ANAHEIM —Plate discipline is certainly a topic the Angels have been discussing all year, but perhaps they finally found the magic words to get them to execute it.
Acting manager Ray Montgomery said the Angels’ 11-walk performance in their 9-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night followed a conversation among the hitters about their approach at the plate.
“Being patient,” Montgomery said. “Making the other guys work. Obviously, it’s something you try to do and not give up being aggressive. But in the same breath, they did a great job.”
The Angels drew four walks and they were hit by two pitches in a five-run first inning, and then they snapped a tie with four runs in the eighth, an inning that included three more walks, one intentional.
The Angels (38-40) were able to score nine runs on just six hits, including one homer. They also took advantage of some sloppiness from the Red Sox in the field and on the bases.
A throwing error from catcher Connor Wong led to the Angels’ scoring the tie-breaking run in the eighth, just before the walks allowed the Angels to pad the lead. Earlier this month the Angels beat the Red Sox, 4-3, in a 10-inning game in which Boston made four errors.
The unsettling moment for the Angels came when closer Kenley Jansen left the game with an apparent injury in the ninth, but Jansen said he simply had a cramp and would be available to pitch on Tuesday. Hector Neris recorded the final three outs after Jansen left.
Monday’s game was tied, 5-5, when LaMonte Wade Jr. singled to lead off the eighth. Wade, who hadn’t stolen a base all season, then took off for second. A good throw might have had Wade, but Wong instead bounced it into center field and Wade went to third.
Wade scored on a Christian Moore sacrifice fly to give the Angels the lead. The Angels got an insurance run on Taylor Ward’s bases-loaded walk. Travis d’Arnaud then singled in two more runs.
The four-run eighth was a fitting bookend to a game that started with both teams putting crooked numbers on the board.
All told, the first inning took 32 minutes for 18 batters to come to the plate, with eight of them scoring. It worked out better for the Angels, though, who had a 5-3 lead.
Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz threw 22 pitches and gave up five singles, leading to three runs. As ugly as that was, it was nothing compared to what Walker Buehler did in the bottom of the inning.
Buehler threw 39 pitches, and Zach Neto hit the first one over the fence, his sixth leadoff homer of the season, and his 12th overall. Neto ended the night with three hits.
After that, the Angels got only one more hit in the inning. Buehler walked four batters and hit two, with three of those forcing in runs.
“That was huge,” Kochanowicz said. “They picked me up. That’s all I can say. I obviously don’t want to go out there and give up three in the first but they responded.”
Kochanowicz then responded by giving up one more run over the next four innings. Kochanowicz said he didn’t feel he needed to change much after the first, because the Red Sox were mostly beating him with a collection of opposite-field singles.
“Just kind of just sticking to my plan, not getting too far off of that,” Kochanowicz said. “The main thing really is just staying in the zone. I did a pretty good job of that. Definitely want to be better, but happy we were able to get the win.”
Kochanowicz also showed continued progress with his new changeup. He threw it 17 times, and the Red Sox whiffed on five of their 11 swings at the pitch. They put it in play four times, a ground ball single in the first inning and then three outs.
Kochanowicz also induced seven ground balls, including an unusual double play in the fifth.
With Jarren Duran at second and no outs, Kochanowicz got Abraham Toro to hit a ground ball to Neto at shortstop. Duran should have stayed at second, but he took off for third, and Neto got him in a rundown. Toro tried to get to second during the rundown, but the Angels threw him out too.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected after that play. He argued that Angels infielder Luis Rengifo was blocking second base with his knee as Toro tried to slide in. Crew chief Alan Porter told a pool reporter there was no obstruction because Rengifo had the ball well before Toro arrived.
Kochanowicz left with a 5-4 lead, but right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn gave up a game-tying homer to Trevor Story in the sixth.
After that, Reid Detmers got out of a jam with two strikeouts in the seventh, and then Sam Bachman struck out two of the three hitters he faced in a perfect eighth.
“There’s games like that where you have to figure out ways to get through innings,” Montgomery said. “And five innings tonight (from Kochanowicz) was enormous. Obviously, he didn’t feel great about it initially, but I think to do that and put us in a position to turn it over to the bullpen was great.”
Originally Published:
