Justin Turner’s first home run with Red Sox hands Angels third straight loss
Garrett Whitlock threw seven innings of one-run ball, former Dodger Justin Turner hit a two-run homer and the Boston Red Sox beat the Angels, 2-1, on Sunday in a game that lasted just under two hours.
Boston honored their 2013 World Series championship team before the game, including new Hall of Famer David Ortiz, the 2013 World Series MVP.
Los Angeles star Shohei Ohtani had his 36-game on-base streak halted; it had been the longest in MLB.
Making just his second start after starting the season on the injured list while recovering from offseason hip surgery, Whitlock (1-1) allowed three hits with five strikeouts and two walks. He’s the first starter of the season to go more than six innings.
“I think the pitch clock is a really good thing,” Whitlock said. “I do like working fast. Earlier on in spring training I worked a little bit too quick, so now it’s finding that rhythm of working fast but also making sure I’m rested before each pitch.”
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With regular closer Kenley Jansen unavailable after working the previous two games, Ryan Brasier got the final three outs for his first save. He struck out Mike Trout and got Ohtani to fly out to close the 1-hour, 57-minute game.
“It feels awesome. I love it,” Turner said of the quick game. “Don’t blink or you’re going to miss something, right? Again, a tip of the hat to Whit for going out and pounding the zone and working fast. Defense plays well when guys work fast and pound the zone.”
Reid Detmers (0-1) was given the loss in an outing where he gave up two runs on six hits, struck out seven and walked one in 6 1/3 innings.
“It was well pitched on both sides and they just got one more than we did,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said.
Wearing their yellow-and-powder blue city connect jerseys with light blue hats and white pants, the Red Sox posted their third straight victory over the Angels.
After Brandon Drury’s RBI single gave Los Angeles the lead in the second, Turner sent Detmers’ 94.5 mph fastball into the last row of Green Monster seats in the third for his first home run of the season, scoring Alex Verdugo.
“That’s pretty much where I wanted it,” Detmers said of the pitch. “It could have been a little bit higher in the zone, but that’s pretty much where I wanted it. I felt like he was just cheating on a heater there.”
A day after making his first MLB start, 22-year-old shortstop Zach Neto was moved from eighth into the leadoff spot Sunday. He went 0 for 4 and is still searching for his first big-league hit.
Neto was the club’s first pick from the 2022 draft and is the first player from that class to make their MLB debut.
Up next
Ohtani (2-0, 0.47 ERA) looks to help the Angels avert a four-game sweep in the traditional Patriots’ Day game that runs in conjunction with the Boston Marathon. Ohtani worked seven scoreless innings to pick up the victory on Tuesday against Washington.
Prospect Zach Neto starts at shortstop Saturday, giving the Angels three players 23 or younger in the lineup, including Reid Detmers and Logan O’Hoppe.
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