The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Friday to move within one win of finally defeating their playoff nemesis.
The Angels, who head to Boston today with a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five American League Division Series, have been dominated by the Red Sox in the postseason in recent years.
After losing to Boston in the ALDS for the last two seasons, and three times in the last five years, the AL West winners now appear ready to return the favor.
Angels starting pitcher Jered Weaver delivered a strong effort in Friday’s contest, striking out seven and allowing just two hits and one run in seven-and-a-third innings.
“We had a good game plan, we talked about it before the game, and Jered executed it perfectly,” Angels catcher Mike Napoli told reporters. “Hats off to him [and the bullpen]. It was awesome, now we’re going to Boston to try to close it out.”
Angels relievers Kevin Jepsen and Brian Fuentes combined to pitch the ninth inning as Los Angeles won their second in a row at Angel Stadium after previously losing six successive playoff games there.
“These two guys were matching each other pitch for pitch,’’ Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “We did a really good job of staying focused, settling down ... The only way we’re going to beat good pitching is to pitch with them, and we were able to do that the first couple of nights.”
Los Angeles trailed 1-0 after Boston catcher Victor Martinez hit an RBI single in the fourth, but Kendry Morales tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice-fly.
The home team broke the game open against Red Sox starter Josh Beckett in the seventh.
Angels slugger Maicer Izturis provided a go-ahead RBI single before Erick Aybar came through with a two-run triple.
Beckett, a tough playoff performer, left the game after Aybar’s hit having given up four runs on five hits in less than seven innings.
“We’ve had a tough time these last two games swinging the bat — that’s an understatement,” Boston manager Terry Francona told reporters after the game.
“We’ll try to win the next game. That’s what we always do,” Francona said
Scott Kazmir will take the mound for the Angels against Clay Buchholz at Boston’s Fenway Park today.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB