Red Sox 12, Angels 2: Houck, Homers, Happy.
7-3 headed back to Fenway Park, and a lot to love about the end of the road trip!
First off, let’s talk about the importance of this road trip. You finish Spring Training with two games in Arlington, TX, then you go right to the West Coast for 10 games—Seattle, Oakland, Anaheim. Sounds like a recipe to mess up your season from the get go, right? Not for the 2024 Boston Red Sox.
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They’re headed back to Boston with a 7-3 record, only a game behind the Yankees for the division lead. They lead the Majors in team ERA. They made Sunday probably the easiest game to watch. Let’s see why:
You want your OPS? You got your OPS. These Red Sox cannot stop slugging in 2024!
B3: Houck Escapes a Jam
Second and third, one down, up by three, any runs allowed could certainly have halted any Red Sox momentum in this one. Houck strikes out Taylor Ward and gets Brandon Drury to ground out to finish off the frame. After this, he only allowed one other baserunner on a walk in the sixth.
I’ll talk more below multiple times about Reese McGuire’s three-run blast to really salt this game away, but Masataka Yoshida drives home Tyler O’Neill as well to increase the lead, which should not be overlooked. OB and Youk on the NESN broadcast made a lot of mention that around this time of year, he went on a 16-game hitting streak. Maybe we can see that bat emerge again?
