Aaron Cook’s Struggles Pave Way to Red Sox 5-3 Loss

It was a clash of two clubs struggling to stay in the thick of the AL Wild Card when the LA Angels strolled into Fenway to battle the Red Sox in the first of three games.  And for the Angels, perhaps this is what they needed to help get back them back into a postseason birth, a tilt against the lifeless Red Sox.  Well, that was the way it played out Tuesday night in what turned out to be a 5-3 Angels victory.

Aaron Cook struggled in his 5.0 innings of work, giving up all 11 of the Angels hits en route to 5 runs (4 of them earned).  The Angels opened the scoring in the third thanks to an Albert Pujols singles, scoring the phenom, Mike Trout.  The Halos would tack on two more in the fourth when Erick Aybar and Chris Iannetta both singled in runs making it 3-0 for the bad guys.  Mark Trumbo flexed his muscles in the 5th when he smacked his 30th home run of the season to left, a two run shot.  Cook would finish the inning but the damage had been done and he, like so many other Red Sox pitchers, put his club in a hole; one they couldn’t climb out of.

The offense finally kicked into gear in the sixth thanks to Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s 21st home run of the season, plating Cody Ross.  The home team would get one more in the seventh thanks to a wild pitch by Jordan Walden that would score Scott Podsednik from third.  But that’s as close as the Sox would come despite a small rally in the eighth that was snuffed out, before retiring in order in the ninth with not so much as a whimper.

On a positive note, the bullpen shut down the Angels when they took over for Cook in the sixth.  Clayton Mortenson, Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves combined to work the final four frames while not giving up a hit, walking one and fanning four.  Another example of how the Red Sox starters cost the Sox another chance to win.  A theme all to compelling this season.