Dodgers hit 6 homers to complete series sweep of Red Sox – Boston Herald

Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates his victory as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Three pitches into Sunday’s final game of the series between the Red Sox and Dodgers in Los Angeles, James Paxton was already down two runs.

Romy Gonzalez doubled on the first pitch and Jarren Duran homered on the second pitch he saw, giving Boston an immediate lead.

But anyone who thought a 2-0 Red Sox lead would hold up clearly wasn’t looking when Freddie Freeman crushed Boston’s 1-0 lead with a game-tying grand slam in the eighth inning on Friday, or when Will Smith hit a walk-off in the 11th inning on Saturday. The Dodgers answered right away, hitting Kutter Crawford harder than he’d ever been hit before and winning 9-6 to sweep the Sox out of town.

While the first two losses were a combination of missed opportunities and late-game bullpen implosions, the story on Sunday was the Sox starter. Crawford entered the game on a career-best streak of 15 scoreless innings, then surrendered a new career-high five home runs (previous high: three). He’s only the sixth pitcher in franchise history to allow that many homers in an outing, the first since Nathan Eovaldi on an unlucky day in 2022.

The Red Sox right-handed pitcher’s night started off promisingly. Leadoff man Shohei Ohtani struck out three straight batters and Teoscar Hernández grounded out.

It was all downhill from there. Freddie Freeman’s two-out solo homer put the Dodgers on the board, and back-to-back doubles by Andy Pages and Gavin Lux tied the game before Crawford could avoid the first.

Each of the Dodgers’ five homers off Crawford was a solo shot. Teoscar Hernández in the third, Lux in the fourth, and Austin Barnes and Ohtani in the fifth. Ohtani hit his 473 feet out. The Dodger Blue version of Ted Williams’ red chair.

“For a left-hander to go there, that was, I’m speechless,” Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said during the broadcast as he put on the headset for an inning. “I think it went between the stands and the roof … My goodness, I’ve never seen a ball go that far.”

Crawford’s night was over after five innings. He allowed six earned runs on seven hits, including five homers, struck out two and walked none. He threw 76 pitches, 43 for strikes, before Bailey Horn, Chase Anderson and Kenley Jansen took over.

Meanwhile, Paxton returned to the mound a changed man. After giving up a leadoff single to David Hamilton—who promptly stole second, then third—the veteran left-hander retired 11 of the next 12 batters, with Rafael Devers reaching on an error by Kiké Hernández being the exception. What’s more, “Big Maple” began throwing harder as he pitched deeper into the game.

“His bike is getting so much better,” an impressed Kershaw told the ESPN booth as he watched from the dugout. “It’s like he’s getting stronger.”

Paxton, who pitched for the Red Sox last season, ended up throwing to two batters in the sixth but didn’t record a single out. He allowed three earned runs on four hits, four walks and seven strikeouts.

In all, Boston collected nine hits, Los Angeles 10. The most consistent thing about the Red Sox throughout the series was how they found ways to squander opportunities. They were a combined 5-for-39 with runners in scoring position and left 25 men on base, sweeping themselves as often as the Dodgers swept them.

Through the sixth inning on Sunday, Duran and O’Neill had driven in all of Boston’s runs in the series. Ceddanne Rafaela changed that in the top of the sixth, hitting a single on the first pitch he saw from Joe Kelly to score their first run since the first inning.

The game was still within reach at 6-3 when Jansen took the mound for the bottom of the eighth. But like Crawford in the first inning, the veteran closer got two quick outs, then was hit hard. Lux singled and stole second, then came around to score on Cavan Biggio’s single to center. Biggio advanced on a balk, then rounded the bases on Jason Heyward’s home run. Just like that, Los Angeles had doubled its lead.

Had Jansen pitched a clean eighth, the ninth could have been a stunning upset. Facing Evan Phillips, Rafaela led off with a single and Dom Smith followed with a ground-rule double, putting two in scoring position for Boston’s most consistent bat. And once again, Duran answered the call, the leadoff man’s 30th double of the season bringing both men around to score. Smith got O’Neill swinging for the first out, then issued back-to-back walks to Rafael Devers and Connor Wong to load the bases.

With Masataka Yoshida tying the score, Dave Roberts brought in Daniel Hudson. The veteran righty should have had a game-ending double play, but Yoshida rushed the sideline and Kiké Hernández didn’t throw in time, so the Dodgers had to settle for a force out. Duran scored and the game continued.

But the rally attempt was too little and too late. With two outs and runners on the corners, Hudson Wilyer got Abreu to fly out on a slider under the zone.

A week ago, the Red Sox entered the All-Star break on top of the world. They came out struggling at the worst possible time. With the July 30 trade deadline just a week away, they’ve lost three in a row for the first time since mid-May and have been blown out in a series of more than two games for the first time since their home opener against the Orioles in early April.

And they fell short of the third spot in the American League Wild Card.

No Colorado Rockies for Jansen

Kenley Jansen will not be with the Red Sox on the second and final leg of this road trip. Denver’s high altitude has triggered his atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat, several times in the past, and his doctors have told him he is at high risk for further incidents there.

On Sunday night, the veteran told reporters he suffered a heart shock after pitching for the club in 2012, 2018 and 2022. He underwent catheter ablation surgeries after the ’12 and ’18 seasons to improve his condition.