Four Real? Red Sox vs Angels 6-9-13

Ryan Dempster notched his 2,000th career strikeout Sunday.

Jan-Christian Sorensen
Contributing Writer

Going, going, going, going, GONE.  

The Red Sox hit four home runs — including two by Jarrod Saltalamacchia — on Sunday at Fenway Park to earn a 10-5 win and the series victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

“Salty” went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs on the day, while David Ortiz also went 2-for-4 and chipped in with three RBI, giving Sox starter Ryan Dempster (4-6, 4.40) some much-needed run support on his way to the win.

Here are the four at-bats that changed the game:

1) In the bottom of the first after two quick outs, Albert Pujols launched a home run off Dempster to give the Angels an early 1-0 lead. It was Pujols’ tenth long ball of the year and his eighth career dinger off Dempster. Pujols has taken Dempster deep more times than any other player. Two innings later Dempster would plunk Pujols, but whether it was an even-up for the earlier homer or for C.J. Wilson brushing back Mike Napoli with some chin music in Saturday night’s game wasn't clear.

2) In the bottom of the third with the score tied 1-1 and Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia on first and second, respectively, David Ortiz continued his torrid home-run hitting spree, teeing off on Joe Blanton to right center field to give the Sox a 4-1 lead. It was Ortiz’s fourth homer in seven games and his 13th this season.

3) In the sixth, Dempster sat down out Alberto Callaspo to record his 2,000th career strikeout — becoming one of only five active pitchers and only the second Canadian-born hurler besides Ferguson Jenkins to achieve that lofty milestone.

4) This key at-bat was actually two: in the bottom of the sixth Saltalamacchia drove a four-seamer from Blanton deep into the center field seats for his seventh round-tripper of the season and a 6-3 Sox lead. One batter later, Mike Carp took the first pitch he saw from Blanton and went back-to-back, jacking it into nearly the same spot in center for a 7-3 Sox advantage and his sixth homer of the year. It was the fifth time this season the Sox have parked back-to-back balls past the fences.

The Sox now head down to Florida for a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. John Lackey (3-5, 2.79 ERA will take on Alex Cobb (6-2, 2.39 ERA) in the opener of that series Monday night.

Twitter: @jan_doh