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The Red Sox spoiled the Angels’ home opener Friday night, cracking five home runs to pick up a gutsy 8-6 win. Tyler O’Neill went deep twice, and Boston has now won an MLB-best five straight games to move into a tie for first in the AL East.
But after everything that went down on Friday, nobody in the Red Sox clubhouse is likely in any mood to celebrate.
Friday’s game took a dark turn in the bottom of the fourth when Trevor Story was injured making a diving attempt on a hard hit ball up the left side of the infield. Story went full extension to stop the ball but landed hard on his left shoulder and immediately began writhing in pain. He was quickly attended to by the trainer and removed from the game, and a short time later the club announced he was dealing with “left shoulder pain.”
“They’re going to check on him tomorrow so we’ll know more, so right now we’re just hoping for the best,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, adding that he’s scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking to reporters following the game, Story said the injury was “pretty painful” but that he didn’t want to speculate on how severe it might turn out to be. Story also wasn’t wearing a sling when he spoke, but he acknowledged that this latest setback is frustrating given all of the injuries he’s already had to overcome these past two years.
“It all happened so fast, it may have (popped out) for a little bit but we’re just refraining from diagnosing it right now until we get more information tomorrow,” Story said.
The injury cast a pall over what started off a good night for the Red Sox. Originally scheduled to start at 9:38 p.m. ET, the game wound up being delayed 28 minutes after the Angels’ Opening Day pregame festivities ran long, but once the game began the Red Sox quickly silenced the jam packed Angel Stadium crowd.
Tyler O’Neill kicked off the big inning with a solo home run, his third homer of the season, and Triston Casas immediately followed that with a solo shot of his own. In doing so they became the first Red Sox hitters to go back-to-back since Justin Turner and Adam Duvall against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 27, 2023.
The Red Sox got their first of many injury scares two batters later when rookie outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela was hit in the hand by a pitch, but after an extensive look by the trainer he remained in the game and immediately came around to score when Reese McGuire hit the club’s third home run of the inning, a two-run bomb to make it 4-0.
They weren’t so lucky when Story went down a couple innings later, and things started spiraling out of control.
Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford, who had allowed only two baserunners through the first four innings, came completely unglued in the bottom of the fifth. He allowed a single and three walks, the last one with the bases loaded to score a run, and threw seven straight balls to conclude his outing.
The Red Sox were fortunate to escape the inning without further incident, as reliever Greg Weissert came on and got Mike Trout to fly out with the bases still loaded. Jarren Duran would stretch Boston’s lead back to four with an RBI single in the sixth, though the Red Sox got yet another scare when Rafael Devers was hit in the hand by a pitch but was able to stay in the game.
Then things really started to snowball.
The Red Sox committed back-to-back errors to start the sixth when Rafaela dropped a routine line drive in center and Enmanuel Valdez dropped a throw to second. Josh Winckowski then hit Miguel Sano to load the bases and catcher Logan O’Hoppe made the Red Sox pay by crushing the game-tying grand slam to center field.
To his credit, Valdez bounced back in the seventh when he drove in O’Neill on a sacrifice fly to help Boston retake the lead, but the Angels came right back after Chris Martin allowed a bloop single, hit a batter and then surrendered an RBI single to Sano, his first run allowed in 25 appearances dating back to July 28 last season.
Martin didn’t let the Angels take the lead, stranding runners at the corners to keep it a 6-6 tie, and that proved crucial in the eighth when Jarren Duran hit his first home run of the season to put Boston back in front. The solo shot was the Red Sox fourth homer of the day and made it a 7-6 game, and then in the bottom of the ninth O’Neill went deep again for his second home run to give the Red Sox a two-run cushion.
That turned out to be enough. Isaiah Campbell stopped the Angels’ momentum with a quick and efficient eighth inning, and Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth to record his third save of the season.
With the win the Red Sox are now 6-2 on the season and have clinched a winning record on the season-opening road trip. The club will have a chance to win this weekend’s series tomorrow when Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 1.80 ERA) takes the hill for the Red Sox against Reid Detmers (1-0, 1.80). First pitch is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. ET.
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