Red Sox Power Past Angels Behind Contreras’ Heroics

The Boston Red Sox showed up to Anaheim on Sunday with their lumber ready and their patience at the plate tested. They left Angel Stadium with a 7-5 victory that felt far more dominant than the final score suggests, thanks to a relentless offensive display that simply overpowered a Los Angeles Angels team that couldn’t quite keep pace despite some spirited at-bats of their own.

Contreras Takes Over in the Third

This game belonged to Willson Contreras, plain and simple. The Red Sox catcher delivered the decisive blow in the third inning when he cranked a 446-foot three-run homer to left-center field that essentially put the game out of reach. It wasn’t just the distance or the three runs that made it special, it was the moment. With Boston needing to break open a 2-2 game, Contreras answered the bell like a professional who understands what’s required on the road in July.

Before Contreras’ explosion, the Red Sox had already shown their ability to manufacture runs. Jarren Duran launched a two-run homer in the second to give Boston its first lead, and the Angels, to their credit, stayed competitive with runs from Zach Neto and Jo Adell early on. But once Contreras connected, this became a game about the Red Sox’s depth and the Angels’ inability to match their power output.

Masataka Yoshida added another run in the seventh with a line drive single to left field, and a sacrifice fly from Wilyer Abreu in the same inning provided the insurance run that would prove crucial. The Red Sox’s pitching staff, meanwhile, managed the Angels’ roster effectively enough. Greg Weissert got credit for the win despite pitching just 1.1 innings, a quirk of modern baseball that speaks to the efficiency of the bullpen work.

Angels Leave Runs on the Field

For all the early competitiveness the Angels displayed, they ultimately couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities. Zach Neto was excellent at the plate, finishing 3 for 5 with two RBIs and showcasing both gap power with a double and late-game thunder with a solo homer in the ninth. Jo Adell chipped in with three hits and two RBIs of his own. But these individual performances felt like drops in an ocean of Red Sox dominance. The Angels generated just five runs across nine innings, and their starting pitcher Ryan Johnson, despite striking out six Red Sox batters, surrendered six hits and two earned runs in just four innings of work before yielding to the bullpen.

The ninth-inning solo shot from Neto was too little, too late, a consolation prize that at least gave Angels fans something to cheer about before the final out. Aroldis Chapman secured the save for Boston, working a clean final inning to slam the door on any late-game heroics.

This game served as a reminder of something fundamental in baseball: talent wins in July, and the Red Sox have plenty of it. Contreras, Yoshida, Duran, and the supporting cast proved they could beat you in multiple ways on the road. The Angels, meanwhile, will rue the opportunities they didn’t capitalize on and wonder what might have been if they could have matched Boston’s power output. In the end, that’s the difference between a winner and a competitive also-ran.