Red Sox Sweep Angels with Duran and Contreras Homers in 7-5 Victory

In a thrilling matchup at Angel Stadium, the Boston Red Sox showcased their power and pitching depth, securing a 7-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras both launched homers, while a resilient bullpen limited the Angels to just two runs over 6 1/3 innings following the early exit of starter Ranger Suarez.

This win marked Boston’s eighth triumph in their last ten games, completing a commanding three-game sweep of the Angels, who have now dropped six consecutive contests and 12 of their last 19 since June 14.

Suarez, recently named to the American League All-Star team, left the game in the third inning with two outs due to left adductor tightness, an injury he sustained while leaping for a grounder hit by Jo Adell. Following his departure, the Red Sox bullpen stepped up impressively, with Greg Weissert, Tyron Guerrero, and Garrett Whitlock combining to pitch 4 1/3 hitless innings. Although Justin Slaten allowed a run in the eighth, Aroldis Chapman sealed the game with his 18th save, despite giving up a solo homer to Zach Neto in the ninth.

The Angels struck first, scoring two runs in the opening frame on Jorge Soler’s groundout and Adell’s RBI single. However, the Red Sox responded in the second inning when Duran blasted a two-run homer, his 13th of the season, off Angels starter Ryan Johnson, leveling the score at 2-2. The Angels briefly regained the lead at 3-2 with Neto’s RBI double, but Boston capitalized on an error by Neto, who leads the majors with 14 errors, to score three unearned runs in the third.

Tsung-Che Cheng started the rally with a bunt single, and after Anthony Seigler and Ceddanne Rafaela were retired, Wilyer Abreu hit a grounder that should have ended the inning. Neto’s bobble allowed Contreras to come up to bat, and he didn’t disappoint, smashing Johnson’s next pitch for a 446-foot homer to left-center, giving Boston a 5-3 lead.

Adding to their cushion, the Red Sox scored twice more in the seventh inning, with Abreu’s sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Masataka Yoshida extending their lead to 7-3. The Angels managed to score again in the eighth on Donovan Walton’s double and Adell’s subsequent single, but it wasn’t enough to mount a comeback.

Looking ahead, the Red Sox will send left-hander Payton Tolle (4-6, 3.39 ERA) to the mound against White Sox lefty Noah Schultz (2-5, 5.86) on Tuesday night in Chicago. Meanwhile, the Angels will have right-hander Jose Soriano taking on Rangers righty Jacob deGrom (7-5, 3.48 ERA) on the same night in Texas.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.