BOSTON (AP) — David Ortiz homered for his 2,000th hit with Boston to help the Red Sox beat the struggling Los Angeles Angels 5-4 Friday night.
Ortiz’s solo shot in the fifth was his 522nd career home run, moving into sole possession of 19th place on baseball’s all-time list and breaking a tie he held with a trio of Hall of Famers including Red Sox great Ted Williams.
Mookie Betts and Ortiz had three hits apiece for Boston. Brock Holt had two doubles in his return to the Red Sox lineup after missing more than a month with a concussion.
The game included a rain delay of 1 hour, 35 minutes in the sixth inning.
C.J. Cron hit a grand slam for the Angels, who lost their fourth straight and 10th in 11.
Los Angeles nearly scored the tying run in the ninth but Mike Trout had to stop at third on Daniel Nava’s ground-rule double down the right-field line that bounced over the short wall.
Craig Kimbrel finished up for his 17th save. Knuckleballer Steven Wright (9-5) got the win despite struggling with his control when the rain got heavy in the sixth.
Jhoulys Chacin (2-5) allowed five runs on 12 hits in just 4 2/3 innings.
The Angels had the potential tying run on third in the eighth when Johnny Giavotella tripled to left-center with one out. The Angels tried getting him home with a safety squeeze that reliever Koji Uehara foiled with a great defensive play. Uehara scooped up Carlos Perez’s bunt and flipped the ball with his glove to Christian Vazquez in time to tag Giavotella at the plate.
Ortiz hadn’t homered since tying Williams, Willie McCovey and Frank Thomas on June 17 against Seattle. Ortiz broke the tie with a line drive to right to put Boston up 3-0 in the fifth.
Jackie Bradley Jr. followed with a single and scored on a double by Holt, who scored on a single by Vazquez to put Boston up 5-0.
The rain started after Ortiz’s homer and was falling steadily by the top of the sixth, when Wright’s shutout bid unraveled quickly. The knuckleballer struggled in the weather and the Angels loaded the bases with nobody out for Cron, who drove a 3-2 pitch over the Green Monster.
That was all for Wright, who allowed four runs on eight hits, walked three and struck out three.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: LHP Andrew Heaney (torn ulnar collateral ligament) underwent Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles, likely sidelining him until the 2018 season.
Red Sox: Holt was activated and start in left field, his first game since going on the concussion DL as of May 19. Holt had one of the defensive plays of the night in the fourth when he threw out Cron at second as he tried to stretch a line drive into a double.
UP NEXT
Angels: LHP Hector Santiago (4-4, 5.27) returns after getting tagged for six runs on seven hits and walks in a no-decision Sunday against Oakland.
Red Sox: RHP Clay Buchholz (3-8, 5.90) is 0-2 in his return to the rotation after spending a few weeks in the bullpen.
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