Angels get to Koji in the ninth, beat Red Sox 4-3
By Joe Meehan
In Boston, “Koji time” is supposed to be safe.
On this night though, Chris Iannetta had other plans, as he doubled home the winning run in the top of the ninth off the Sox’ closer.
Joe Smith picked up the win in relief for the Angels, his fifth of the season, while Uehara took the loss for the Sox.
Things were looking up early as David Ortiz blasted a solo shot off Jered Weaver over the Green Monster in the first. According to ESPN Stats and Info, it was his first home run over the Monster since Game 2 of the 2013 World Series.
The Sox then had a chance to add on to their lead in the second. With two men on and two out, Brock Holt hit one deep toward the bullpen in right. But instead of a three-run home run, Kole Calhoun made a highlight reel catch, leaping at the wall to pull it back for the third out.
Feeding off his defense, Calhoun singled home Iannetta in the next half inning before coming around to score on a Mike Trout triple. Trout then scored on an infield single by Albert Pujols to make it 3-1.
A Mike Napoli ground out in the fifth and a Brock Holt sacrifice fly in the sixth got the score even, where it stayed until Iannetta’s ninth inning double.
A Red Sox rally came up just short in the home half of the ninth, as Napoli went down swinging with two men on.
The Sox will look to bounce back tomorrow night in a difficult matchup, as they’ll send Clay Buchholz to the mound to face surprise ace Garrett Richards.