Kent Bewley's News Story Collection

On Wed, Sept 9, the Los Angeles Angels took on the Boston Red Sox in the series finale of a three-game set at Fenway Park. After winning 6-1 the night before, the Halos were seeking a series win against Boston and also looking to achieve back-to-back wins on the road against a single opponent for only the third time this season. Ryan Johnson took the mound in having a very solid ERA since August and looking for a win for only the fourth time this season. The Red Sox countered with Jake Bennett, who got a win against the Angels on Jul 3.

The game started with a leadoff single by Zach Neto, who had a four-hit game for the second time in his career on Tuesday night. But Mike Trout hit into a double play and José Siri tried to leg out an infield single and was initially ruled safe. But Boston manager Chad Tracy challenged the call on the field and the ruling was overturned to an out. Johnson pitched a good first inning, but got into a jam in the bottom of the second when he gave up two straight singles to Nick Sogard and Caleb Durbin. Johnson refocused after as he got Jarren Duran to fly out to Siri and got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to fly out to Trout to escape.

In the top of the third, the Halos’ bats got going as Oswald Peraza and Denzer Guzman hit singles and Tyler Heineman advanced them a base on a good sacrifice bunt. Neto came up next against Bennett and he drew a full count, then unloaded on a four-seam fastball that barely cleared the Green Monster for a three-run shot. Neto had his second straight game with a homer and his second straight season with 25+ home runs. Trout kept the hitting going with a double to center field and in the slight downpour at Fenway, Siri hit an 0-2 fastball from Bennett out to right center field. The ball went into the bullpens for a two-run shot, with it being Siri’s eighth homer of the season and his first since Aug 9 against the Miami Marlins.

With a 5-0 lead, Johnson pitched clean in the bottom of the third and he got another run of support when Guzman hit a two-out solo homer over the Green Monster against Bennett. Johnson struck out quite a few Boston batters and induced a lot of fly ball outs. But that came back to bite him when he gave up a two-run home run to Roman Anthony in the bottom of the fifth. Johnson kept his cool and struck out Mickey Gasper to get himself in line for the win.

The Halos had plenty of opportunities to add onto their six runs via three homers, but were unable to do so in the top of the sixth with two runners on base and one out. Johnson gave up a first-pitch leadoff homer to Wilyer Abreu and the Red Sox had cut the six-run Angels’ lead in half. Thankfully, Johnson got the next three Boston batters out to end his outing in style. Ryan Watson entered to pitch in the bottom of the seventh and after giving up a leadoff single to Duran, he got the next two hitters out. Kurt Suzuki subbed Watson out for Tayler Saucedo, with both pitching making their second straight appearances in this series. Saucedo struck out Anthony on six pitches to end the seventh inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Samy Natera Jr came in to pitch in his second consecutive outing in as many nights and he only gave up a single to Trevor Story as he got through the inning easily. Following another missed add-on opportunity for the Halos, Ben Joyce came in for his first save opportunity in 12 days. Joyce got a strikeout on a 103.9 mph fastball against Durbin, but he proceeded to walk Duran. However, Joyce got Kiner-Falefa to fly out to Wade Meckler in left field for the second out of the inning. Joyce faced Nate Eaton in seeking the final out of the game, but he gave up an 0-2 single to right field and Duran scored after advancing to second base on defensive indifference. With a two-run deficit, the Red Sox had Anthony coming up representing the game-tying run. Joyce got down 2-0, but he threw two fastballs to even the count against Anthony, who swung at a 2-2 fastball that went out to right field. Siri made the game-ending catch and the Halos had clinched a series win at Fenway Park.

Johnson got his fourth win of the season as his ERA continued to be under 2.00 in his past seven starts. With a few opportunities left to take the mound, Johnson is definitely looking like a solid part of the rotation after having a shaky first half of the season and being sent down multiple times to Triple-A. With his fourth save of the season, Joyce has now tied Jordan Romano and Ryan Zeferjahn for the team lead in a stat that’s been hard to achieve for the Halos bullpen this season. With a lot of home runs as a shortstop, Neto continues to prove his worth offensively and with the team lead in hits, homers and RBIs, a team MVP award seems likely for him.

With 56 wins on the season, the Halos are seeking to get at least seven more wins to avoid their first 100-loss season in franchise history. Their remaining schedule will come against teams who are all under .500 and are probably not going to make the postseason(among the two who still have a legitimate chance). A three-game road series against the Washington Nationals will occur over the weekend for the Angels, who will return home for a seven-game homestand at the Big A against the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins. The 2026 season will conclude for the Halos on the road as a six-game road trip against the Athletics and Mariners occurs. With a chance to close out a tough season with a record that isn’t the worst one in MLB, the Angels will continue to play as hard as they possibly can in looking forward to a brighter future.