Red Sox 5, Angels 2: Rutschman's Pesky Pole Homer, Bello's Return

Four runs before the Angels had a hit that mattered

September 7, 2026 - Boston - Jarren Duran homered to right in the second. Adley Rutschman followed with a three-run shot that hit the Pesky Pole. Fenway was 4-0 before the Los Angeles Angels had a real answer, and the Boston Red Sox made it a 5-2 win for a fifth straight victory.

The Associated Press recap led with Rutschman's homer and with Brayan Bello throwing five scoreless innings in his first start since early June. Duran's 20th homer started the inning. Rutschman's 12th, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Roman Anthony on, ended the argument for a while. Eli White singled Caleb Durbin home in the third. 5-0.

That was Boston's night on the scoreboard. The rest was Bello working through 103 pitches and a bullpen that gave two runs back without giving the game away.

Bello's 103 pitches, then Whitlock

Bello went five innings: four hits, no runs, two walks, seven strikeouts. Sixty-two of 103 pitches were strikes. He improved to 6-7. Fenway has seen cleaner pitch counts. It has not seen many more useful first starts after a long layoff. He left with a five-run lead and a lineup that had already done the work.

Wyatt Olds threw two innings, one run, five strikeouts. The run was Moisés Ballesteros homering to right-center in the sixth, his eighth. Alec Gamboa allowed Christian Moore's RBI groundout in the eighth that scored Wade Meckler. 5-2. Garrett Whitlock struck out two in a scoreless ninth for the save.

Grayson Rodriguez took the loss. Four innings, six hits, five earned runs, four walks, three strikeouts, two homers, 82 pitches. Both Boston homers came in the second. The rest of his night was traffic he never cleaned up. Mitch Farris, Blake Weiman, and Ben Joyce kept it from getting worse after he left.

Ballesteros was the Angels' best bat: 3-for-4 with a homer, a double, an RBI, and a run. Mike Trout went 1-for-4 with three strikeouts. Moore drove in the second run. That was the road offense against a Red Sox club that scored all five of its runs by the third.

A fifth straight at Fenway

Boston is 80-65. A five-game winning streak in September is the version of this club that still has something to say in the American League. Kiner-Falefa went 1-for-2 with two walks, a stolen base, and a run. Durbin had two hits including a double. White finished 2-for-4 with the third-inning RBI. Rutschman was 1-for-4 with the three-run homer. One swing, three runs, Pesky Pole. Catchers do not get many prettier home highlights in this park.

The Angels are 54-90. Ballesteros' three-hit night is a note. The 5-2 final is the story they keep writing on the road: a starter who cannot survive the middle of Boston's order, and a lineup that wakes up two innings too late.

Duran's homer was his 20th. Rutschman's was his 12th in a Red Sox uniform after the midseason trade from Baltimore. Fenway treated both like they belonged. The pole in right has been doing this for a century. Rutschman found it on a Monday afternoon.

Fenway was sunny and 77, wind blowing left to right at 5 mph. Rodriguez threw 82 pitches and never escaped the second inning's damage. Four walks. Two homers. The Angels put Ballesteros on third in the eighth and scored one on Moore's groundout. That was the rally. Trout's 1-for-4 with three strikeouts was the rest of the middle of the order.

Bello needed 103 pitches to finish five. That is a lot of work for five scoreless innings, and it is also a first start since early June that did not leak. Olds' two innings and five strikeouts were the bridge. Whitlock's two-strikeout ninth was the close. Boston scored five times by the third and spent the rest of the night protecting it. That is how a five-game winning streak looks in September: early, loud, then the bullpen.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine credited Boston with 11 team fantasy points, tied for third on the slate. Bello scored 18 pitching FP on five scoreless innings and seven strikeouts. Rutschman and Duran each had 7 hitting FP. Ballesteros led the Angels' bats at 9 hitting FP on the 3-for-4, homer-and-double line.

Fantasy points measure the box score. Share prices still move with dynamic pricing. One grades the night. The other is what the market will pay.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*