Boston 6, LA Angels 1
When: 1:35 PM ET, Sunday, May 24, 2015
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Temperature:
80°
Umpires:
Home -
John Hirschbeck, 1B -
John Tumpane, 2B -
Sam Holbrook, 3B -
James Hoye
Attendance:
37742
By The Sports Xchange
BOSTON -- Mike Napoli thought he would switch it up before Friday night's game, reversing roles with a child in Boston's dugout, asking him to sign his bat instead of the other way around.
He must have signed the sweet spot because the first baseman hasn't missed much since.
Napoli hit his fourth homer in three games and drove in four runs to back eight dominant innings by Wade Miley and lead the Red Sox to a 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
"Everyone's always asking for my autograph, I think it's kind of cool to go up to one of the kids and go, 'Hey, let me get your autograph.' They love that and they write their name on the bat," said Napoli, who belted five homers in his last six games after hitting just three through his first 33. "It was kind of crazy, the first home run I hit (Friday), I actually hit it where he signed it. So it's pretty cool."
Miley (4-4) had little trouble with the Angels in his first time facing them, retiring the first 14 batters he saw en route to his third straight win. The right-hander allowed just one run on four hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
"Miley today, he was unbelievable," Napoli said. "His tempo was awesome."
Koji Uehara pitched a perfect ninth.
Napoli's two-run homer in the second was his eighth of the season and provided all the support Miley would need. He added a two-run double in the eighth and shortstop Xander Bogaerts collected four hits as Boston won for just the third time in its last seven games.
"Wade Miley, in combination with outstanding defense, he works so quick, I think he threw 48 pitches in five innings, we executed some of the small things," said Boston manager John Farrell. "(Napoli) with a huge homestand and a huge weekend, it's nice to see him come around. Just a well-executed ballgame."
Center fielder Mike Trout had an RBI double for the Angels, who lost for the third time in four games.
Napoli followed Bogaerts' single with his third homer in two games, crushing an 0-1 changeup from Hector Santiago into the seats in straightaway center for a 2-0 lead.
Napoli had a rough start to the season, batting .162 with three homers and 11 RBIs over the opening month-and-a-half before Pedroia helped him rediscover with his swing. The two watched video and analyzed Napoli's approach on the flight home from Seattle on May 17, and he's been tearing the cover off the ball since.
"I've been in a slump in my career," Napoli said. "I know I'm just one swing, one at-bat away from from feeling good."
Miley cruised through 4 2/3 innings, getting Los Angeles to swing early in counts, before walking catcher Chris Iannetta and then allowing a single to designated hitter C.J. Cron after an original ruling that he was hit by a pitch earlier in the at-bat was changed to a foul ball.
Los Angeles finally got to Miley in the sixth when left fielder Erick Aybar singled and scored on Trout's double.
"We were trying to be aggressive early and got some pitches to hit and we missed them," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "Then he was cruising along with a low pitch count and just kept making some pitches."
Boston's defense helped him in the seventh, with second baseman Dustin Pedroia and third baseman Brock Holt both making sensational diving plays, and the two infielders aided Miley again in the eighth with an inning-ending double play.
"The defense was unbelievable," Miley said. "Some of those plays that Brock and (Pedroia) made."
The Red Sox made it 3-0 in the fifth when Holt doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Pedroia, Napoli's double off reliever Cam Bedrosian made it 5-1 and pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval added an RBI single.
Santiago (3-3) gave up three runs on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander threw a career-high 124 pitches.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| LA Angels
|
4 |
0 |
5 |
.133 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Boston
|
12 |
1 |
18 |
.375 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
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