Martin Perez threw six scoreless innings and got support from an offense that hit three home runs, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 9-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Perez (1-2) got his first win of the season in his eighth start, allowing three hits. He struck out five, including Shohei Ohtani twice.
Alex Verdugo snapped an 0-for-14 slide with a home run in the first inning against Angels starter Dylan Bundy. Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers also homered for Boston, which finished with 12 hits.
Verdugo, Bogaerts, Devers, J.D. Martinez, Bobby Dalbec and Franchy Cordero each had two hits for the Red Sox, who can complete a three-game sweep of the Angels with a victory Sunday.
Bundy (0-5), the Angels’ Opening Day starter, gave up seven runs and eight hits in four innings, but was still in the game entering the fourth trailing just 1-0.
Bogaerts led off with a double and Devers walked to begin the inning, but Bundy retired the next two hitters. Dalbec, though, followed with a two-run double and Cordero added an RBI double to make it 4-0.
In the fifth, Bundy gave up consecutive singles by Verdugo and Martinez before Bogaerts hit a three-run home run to increase the lead to 7-0. Cordero’s RBI double in the sixth and Devers’ solo homer in the seventh accounted for Boston’s final two runs.
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The Angels’ best chance to score against Perez came in the first inning after Taylor Ward led off with a walk and Ohtani followed with a single to left field. Ohtani, though, had ideas of stretching the hit into a double. But Ward stayed at second and Ohtani was caught trying to scramble back to first.
The Angels finished with just four hits, including two from first baseman Phil Gosselin. Mike Trout went 0 for 2 with two walks.
–Field Level Media