The Red Sox haven’t been super sharp in September, though they haven’t exactly needed to be. There shouldn’t be a ton of panic after the Angels took two of three in Boston with the 6-4 loss for the Red Sox in the rubber match.
The magic number will fall. The team will be whole soon. So don’t freak out about a series loss to a lowly Los Angeles team.
Here’s three takeaways from Wednesday night’s loss
HOME RUNS HURT
Jake Bennett struggled with one tough inning where the home run ball. Los Angeles scored
five runs off the lefty in the third inning from a three-run blast from Zach Neto, who also had four hits Tuesday night, and a two-run shot for Jose Siri.
The Angels added another run in the fourth inning and didn’t look back behind another solid start from Ryan Johnson, though the Red Sox did snap his six-start streak of allowing two runs or fewer as he surrendered three earned runs.
RELAX, JUST GET THE LINEUP HEALTHY
Boston showed some solid fight late with four runs coming as the game went on. Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu impressed as they both slugged homers over 400 feet.
While the group had ups and downs in the series, Willson Contreras could rejoin the team this weekend after a Friday rehab assignment with Double-A Portland. Ceddanne Rafaela appears on the right track after a retroactive injured list designation as well.
As we’ve discussed all September, just get the lineup healthy for the postseason. They will.
MAGIC NUMBER WATCH
The loss would have kept the magic number for the Red Sox at 10 to clinch an American League playoff spot.
Instead, Boston got some help from an American League East rival as the Blue Jays lost 2-0 to the Athletics already Wednesday. That Toronto defeat dropped Boston’s magic number to nine with 15 games remaining.
