The 439th consecutive regular-season sellout last night at Fenway park received a personal forget-me-not from the AL West leaders, who demonstrated why they have a commanding divisional lead with a convincing 7-5 victory last night that extended their winning streak over the Sox to six games.
The Angels, who lead the majors with 65 wins, erased a 2-1 deficit with a six-run sixth. Daisuke Matsuzaka suffered most of the damage, which included home runs by Casey Kotchman and Torii Hunter. The Angels improved to an astounding 40-18 against teams with records above .500, compared to 25-22 against those at .500 or below. They also bettered their MLB-best road record to 34-19. The Red Sox, who fell to 4-6 since the All-Star break, squandered an opportunity to pull into a first-place tie in the AL East with Tampa Bay, which lost in Toronto.
Matsuzaka (11-2) allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks in five-plus innings, losing for the first time since June 21. Opposing starter Jered Weaver (9-8) surrendered three runs on six hits in 5 innings to earn his first career win at Fenway. Matsuzaka, who hadn’t surrendered a home run in his previous five starts, was tagged for two in the sixth - resulting in a sudden reversal of fortune, a quick hook and a five-run deficit for his teammates to erase.
The Angels struck first in the second inning, when Vladimir Guerrero cracked a leadoff double to right field and scored on Juan Rivera’s sacrifice fly. Manny Ramirez’ two-run single in the fourth provided Matsuzaka with a 2-1 lead, but everything completely changed upon the arrival of the sixth. Matsuzaka issued a leadoff walk to Chone Figgins before Kotchman crushed a 90-mph fastball into the home bullpen to push the Angels ahead, 3-2. Maicer Izturis followed with a lined double to the right field corner, and Guerrero moved him to third with a base hit past diving first baseman Kevin Youkilis. Matsuzaka then left a 2-1 slider over the heart of the plate to Hunter, who sent the ball onto the roof of a Lansdowne Street parking garage for a three-run homer. Matters didn’t improve under reliever Justin Masterson, who surrendered base hits to two of the first three batters he faced before Jeff Mathis pushed across the Angels’ seventh run (Howie Kendrick) with a suicide squeeze.
The Sox got one run back in the sixth on Jed Lowrie’s RBI double, but left the bases loaded when reliever Jose Arredondo struck out Jacoby Ellsbury. In the ninth, Ramirez blasted a solo shot into the Monster seats off MLB saves leader Francisco Rodriguez (No. 44) to complete the scoring.
Nation Notes: Despite reports in the Houston Chronicle and on ESPNDeportes, talks between the Red Sox and the Houston Astros regarding shortstop Miguel Tejada are not serious, however the Sox do appear to have interest in reliever Doug Brocail. Bartolo Colon came through his side session yesterday and appears to be in line for game action in the next week or so. The pitcher has been on the disabled list since June 17 with a lower back strain, injured taking a swing while he was at the plate.
