BOSTON -- Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and the offense both had a tough showing in the Angels’ series opener against the Red Sox on Monday, although rookie Moisés Ballesteros showed some promise with his first career three-hit game.
Rodriguez, though, allowed five runs on six hits and four walks over four innings, and the Angels managed just six hits in a 5-2 loss at Fenway Park. It marked their 12th loss over their last 14 contests, and they’ve averaged 3.2 runs per game over that stretch.
Here are three takeaways from a rare series-opening day game on Labor Day:
Ballesteros starting to get on track
Ballesteros hit at every level in the Minor Leagues, and is considered a bat-first player who was ranked among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects before each of the last two years. But he’s surprisingly struggled at the plate since being acquired in a trade with the Cubs that sent reliever Ryan Zeferjahn to Chicago on Aug. 3, slashing .195/.242/.283 with two homers, four doubles and eight RBIs in 30 games.
Ballesteros, though, has been showing some signs of getting out of his slump, and has fared better than expected defensively at catcher and first base. He made the most out of his third career start at first base on Monday, making a diving stop defensively to end the fifth while going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and a long single off the Green Monster.
“He's looking a lot more comfortable in the box,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He's controlling the strike zone better, and when he's getting that pitch, he's doing some damage on it. So, I really like where he's at. I know he's been working hard with the hitting guys, so it's nice to see some results.”
Ballesteros had the chance to do some real damage in the third with the bases loaded, but he popped out to third to end the inning. He crushed a solo shot in his next at-bat against reliever Wyatt Olds for his second homer since joining the Angels and his eighth on the year. And he added a double in the eighth to fall a triple short of the cycle.
Ballesteros has been faring better in September, slashing .333/.364/.667 with two homers, a double and four RBIs in six games, and a strong finish would provide some optimism heading into next year.
Rodriguez hurt by former batterymate
Rodriguez pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam with one out in the first, but wasn’t as fortunate in the second.
He gave up a leadoff homer to Jarren Duran before facing his former Orioles teammate Adley Rutschman with two on and two out.
The two know each other well, as Rutschman caught 33 of his 43 starts with the Orioles, and they were both first-round Draft picks by Baltimore -- Rodriguez was No. 11 in 2018 and Rutschman was the No. 1 overall selection in ’19. On Monday, Rutschman bested Rodriguez with a three-run shot down the right-field line that hit off Pesky’s Pole.
It came on a 2-2 fastball from Rodriguez at 97.8 mph, but it caught too much of the zone. It was his fourth straight four-seamer, so it was clear he was trying to challenge Rutschman, but it didn’t work out as Rutschman delivered a pivotal blow.
“In that moment, that fastball, that's the best pitch to me,” Rodriguez said. “It probably could have been up and away, up and in, but he's a good hitter, man. Caught me for a long time. Kind of weird seeing him in the box in a different uniform. But to me, heater's the best pitch. So, there's no regrets.”
Offense continues to scuffle
The Angels were shut out in Pittsburgh on both Friday and Sunday in a pair of 1-0 losses, and the offense again had trouble in Monday’s series opener. Right-hander Brayan Bello entered with a 5.07 ERA and had allowed four earned runs in each of his previous two outings. But he threw five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against the Angels.
Ballesteros provided most of the offense with his solo blast and his double in the eighth that set up an RBI groundout from Christian Moore.
The Angels went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base while striking out 15 times.
“Definitely some tough at-bats,” Suzuki said. “Bello looked like his slider was backing up a little bit under, and guys are kind of anticipating it to break. So he kept us off balance.”