Clay Buchholz pitched seven scoreless innings and rookie Ryan Kalish belted his first career grand slam, powering the Boston Red Sox to a 6-0 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Tuesday night.
Buchholz (14-5) improved to 4-0 in his last five starts, allowing just five hits while striking out three and walking two. He surpassed Jon Lester for the team lead in wins and lowered his ERA to a sparkling 2.36.
Kalish delivered the big blow against Angels ace Jered Weaver (11-8), depositing a two-out changeup into the Boston bullpen in the fourth inning to stake Buchholz to a 5-0 lead.
Darnell McDonald added a solo homer and Victor Martinez an RBI double for the Red Sox, who improved to 8-0 against Los Angeles this season.
Weaver, who was 2-0 with a 0.82 ERA in his last three starts, was tagged for six runs on six hits in five innings. It marked the first time that Weaver failed to pitch at least six innings since May 18.
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-4 in his return to the lineup after missing 44 games with a fractured bone in his foot.
LA Angels | Boston | |
Jered Weaver | Player | Clay Buchholz |
Loss | W/L | Win |
5.0 | IP | 7.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 3 |
6 | Hits | 5 |
10.80 | ERA | 0.00 |
LA Angels | Boston | |
Hideki Matsui | Player | David Ortiz |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.667 | Avg | .500 |