Shohei Ohtani shut down the Boston Red Sox offense over 7.0 innings on the mound Tuesday night, and Max Stassi hit a two-run homerun in the first inning to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-3 win at Angels Stadium.
Boston (54-33) took an early lead when Kike Hernandez led off the top of the first inning with a double and came around to score on a JD Martinez sacrifice fly. David Fletcher and Ohtani responded in the bottom half with back to back doubles to quickly to make it 1-1. With two outs, Stassi lifted the two-run shot that turned out to be the game winner to left center field. The Red Sox did cut it to 3-2 when Martinez singled in a run with a two outs in the sixth, but the Angels (43-42) put it away with two in the bottom half of the inning that included an RBI on a fourth hit of the night by Fletcher. Hunter Renfroe provided the final run of the game with a two out solo homer in the top of the ninth.
Nathan Eovaldi (9-5) took the loss on the hill allowing five runs on nine hits with one walk and nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Ohtani (4-1) allowed two runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts to pick up the win. Fletcher had four hits and Stassi had three to lead the way. The rubber game is set for 4:07 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (6-4, 5.42 ERA) will toe the rubber for Boston, while Los Angeles counters with LHP Andrew Heaney (4-6, 5.40).
