Marco Scutaro belted a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning and Josh Beckett won for the first time since coming off the disabled list as the Boston Red Sox secured a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
After Kevin Youkilis homered in the seventh to even things at 3, the Red Sox went ahead an inning later off Fernando Rodney (4-1), who loaded the bases with no outs. Scutaro promptly made him pay by clearing the bases with a blast to left field for his sixth homer of the campaign.
That was enough to make a winner of Beckett (2-1), who started for the second time since being sidelined with a back injury. The veteran right-hander allowed three runs on five hits over seven innings.
Two relievers made the lead hold up as Boston swept the three-game series.
Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall each hit solo homers in the second inning for the Red Sox before the Angels clawed back with two runs in the bottom half and another in the fifth to go ahead.
Maicer Izturis, Bobby Wilson and Reggie Willits all drove in a run in the losing effort.
Boston | LA Angels | |
Josh Beckett | Player | Scot Shields |
Win | W/L | No Decision |
7.0 | IP | 1.2 |
5 | Strikeouts | 2 |
5 | Hits | 4 |
3.86 | ERA | 10.80 |
Boston | LA Angels | |
Marco Scutaro | Player | Reggie Willits |
3 | Hits | 2 |
4 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 0 |
6 | TB | 3 |
.750 | Avg | .667 |