The Los Angeles Angels haven’t won back-to-back games since Aug. 12-13, but they’ll be seeking consecutive victories when they visit the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
Los Angeles (55-90) beat Texas 5-2 on Aug. 12 and 7-0 on Aug. 13, but has a 7-16 record since then. The Angels beat the Red Sox 6-1 Tuesday and have a chance to win the three-game series. Boston (80-66) recorded a 5-2 win in Monday’s matchup.
Rookie right-hander Ryan Johnson (3-8, 5.17 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Angels on Wednesday, and he’s been one of the few positives in what has been a disappointing season for Los Angeles.
Johnson, 24, has a 1.67 ERA in his last six starts and has allowed one run or fewer in five of those outings.
“I feel like I’m strong and still in my stride, even this late in the season,” Johnson said following his last start, when he took the loss despite limiting Pittsburgh to a run on four hits in six innings of the Pirates’ 1-0 victory.
“That means everything to have that consistency piece, and it’s still far from what I want to be doing. I want to do it for a full season, then for years and years, not just for half a season.”
Johnson is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in his only career start against Boston.
“It’s just a funny game,” Johnson said. “You can execute your pitches and give up hits, and you cannot execute pitches and still get outs. [My stuff] has always been there. … It’s just going out there and having the confidence that I belong in the big leagues and being able to trust myself.”
Boston will send left-hander Jake Bennett (9-6, 3.34 ERA) to the mound. He’s 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA in one career start against the Angels.
The Red Sox likely will be happy to face anyone other than Reid Detmers, who tossed six scoreless innings and struck out nine in Tuesday’s win. Detmers retired the last 10 batters he faced.
“The slider was very, very difficult to pick up, or for us to square up,” Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He was hugging the top rail with a fastball the whole time, and then he got some long at-bat spots where, just as the at-bat’s dragging on, he just decides like, ‘Boom.’ Here comes a curveball out of nowhere, or a changeup in certain spots.
“He used those just enough to kind of end an at-bat if he needed to. I just thought he threw the ball really, really well.”
Zach Neto provided most of the offense by going 4 for 5 with a two-run home run in the ninth. It was the second time this season Neto has had at least four hits in a game. He had five hits during an 18-3 win over Houston on Aug. 20.
“It was nice to get some runs for Det,” Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Then added on those two extra in the end with Net hitting that home run, too. It was an all-around good game tonight.”
-Field Level Media
