Kenley Jansen didn’t have it on Sunday. Clinging to a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, Jansen hit his first batter, allowed a single to the second and then walked the third to load the bases with no outs.
Things could have quickly spiraled out of control, but the veteran closer dug deep and found a way to get it done.
Jansen forced a sacrifice fly and then struck out two to end the game, winning a climactic duel with future Hall of Famer Mike Trout to lock down the 5-4 win over the Angels.
“That’s the best player in the game still,” Jansen said. “We’ve already been through a tough stretch and you’ve got to find a way to get the best hitter out and win the series.”
With the bullpen running on fumes and the club needing him to pitch into the sixth inning, starting pitcher Brayan Bello did his job, throwing 107 pitches to make it through 5.1 innings. He finished with two runs allowed on six hits and two walks with a season-high eight strikeouts, and after running his pitch count up to 69 after three innings he buckled down and threw much more efficiently the rest of the way before handing the ball off to the bullpen in the sixth.
Coming into the game Bello had a 4.11 ERA through his first three starts, each of which could charitably be described as “good, not great.” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said prior to the game he thinks Bello has been “ok” but that “there’s more there” and they needed to see it Sunday.
“Today’s a big day for us, we need him to go deep into the game, and he knows it,” Cora said pregame. “Bullpen-wise we’re a little bit short. Weissert went two, (Winckowski) went two, we have to be very careful, especially with the schedule. We don’t get an off day until a week from Monday, so just keep mixing your pitches, keep doing that.
“I think the slider is still a work in progress,” Cora continued. “But he’s been able to compete and today’s one of those days where we need the kid to go more than five, to be honest with you.”
Bello wasn’t perfect. He allowed a solo home run to Brandon Drury in the second and allowed the Angels to tie the game at 2-2 on an RBI groundout in the third, but after walking the next batter he finished the third strong with back to back strikeouts and quickly got to work from there.
The 24-year-old needed just eight pitches to get through the fourth, benefitting from a nice double play started by shortstop David Hamilton, and sent the Angels down 1-2-3 in the fifth as well. Hamilton stepped up with another excellent defensive play to nail Mike Trout for the first out of the sixth, but then Bello allowed two straight singles — the latter an extremely unlucky high chopper that Aaron Hicks beat out at first — forcing Cora to make the call to the bullpen.
Justin Slaten, who has been terrific this season and entered the game with a perfect 0.00 ERA through his first five appearances, needed only one pitch to force an inning-ending double play to end the threat.
“That one-pitch double play saved the day,” Cora said.
Slaten then pitched a scoreless seventh and allowed a run in the eighth on a Trout triple and subsequent Taylor Ward groundout before Jansen came on and survived the top of the ninth for his fourth save of the season. It was also his 424th career save, moving Jansen into a tie with John Franco for fifth all-time.
“He’s fighting with his delivery right now, and his timing, but it’s still Kenley Jansen,” Cora said. “I bet half a million people out there walk Mike Trout but this guy, he’s fifth on the list of saves, he’s one of the best players in the world but we trust him.”
Offensively Sunday was another good day for the Red Sox, who benefitted from three home runs, including back-to-back solo shots by Tyler O’Neill and Triston Casas in the bottom of the first. Pablo Reyes gave Boston a 3-2 lead in the fifth with an RBI double that just barely missed being a homer to the deepest part of the ballpark, and in the sixth Masataka Yoshida dropped one into the bullpen for a two-run shot, his first homer of the season.
The Red Sox also beat up on Angels lefty Tyler Anderson, who came into the day having posted 14 straight scoreless innings to start the season, and chased him after 4.1 innings. Getting picked off to end both the fifth and sixth innings wasn’t ideal, but collectively the club did enough to pull out the win.
With the win the Red Sox (9-7) take the weekend series against the Angels and finish 4-2 against Los Angeles. Boston will look to make it three in a row when they open a four-game series against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday morning. Kutter Crawford (0-0, 0.57 ERA) is scheduled to face off against Guardians right-hander Xzavion Curry, who is making his first start of season. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 a.m.
