts over six innings of work.

The Halos got to Houck for that lone run in their half of the second. After drawing a one-out walk, Brandon Drury went from first to third base on a Matt Thaiss single. He then opened the scoring by coming in from third on an RBI groundout off the bat of Luis Rengifo.

Houck proceeded to load the bases by hitting a batter and giving up another single, but he escaped the jam by fanning Mike Trout on an 84 mph slider at the bottom of the zone. From the middle of the third inning through the end of the sixth, the righty retired eight of the last nine batters he faced.

In addition to striking out Trout and Shohei Ohtani a combined four times on Monday night, Houck induced 17 swings-and-misses on his 83 pitches (65 strikes). The 26-year-old hurler did not factor into the decision, but he did lower his ERA on the season to 4.99.

Shortly before Houck’s night to an end, the Red Sox got on the board in the top of the sixth. After being held in check by Angels starter Jaime Barria, Connor Wong led off the inning with a groundball double off veteran reliever Aaron Loup. Wong then moved up to third on an Alex Verdugo groundout and scored the then-tying run on a Masataka Yoshida RBI single.

With things knotted up at 1-1 going into the seventh, Kutter Crawford took over for Houck out of the Boston bullpen. Making his first appearance since being activated from the 15-day injured list on Friday, Crawford worked his way around a leadoff double in the seventh and came back out for the eighth.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Mickey Moniak broke the tie by crushing a 401-foot leadoff home run to deep right field to put the Angels back up, 2-1, going into the ninth. Chase Silseth then closed it out by making quick work of Verdugo, Yoshida, and Justin Turner as Crawford was charged with the loss.

At a swift two hours and five minutes, Monday marked Boston’s second-quickest game of the season behind only a 2-1 win over this same Angels team that took one hour and 57 minutes to complete back on April 16.

Next up: Bello vs. Canning

The Red Sox will look to avoid a third straight loss in the middle game of this three-game set against the Angels on Tuesday night. Brayan Bello will get the start for Boston while fellow right-hander Griffin Canning will go for Los Angeles.

First pitch from Angel Stadium is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

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Kutter Crawford shines out of bullpen, but Red Sox come up just short in rain-filled 5-4 loss to Angels

On a chilly and rain-soaked Marathon Monday at Fenway Park, the Red Sox were unable to complete a four-game sweep of the Angels. Boston fell to Los Angeles by a final score of 5-4 to drop back to under .500 on the season at 8-9.

After first pitch of the annual Patriots’ Day contest was pushed back from 11:10 a.m. to 12:06 p.m., Brayan Bello made his first start of the season for the Sox. The young right-hander showed signs of rust in his 2023 debut, allowing five earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings of work.

Bello ran into trouble right away in the top of the first. After yielding a one-out single to Shohei Ohtani and plunking Taylor Ward to put runners at first and second, the righty served up a 355-foot three-run homer to Hunter Renfroe that cleared the Green Monster and gave the Angels an early 3-0 lead.

The Red Sox were able to get one of those runs back in the latter half of the first. Matched up against Ohtani on the mound, Raimel Tapia drew a leadoff walk before taking second and third on a pair of wild pitches. He then scored from third on an RBI groundout off the bat of Rob Refsnyder.

The Angels responded in the top of the second, though, as Bello gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before yielding a run-scoring groundout to Renfroe to make it a 5-1 game. Bello came back out for the third and recorded the first outs. The skies then began to open up as a one hour and 25 minute rain delay commenced.

Since the delay lasted that long, Bello’s season debut was shorter than expected. The 23-year-old hurler finished with 72 pitches (48 strikes) and induced 10 swings-and-misses. He also averaged 95.4 and topped out at 96.9 mph with his sinker.

Once the tarpaulin was removed from the field for a second time, Kutter Crawford came on to pitch in relief of Bello. Crawford got the final out of the third and took over in an effort to preserve the rest of the Red Sox bullpen. Over 6 1/3 scoreless frames, the 27-year-old gave up just one hit and no walks while striking out five of the 21 batters he faced.

While Crawford was in the process of shutting down Angels hitters, the Red Sox struggled to get anything going offensively on the other side of the delay. In the bottom of the fourth, for instance, Rafael Devers led off with a double and Masataka Yoshida and Triston Casas filled the bases by drawing back-to-back one-out walks off lefty Tucker Davidson.

Davidson, however, did not give in. Instead, he got Enrique Hernandez to line out and Reese McGuire to fly out to escape the jam. An inning later, Jarren Duran reached base on a one-out double but was left at second after Tapia fanned and Devers grounded out to extinguish the threat.

After Crawford worked his way around a pair of throwing errors in the top of the sixth, Boston finally broke through in the bottom half of the inning. Refsnyder led off with a double and Casas ripped a one-out double off new Angels reliever Aaron Loup. Hernandez then plated Refsnyder on a sacrifice fly before McGuire drove in Casas by beating out an infield single on a feet-first slide into first base.

That sequence of events trimmed Los Angeles’ lead down to two runs at 5-3. In the seventh, Duran drew a leadoff walk off Matt Moore and immediately stole second base. Again, though, Duran was stranded in scoring position as Tapia, Devers, and Refsnyder were all retired.

Following two more scoreless innings from Crawford, the Red Sox were down to their final three outs and still trailing by two runs in the bottom of the ninth. With Carlos Estevez pitching for the Angels, Alex Verdugo came off the bench and led off with a pinch-hit single. A one-out walk from Tapia put runners at first and second for Devers, who scored Verdugo by lacing a 112.1 mph RBI single to right field.

Estevez then got Refsnyder to strike out and Yoshida to pop out to end the rally there. All told, the Red Sox went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base as a team in Monday’s 5-4 loss, which technically took five hours and 24 minutes to complete.

McGuire throws out base stealer

With one out and runners on the corners in the top of the sixth inning, Reese McGuire threw out Shohei Ohtani at second base for his first caught stealing in 16 attempts to begin the year.

Duran’s 2023 debut

While Brayan Bello’s 2023 debut did not go according to plan,the same cannot be said for Jarren Duran. Batting out of the nine-hole and starting in center field, the speedy left-handed hitter went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base.

Next up: Gray vs. Sale

The Red Sox will welcome the first-place, 10-6 Twins into town for the first of a three-game series on Tuesday night. Left-hander Chris Sale is slated to get the start for Boston opposite Minnesota right-hander Sonny Gray.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Kutter Crawford: Paul Rutherford/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers recognized in American League MVP voting

Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts finished ninth in 2022 American League Most Valuable Player Award voting, as revealed by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Thursday night. Third baseman Rafael Devers finished 14th.

Bogaerts received one fourth-place vote, two sixth-place votes, two seventh-place votes, two eighth-place votes, seven ninth-place votes, and five 10th-place votes for a total of 50 points. Devers received one seventh-place vote, one eighth-place vote, and three 10th place votes for a total of 10 points.

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who set a new American League record by hitting 62 home runs this season, received 28 of 30 first-place votes en route to winning his first MVP Award. Last year’s winner, Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani, finished second while Astros designated hitter/outfielder Yordan Alvarez came in third.

Bogaerts, who — like Judge — is now a free agent, won his fifth career Silver Slugger Award earlier this month after batting .307/.377/.456 with 38 doubles, 15 home runs, 73 RBIs, 84 runs scored, eight stolen bases, 57 walks, and 118 strikeouts over 150 games (631 plate appearances) for the Red Sox this season. The 30-year-old finished in a three-way tie with Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez and Houston’s Justin Verlander for the fifth-highest fWAR total (6.1) in the American League, per FanGraphs.

Devers, who is eligible for free agency following the 2023 campaign, slashed .295/.358/.521 with 42 doubles, one triple, 27 home runs, 88 RBIs, 84 runs scored, three stolen bases, 50 walks, and 114 strikeouts across 141 games (614 plate appearances) for Boston this season. The 26-year-old finished in a two-way tie with Cleveland’s Shane Bieber for the 11th-highest fWAR total (4.9) in the junior circuit.

This marks the fifth straight season in which Bogaerts has received MVP votes. Devers, on the other hand, has now gotten MVP votes in three of the last four seasons dating back to 2019.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Shohei Ohtani steals the show yet again as Red Sox fall to Angels, 5-2, to snap 7-game winning streak

The Red Sox saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday night following a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Angels at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

Boston was unable to complete the four-game sweep of Los Angeles, who put an end to a historic 14-game losing streak with its first win since May 24.

Nick Pivetta and two-way star Shohei Ohtani opposed one another on the mound and traded zeroes through the first four innings of Thursday’s contest.

In the top of the fifth, Franchy Cordero drew a leadoff walk and came into score from third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bobby Dalbec. In the bottom half, Ohtani took things into his own hands by crushing a 394-foot two-run home run that came on a 1-1, 92 mph heater from Pivetta at the top of the zone.

Pivetta continued on, but ran into some trouble in the sixth when he issued back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. That prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora to go to his bullpen and pull the right-hander in favor of Hirokazu Sawamura.

Sawamura, in turn, recorded the first two outs of the sixth before serving up a back-breaking, three-run homer to Andrew Velazquez that gave the Angels a commanding 5-1 lead.

Pivetta was charged with four of those five runs. In addition to four earned runs, the 29-year-old gave up six hits and two walks over five-plus innings. He also plunked one batter while striking out a season-high of 11. 67 of the 97 pitches he threw went for strikes.

Ohtani, on the other hand, wound up yielding just one earned run over seven strong innings. The 27-year-old phenom finishes the regular season having allowed just one run in 14 innings of work against the Red Sox.

Once Ohtani came out, the Sox responded when Christian Arroyo led off the eighth inning with a line-drive single off Angels reliever Ryan Tepera. Arroyo proceeded to steal second base and scored from there on a 104.5 mph RBI single from Alex Verdugo.

That made it a 5-2 game, which would go on to be Thursday’s final score after Austin Davis and Hansel Robles each tossed a scoreless frame of relief for Boston and Halos closer Raisel Iglesias retired the side in order in the ninth. The Red Sox as a team went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left a total of six runners on base.

With the loss, Boston falls to 30-28 on the season and 6-1 on the west coast road trip that concludes this weekend.

Next up: On to Seattle

The Red Sox will now travel north for a three-game series against the Mariners in Seattle. Veteran lefty Rich Hill will get the start for Boston on Friday night while fellow southpaw Marco Gonzalez will do the same for Seattle.

First pitch from T-Mobile Park is scheduled for 10:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Shohei Ohtani: John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox held in check by Shohei Ohtani in 8-0 shutout loss to Angels

The Red Sox lost their series against the Angels at Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon. Boston fell to Los Angeles by a final score of 8-0 in Thursday’s series finale, thus dropping to 10-16 on the season.

Rich Hill, making his fifth start of the year for the Sox, allowed just one hit and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over a season-high five scoreless innings of work. The veteran left-hander took a perfect game into the fourth before issuing a leadoff walk to Taylor Ward. He then lost his bid for a no-hitter when Shohei Ohtani lifted a one-out single 389 feet single to deep center field that Jackie Bradley Jr. lost in the sun.

With runners on the corners, Hill did not falter and instead fanned Anthony Rendon on five pitches before getting Jared Walsh to pop out to Kevin Plawecki behind home plate. He ended his day by retiring the final three batters he faced in the fifth.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 68 (40 strikes) Hill induced three swings-and-misses each with his four-seam fastball, curveball, and slider while the velocity of his pitches ranged from 66.9 to 89.8 mph. The 42-year-old did not factor into Thursday’s decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 2.86.

In relief of Hill, Red Sox manager Alex Cora first used Tanner Houck to piggyback off the starter. Houck, in turn, struck out the side in the sixth before running into some trouble in the seventh. After walking Rendon with one out, the right-hander served up a go-ahead two-run home run to Walsh that traveled 344 feet down the right field line and hooked inside the Pesky Pole. It also put Boston in a 2-0 hole going into the seventh-inning stretch.

To that point in the contest, an Enrique Hernandez-less Boston lineup had been held in check by Ohtani, who was making his first career start as a pitcher at Fenway Park on Thursday. The Sox certainly had their chances, though. In the bottom of the third, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts hit back-to-back two-out singles but were stranded there by J.D. Martinez, who struck out swinging.

Two innings later, Jackie Bradley Jr. led off with a hard-hit double off Ohtani to put a runner in scoring position with no outs. He, too, was left stranded there, as was Martinez in the sixth after he reached base via a one-out double and advanced to third base on an Alex Verdugo groundout.

Ohtani capped off his strong outing by giving up another hit to Bradley Jr. with one out in the seventh, but once again left him on base by getting Plawecki to fly out before punching out Trevor Story for a fourth time.

Houck, meanwhile, came back out for the eighth and allowed the first three Angels he faced to reach on a single, hit by pitch, and single off the Green Monster. With the bases loaded and the infield in, David Fletcher ripped an RBI single to left field to plate a run and keep the line moving. Ohtani did the very same by smoking a 103.7 mph run-scoring single off the left field wall himself. Rendon knocked Houck out of the game with an RBI groundout that gave the Angels a commanding 5-0 lead.

Kutter Crawford, making his first appearance since Sunday, took over for Houck and allowed both of the runners he inherited to score on a two-run single from Walsh before getting out of the inning. The Red Sox went down in order in their half of the eighth before Crawford gave up a solo homer to Brandon Marsh in the ninth.

Down to their final three outs and trailing by a whopping eight runs, Verdugo, Franchy Cordero, and Bobby Dalbec were all retired by Max Meyers to put the finishing touches on an 8-0 shutout loss for Boston. Sox hitters went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base as a team.

Next up: Welcoming in the White Sox

The Red Sox will kick off the final leg of this six-game homestand by welcoming in the White Sox for a three-game series that begins on Friday night. Boston will roll with right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in the opener while Chicago will turn to fellow righty Vince Velasquez.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on Apple TV+.

(Picture of Shohei Ohtani: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox blow late lead, fall to Angels, 10-5, in 10 innings as bullpen melts down

The Red Sox were one out away from securing a series win over the Angels at Fenway Park on Wednesday night. They instead suffered one of their worst losses of the season to date. Boston fell to Los Angeles by a final score of 10-5 in 10 innings to drop to 10-15 on the year.

Matched up against Angels rookie starter Reid Detmers to begin things on Wednesday, the Sox got on the board first in their half of the third inning. Bobby Dalbec and Christian Arroyo led off by drawing back-to-back walks and, as the lineup turned over, Trevor Story drove both of them in on a two-run double down the left field line.

On the other side of things, Garrett Whitlock was once again impressive in his third start and sixth overall appearance of the season for the Sox. The right-hander allowed just two earned runs on two hits and no walks to go along with nine strikeouts over five solid innings of work.

Both runs Whitlock surrendered came in the top half of the fifth. After giving up a one-out double to Jared Walsh, which broke up the bid for a perfect game, and fanning the next batter he faced, the righty served up a game-tying, two-run home run to Max Stassi before recording the final out of the inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 78 (50 strikes), Whitlock turned to his sinker 50% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday and induced 11 swings-and-misses with the pitch. The 25-year-old hurler also saw his ERA on the season rise to 1.25.

Shortly after Whitlock’s night came to a close, the Red Sox quickly responded in their half of the fifth. Arroyo took first base after getting plunked by a Detmers curveball and scored all the way from first when Story lifted another RBI double off the Green Monster to put his side up by a run at 3-2.

In relief of Whitlock, Austin Davis got the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora beginning in the top of the sixth. The left-hander punched out each of the first three batters he faced in relatively easy fashion, but surrendered a booming solo shot to Anthony Rendon in the seventh that knotted things back up at three runs apiece.

After Matt Strahm retired the side in order on three groundouts in the eighth, Xander Bogaerts came through with what appeared to be the hit of the night a half-inning later. With veteran reliever Aaron Loup pitching for Los Angeles, Bogaerts crushed a 397-foot home run of his own that cleared the Green Monster. Bogaerts’ second big fly of 2022 left the shortstop’s bat at a scalding 109.3 mph and put the Red Sox ahead 4-3 heading into the ninth.

Needing just three more outs, Hansel Robles was sent in to go for the save. Robles got the first two outs of the inning, but did so while walking the Halos’ boppers in Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Cora then went to Jake Diekman to face the left-handed hitting Walsh.

Walsh, in turn, delivered in the clutch for his side by scoring Trout on an RBI single past a diving Story into right field. Diekman proceeded to walk Kurt Suzuki, which put the potential go-ahead run (Ohtani) just 90 feet away from scoring. He escaped any further damage by getting Stassi to fly out to deep center field.

With the chance to walk if off against Angels reliever Ryan Tepera, Christian Vazquez reached base by drawing a one-out walk but was then thrown out at second as part of an inning-ending strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play that occured on a questionable strike three call with Dalbec at the plate.

Regardless, with this contest now headed into extra innings, it was Matt Barnes who was dispatched for the top of the 10th. Barnes, making his first appearance since Saturday, got the first two outs on eight pitches, but — with the automatic runner already at second — then yielded a back-breaking, two-run home run to Walsh that gave the Angels a 6-4 lead.

The Angels only added on from there, as Barnes allowed two more runners to reach base before getting the hook in favor of Hirokazu Sawamura, who gave up a run-scoring single to Rendon as well as three-run homer to Taylor Ward.

That sequence gave Los Angeles a commanding 10-4 advantage. Boston countered with one run of their own on a Jackie Bradley Jr. single in the bottom of the inning, but it was too little, too late as 10-5 would go on to be Wednesday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base as a team on Wednesday. They are now 0-3 in games started by Garrett Whitlock and 0-5 in extra-inning games this season. They have also blown a league-leading four saves in the ninth inning of games or later.

Six Red Sox relievers (Davis, Strahm, Robles, Diekman, Barnes, and Sawamura) combined to allow eight runs (seven earned) on six hits (three home runs), four walks, and four strikeouts over five innings pitched.

Next up: Ohtani vs. Hill in finale

The Red Sox will send veteran left-hander Rich Hill to the mound as they still have a chance to salvage a series victory on Thursday afternoon. The Angels will counter with right-hander Shohei Ohtani, who will be making his first-ever start as a pitcher at Fenway Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Taylor Ward: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez both homer, Michael Wacha tosses 5 2/3 scoreless innings as Red Sox open homestand with 4-0 victory over Angels

Coming off a brutal 3-7 road trip and an off day on Monday, the Red Sox opened their first homestand of May with a much-needed win over the Angels at Fenway Park. Boston defeated Los Angeles by a final score of 2-0 on Tuesday to improve to 10-14 on the season.

Michael Wacha, making his fifth start of the year for the Sox, impressed by scattering just three hits and two walks to go along with two strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work. The veteran right-hander took a perfect game into the third before issuing a pair of two-out walks to Andrew Velazquez and Taylor Ward. He got out of that jam by fanning the dangerous Mike Trout on six pitches.

In the fourth, a leadoff single off the bat of Shohei Ohtani broke up Wacha’s no-hit bid, but the righty did not falter as he got Anthony Rendon to ground into a 5-4-3 double play and Jared Walsh to pop out to Rafael Devers in foul territory.

Moments after making the inning-ending catch, Devers led off the bottom of the fourth by taking Angels starter Noah Syndergaard 437 feet deep to dead center field for his fourth home run of the season. The solo blast left Devers’ bat at a blistering 110.7 mph and gave the Red Sox their first lead of the night at 1-0.

Xander Bogaerts followed by drawing a seven-pitch walk off Syndergaard, advancing to second base on a J.D. Martinez single, and to third on an Alex Verdugo groundout. He then scored on another groundout from Enrique Hernandez that doubled Boston’s advantage.

Given a two-run lead to work with now, Wacha picked up where he left off by inducing another double play in the fifth and recording the first two outs of the sixth. He gave up a two-out single to Trout, who advanced to second on a Devers throwing error and proved to be the last batter Wacha would face.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 60 (42 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler threw 21 four-seam fastballs, 15 changeups, nine cutters, eight sinkers, and seven curveballs. He also lowered his ERA on the season down to 1.38 while improving to 3-0 on the year.

In relief of Wacha, Jake Diekman got the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora to face Ohtani, who he got to line out to Verdugo in left to retire the side. The lefty came back out for the seventh and maneuvered his way around a leadoff walk in an otherwise clean frame.

A half-inning later, Story nearly hit his first home run as a member of the Red Sox, but instead settled for a sacrifice fly off Syndergaard that brought in Franchy Cordero to make it a 3-0 game in favor of the Sox.

After Ryan Brasier struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect top of the eighth, Martinez mashed his second home run in as many games as he took Halos reliever Elvis Peguro 402 feet over the Green Monster for his third big fly of the season.

Martinez’s 107 mph laser put Boston up 4-0 heading into the ninth. There, Hirokazu Sawamura — with some defensive help from Bogaerts and Bobby Dalbec — slammed the door on Los Angeles to secure the shutout victory.

Next up: Detmers vs. Whitlock

As planned, right-hander Garrett Whitlock will make his third start of the year for the Red Sox as they go for a series win over the Angels on Wednesday night. The Angels will counter with rookie left-hander Reid Detmers.

First pitch from Fenway Park — weather permitting — is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and Nathan Eovaldi all recognized in American League MVP voting

A trio of Red Sox teammates were recognized in American League Most Valuable Player Award voting on Thursday night, as revealed by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on MLB Network.

While Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani took home AL MVP honors unanimously, Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers finished 11th, shortstop Xander Bogaerts finished 13th, and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi finished 15th.

Devers finished 11th in voting by receiving one fifth-place vote, two sixth-place votes, one seventh-place vote, and eighth 10th-place votes. In total, the 25-year-old netted himself 28 voting points.

A first-time All-Star in 2021, Devers slashed .279/.352/.538 with 37 doubles, one triple, 38 home runs, 113 RBIs, 101 runs scored, five stolen bases, 62 walks, and 143 strikeouts over 156 games spanning 664 plate appearances.

Bogaerts finished 13th in voting after receiving a pair of ninth-place votes and three 10th-place votes, which translates to seven voting points in total. The 29-year-old Aruban was selected to his third career All-Star Game roster this summer.

Over 144 games in what was his ninth season with the Sox, Bogaerts batted .295/.370/.493 to go along with 34 doubles, one triple, 23 home runs, 79 RBIs, 90 runs scored, five stolen bases, 62 walks, and 113 strikeouts in 603 total trips to the plate.

Both Devers and Bogaerts won their respective first and fourth career Silver Slugger Awards last week.

Eovaldi, on the other hand, just finished fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting on Tuesday and now further solidifies what was a breakout campaign in 2021 after receiving one seventh-place vote in the MVP race.

Like Devers, Eovaldi was named an All-Star for the first time in his career earlier this summer. The 31-year-old righty posted posted a 3.75 ERA and 2.79 FIP with 195 strikeouts and 35 walks across 182 1/3 innings of work. Among qualified American League starters this year, he ranked ninth in strikeout rate (25.5%), first in walk rate (4.6%), first in FIP, third in xFIP (3.48), and first in fWAR (5.6), per FanGraphs.

The last Red Sox player to win American League MVP was Mookie Betts, who did so in 2018.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez allows 4 runs in 5 innings as Red Sox come up short, 5-4, in series finale against Angels

The Red Sox saw their West Coast road trip come to an end in disappointing fashion on Wednesday afternoon, as they fell to the Angels by a final score of 5-4

Eduardo Rodriguez made his 17th start of the season for Boston in Wednesday’s series finale, and he fell victim to some soft contact that landed in the right spots for Los Angeles hitters.

Over five innings of work, the left-hander yielded four runs — all of which were earned — on nine hits and zero walks to go along with five strikeouts on the afternoon.

The Halos got to Rodriguez early, as a pair of leadoff singles from David Fletcher and Shohei Ohtani were followed by an RBI groundout and RBI single off the bats of Jared Walsh and Phil Gosselin, thus putting the Sox in a two-run hole.

The Red Sox lineup, meanwhile, was matched up against Angels starter Andrew Heaney, and while it took until the fourth inning for them to get their first hit off the left-hander, they did get to him in the fifth.

There, three straight one-out base hits from Christian Arroyo, Christian Vazquez, and Bobby Dalbec resulted in the Sox pushing across their first run of the day. Alex Verdugo added on another run by plating Vazquez on another RBI single, and that evened things at two runs apiece.

Rodriguez, however, was not able to keep that stalemate intact for long, with Ohtani and Walsh going back-to-back with a pair of towering solo shots off the lefty in their half of the fifth. Rodriguez did retire the final three batters he faced, but his day was done after the last out of the inning was recorded.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 87 (62 strikes), the 28-year-old’s poor luck on Wednesday can best be defined by the fact that the 19 balls put into play against him had an average exit velocity of 76.5 mph.

Boston was able to trim their deficit from two runs down to one on an Arroyo RBI single in the sixth, but their momentum was halted when Vazquez grounded into a somewhat-controversial inning-ending double play.

With one out and runners at first and second, Vazquez hit a ground ball to Angels second baseman David Fletcher, who then flipped the ball to shortstop Jose Iglesias.

At first glance, it did not appear as though Iglesias made contact with the second base bag for the force out, but the call was confirmed following a replay review.

From there, Hirokazu Sawamura tossed a perfect frame in relief of Rodriguez, though Darwinzon Hernandez served up another solo home run to Walsh in the seventh, putting his side back in another two-run hole at 5-3.

Again, the Sox countered swiftly, with J.D. Martinez lacing a leadoff triple in the top of the eighth off Angels reliever Mike Mayers and Xander Bogaerts promptly driving him in on a run-scoring double to make it a 5-4 game.

Alas, four runs is all Boston could manage in this one, as Mayers retired the next three Red Sox he faced in order before Halos closer Raisel Iglesias punched out the side in the ninth to end things with a final score of 5-4.

With the loss, the Red Sox end their West Coast swing having gone 3-3 and now sit at 54-34 on the season, 2 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Final series before the All-Star break

The Red Sox will enjoy an off-day on Thursday before welcoming the Phillies into town for a three-game series — their last before the All-Star break — at Fenway Park that begins on Friday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will get the ball for Boston in the opener, while fellow righty Vince Velazquez will do the same for Philadelphia.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox held in check by Shohei Ohtani, fall to Angels, 5-3

The Red Sox fell victim to the Shohei Ohtani experience and saw their mini two-game winning streak come to a close with a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Angels in Anaheim on Tuesday night.

In a starting pitching matchup that featured two first-time All-Stars in the middle game of this three-game series, it was Ohtani who came out on top against Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.

Los Angeles’ two-way phenom held the Boston offense in check, limiting a typically-potent offense to just two runs on five hits, zero walks, and four strikeouts in seven strong innings of work.

Eovaldi, meanwhile, lasted just 5 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs — all of which were earned on nine hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with nine punchouts on the night at Angel Stadium.

The Sox actually jumped on Ohtani early, with J.D. Martinez bringing in Enrique Hernandez on a sacrifice fly to give his side an early 1-0 lead right away in the first inning.

Alas, Eovaldi gave that run back and then some in his first frame of work, as Ohtani helped his own cause with a game-tying RBI double that was followed by a two-run home run off the bat of Angels catcher Max Stassi with two outs in the inning.

Eovaldi and Ohtani then proceeded to exchange scoreless frames from the beginning of the second up until the start of the sixth, at which point Martinez struck again by driving in Connor Wong, who led off with a hard-hit double for his first career extra-base hit, on a run-scoring single to right field.

That cut the Halos’ lead down to one run at 3-2, and Xander Bogaerts nearly erased that entirely by hitting a deep fly ball to right-center field with two outs that appeared destined to go over the fence, but was instead caught by a leaping Juan Lagares to rob the shortstop of a potentially game-altering two-run homer.

The Angels were able to capitalize on Lagares’ run-saving play in their half of the sixth, as hits from Phil Gosselin and Stassi followed by an RBI groundout from old friend Jose Iglesias made it a 4-2 game.

Eovaldi was chased shortly after that, but the book on his night was not closed until Brandon Workman allowed an inherited runner to score on a Fletcher RBI single, putting the Angels ahead 5-2.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 104 (71 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler end the first half of his 2021 campaign on a sour note by falling to 9-5 on the year while raising his ERA to 3.66.

After Workman recorded the final out of the sixth, the righty also tossed a shutout seventh inning before Yacksel Rios did the same in the eighth.

Down to their final strike with two outs in the ninth, Hunter Renfroe provided the Sox with a little bit of life by crushing his 13th big fly of the year off Angels closer Raisel Iglesias, but Iglesias rebounded by fanning Christian Arroyo to end things with a final score of 5-3.

With the loss, the Red Sox fell to 54-43 on the season and 3-2 on their West Coast Road trip. They currently have a four-game lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Santana removed with left quad injury

Danny Santana, who started at first base for Boston on Tuesday, had to be removed in the seventh inning after he came up limping while running out a ground ball. He was replaced by Bobby Dalbec.

After the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said there is a 50/50 chance Santana winds up going on the injured list after he revealed the utility man suffered a left quad injury.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Heaney

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill on Wednesday afternoon as they go for the series win over the Angels, who will counter with fellow southpaw Andrew Heaney.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Shohei Ohtani: Michael Owens/Getty Images)