Final: Dodgers 5, Red Sox 2 - Red Sox lose first game to Dodgers in dry offensive game

The Red Sox lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 to open up the series.

Boston only recorded five hits in this game failing to give proper run support to Brayan Bello in his start. Despite only allowing three runs in 5.1 inning, Bello was the losing pitcher tonight.

The Dodgers scored their first three runs in the first three innings of the game. After a double that started the second inning from Andy Pages, Bello allowed a bloop single to Tommy Edman giving LA their first run. 

The third inning was Bello's worst outing. After getting the first out, Bello allowed three consecutive singles which loaded up the bases. Bello then allowed a walk to Teoscar Hernandez and a sac fly RBI to Pages giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

The Red Sox responded in the bottom half of the inning scoring two runs of their own. Connor Wong got it started with a leadoff double, and he was driven home by Jarren Duran. Alex Bregman brought home Duran in the next at-bat with an RBI double to left field.

This ended up being the only successful inning Boston had at the plate. They went scoreless the remainder of the game despite only being down one for an extensive period of time. Emmet Sheehan, who entered this game with an ERA over four, pitched 5.0 innings giving up Boston's only two runs.

As the Red Sox tried to play catch up, the Dodgers extended their lead back to three in the eighth inning. Jorge Alcala was brought into the game after Chris Murphy gave up a hit to Freddie Freeman, and he allowed a two-run home run to Hernandez which sealed the win for the Dodgers.

This was another game where Boston didn't provide much at the plate while also striking out more times than needed. While the pitching wasn't great, Bello and the bullpen the Red Sox enough run support to make this game competitive. Even when Alex Cora put Rob Refsnyder and Romy Gonzalez into the game as pinch hitters, the results were the same.

Boston will continue their series tomorrow with Garrett Crochet on the mound. First pitch will be at 7:15 p.m.

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WHO: Red Sox (55-49) vs Dodgers (60-43)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park, Boston
SERIES TO DATE: (0-0), (0-0)
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Brayan Bello (6-4, 3.23 ERA) vs. RHP Emmet Sheehan (1-1, 4.41 ERA)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLB Network, WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Jarren Duran (L) CF
Alex Bregman (R) 3B
Roman Anthony (L) LF
Trevor Story (R) SS
Masataka Yoshida (L) DH
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) 2B
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Abraham Toro (S) 1B
Connor Wong (R) C

SP Brayan Bello

DODGERS

Shohei Ohtani (L) DH
Will Smith (R) C
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Teoscar Hernández (R) RF
Andy Pages (R) CF
Michael Conforto (L) LF
Tommy Edman (S) 3B
Hyeseong Kim (L) 2B
Miguel Rojas (R) SS

SP Emmet Sheehan

WHAT'S UP

The Red Sox start their series against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in Fenway Park.

Marcelo Mayer is on the 10-day injured list Friday with a right wrist sprain. David Hamilton takes his place on the roster. Ceddanne Rafaela will play a larger workload at second base for the time being.

Patrick Sandoval, who signed a two year contract with the Red Sox in the off-season, is expected to not see the field in 2025. “But he wasn’t moving the way he was moving early, so right now we’re just playing catch and doing the things he needs to do to keep the arm going,” Alex Cora said. “But not throwing bullpens. Just kind of slow down the pace.”