Boston sweeps slumping Angels
Marco Scutaro hit a grand slam in the eighth inning and the Boston Red Sox wrapped up a 10-game road trip with a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, sweeping the three-game series.
The Red Sox extracted revenge against the Angels, and improved to 7-0 this season against the team that sent them packing during last season's playoffs. The Red Sox were able to salvage their West Coast road trip by sweeping the Angels in their three-game series after losing two of three games in Oakland and splitting four games in Seattle.
The Red Sox finished 6-4 on the road and are grateful to be coming back to Fenway Park on a positive note. "I think every win from now is going to be a big one," Scutaro said. "We're getting some guys back, and hopefully [over] the next couple of months, everybody stays healthy. And we have a long way to go. We just have to keep going."
Scutaro, who was 3-for-4 with two walks, snapped a tie in a dramatic fashion and paved the way for the win. But he wasn’t the only Red Sox swinging for the fences. Adrian Beltre, Bill Hall and Kevin Youkilis also hit homers on Wednesday. This was the first time in franchise history that the Red Sox had all four infielders finish with a home run.
The superb hitting from Boston gave starter Josh Beckett (2-1), who yielded five hits over seven innings, just enough of a cushion to get him in the win column for the second time this season.
The righty turned in a solid performance, walking one and striking out five, while throwing 112 pitches, 69 for strikes."Like I said, the most important thing is for the team to win right now," said Beckett. "When I look back at my season, there's not going to be enough wins to really worry about it."
Despite this being his first win since April 10, if Beckett can duplicate his strong outing moving forward, this could be huge for the Red Sox down the stretch.
On the flip side, things are not looking so good for a slumping Anaheim ball club. With their seventh loss in eight games, the Angels are digging themselves a hole and their hope for a sixth American League West title is slowly fading. To make matters worse, Anaheim had to scratch starter Joel Pineiro just minutes before game-time with a left oblique injury, which will force him out of the rotation for six to eight weeks.
Pineiro was in disbelief when an MRI showed a strain severe enough to shut him down for perhaps the rest of the season.
"I was like, `You've got to be kidding,'" Pineiro said. "I'm really frustrated. Angry. We needed a win today. It was a big game, and I wanted to be out there...I tried to stretch it out. I'd never had it before. It's one of those freak things that happen. Everyone recovers differently," he said. "We'll see what happens."
While the Angels lost one pitcher, they are getting another one back. Newly acquired pitcher Dan Haren expects to make his next start as scheduled despite a bruised forearm. He was struck on his pitching arm on Monday during his Angels debut. Boston's Kevin Youkilis swung and the ball accidently hit Haren. But the injury isn’t serious as X-rays were negative.
The three-time all-star plans to make his second start for Los Angeles on Saturday against the American League West-leading Texas Rangers. The right-hander was acquired Sunday in a trade that sent Joe Saunders and three minor league prospects to Arizona.
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