In the first week of July, the Boston Red Sox began a 15-game winning streak with a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels. After another loss to open their September series in Boston, the Angels came to life.
Los Angeles scored six runs on the Red Sox, two nights in a row. Boston fell into a hole its offense couldn't dig out of with Reid Detmers on the mound on Tuesday and a severely diminished lineup in both games. Zach Neto crushed Red Sox pitching to the tune of six hits, two home runs and five RBI in the two games the Angels won.
The Sox didn't play well against LA. They logged only one hit over six innings against Detmers and were similarly shut down by the bullpen. On Wednesday night, they went down by six runs early and came within two runs of a comeback, but couldn't string enough hits together to score late in the game.
Surely the Red Sox would've liked to beat the Angels, the worst team in the American League, to shrink their magic number and inch closer to the top Wild Card spot, but they didn't really have to. Boston had a 99.8 percent chance to make the playoffs on Wednesday before the last game of the series, which remained the same even after the loss.
Red Sox didn't play their best against Angels, but resting top injured bats before Wild Card is more important
Interim manager Chad Tracy didn't put his best lineup out against the Angels for a few reasons. Willson Contreras (.274/.384/.516 in 125 games) and Ceddanne Rafaela (.282/.317/.443 over 135 games) are taking much-needed time on the injured list so they can be healed, rested and ready for the postseason. It's better to rest them against teams that are no threat to the Red Sox in the playoff race rather than the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians, who they'll face in succession over the final two weeks of the season.
In the final two games against the Angels, Tracy also didn't play Adley Rutschman. The catcher is dealing with an elbow injury and finally got a cortisone shot on Wednesday so he can feel well enough to play his best in the postseason.
The Red Sox should've played better against the Angels. The combination of the diminished offense and the worst part of their rotation starting the final two games of the series did them in. But Boston needs its best hitters healthy more than it needed to beat the Angels while the contenders for the third Wild Card spot beat up on each other. The Sox's roster was severely injured by the time they reached the Wild Card last year and that's the last thing they need this time around.
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