After initially trailing by six runs, the Los Angeles Angels pulled off a wild 14-13 victory over the Boston Red Sox in 10 innings on Thursday night. The win gives L.A. its first sweep since the All-Star break.
Angels Rally To Sweep Red Sox In Thriller
The Angels needed numerous rallies in their 14-13 victory over the Red Sox on Thursday night.
What originally looked like a possible Red Sox blowout quickly developed into a two-sided slugfest as both teams' offenses came to life. After two innings, Boston had opened up a 6-0 lead as the top of the batting order piled hits on C.J. Wilson, but the Angels quickly responded with eight runs in the third inning to go ahead.
Those first three frames would prove to be only the beginning of a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, as no lead would be safe going forward. By the end of the sixth inning, the Red Sox were back ahead 9-8 behind a solo homer from Mike Aviles and Jacoby Ellsbury's RBI double.
After the Angels tied things back up in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Mike Trout, the possibility of extra innings began to loom. Boston responded to Trout's single by taking back the lead, 11-9, entering the ninth inning, but Los Angeles once again bit back with three runs in the top of the ninth to take a 12-11 lead.
That rally in the ninth inning gave the Angels a chance to close things out with Ernesto Frieri and his 2.04 season ERA on the mound, but Cody Ross hit a huge solo homer to send the game to extra innings.
Enter the Angels' Kendry Morales in the tenth inning, who finally put an end to the comebacks with his solo shot off Alfredo Aceves. L.A. would add an insurance run on Vernon Wells' double that would ultimately prove to be the game-winner.
In the bottom of the tenth, the Red Sox once again threatened by putting the game-tying run on first base after Dustin Pedroia’s RBI single, but Frieri avoided blowing another lead by striking out Adrian Gonzalez to end the game.
Overall, Thursday night's game saw a stunning six lead changes and two ties before Morales' solo shot ultimately put the Angels ahead. The victory completes a sweep for the Angels, but they're still well behind the Rangers in the AL West standings.
For more on the Angels, please visit Halos Heaven and SB Nation Los Angeles. For more on the Red Sox, check out Over the Monster.
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