Angels are no match against Chris Sale in loss to Red Sox

BOSTON —  Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun raced to his left, eyes trained on a baseball slicing toward the right-field foul line at Fenway Park. If he didn’t get to it, the ball would skitter into no-man’s land. A Boston Red Sox batter would easily have an extra-base hit, maybe an inside-the-park homer, to lead off the fourth inning. Not an ideal situation for an Angels team that on Thursday struggled to pick up its starting pitcher.

Calhoun did not allow those circumstances to arise. He dived, fully extended his body and stuck out his right arm. The ball nestled into Calhoun’s glove, a few inches away from a fence that Calhoun might have crashed into if he were taller than 5 feet 10.

“I knew I had a chance to make a play and gave it a shot,” Calhoun said later. “Probably one of my better ones.”

The catch was so impressive, Boston fans cheered Calhoun when the replay streamed across the videoboard.

It was the Angels’ only highlight on a night they dropped their seventh straight game, falling 3-0 to a sputtering Red Sox squad that had lost nine of 11. Boston’s Chris Sale commanded all the attention, returning to vintage form with eight masterful innings.

Angels starter Dillon Peters tried to keep the Angels in the game. He mostly used his low-90s fastball to his advantage, striking out Rafael Devers twice and Sandy Leon once on high heaters. His curveball and changeup drew three swings-and-misses each. He allowed only five hits and struck out eight in six innings before relinquishing the mound to relievers Taylor Cole and JC Ramirez, who threw one scoreless inning apiece.

But the Red Sox twice did damage. Sam Travis jumped on a first-pitch, 93-mph heater down the middle and crushed it 443 feet to straightaway center field for a 2-0 Boston lead in the second. Sandy Leon led off the fifth inning with a solo shot that sailed over the Green Monster.

The Angels never recovered, handcuffed by an especially effective Sale.