Angels’ Grayson Rodriguez burned by early three-run homer

BOSTON — Despite two shaky innings, Grayson Rodriguez was one good pitch from escaping.

A fastball over the middle was not the pitch.

The Angels’ right-hander gave up a two-out, two-strike three-run homer to Adley Rutschman in the second inning. The Angels were suddenly down by four runs on their way to a 5-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Monday afternoon.

The Angels (54-90) lost for the 12th time in their last 14 games, as they sink toward the franchise’s first 100-loss season.

While the Angels haven’t won many games lately, this one was an outlier in the way that they lost. Their rotation has been so good since the start of August that they have rarely trailed by more than a couple runs early.

Rodriguez has not been as good as the other starters, though. After missing the end of 2024 and all of 2025 with injuries, Rodriguez has a 6.28 ERA in 17 starts with the Angels.

Prior to Monday’s game, he was on an encouraging streak, with a 3.49 ERA in his last seven starts. In a few of those games, Rodriguez started poorly but found his footing.

Not this time.

Rodriguez walked two and allowed a single in the first inning. He was fortunate that Trevor Story bailed him out by popping up on a first pitch that was out of the zone.

In the second, Rodriguez gave up a leadoff homer to Jarren Duran, and then he walked two.

With a better pitch to Rutschman, his former batterymate in Baltimore, Rodriguez might have been able to pull it together as he had in his recent starts. Instead, the fastball caught too much of the inner half of the plate and Rutschman lined it off the screen on Pesky’s Pole in right field.

“In that moment, that fastball is the best pitch to me,” Rodriguez said. “It probably could have been up and away, up and in. He’s a good hitter, man. Caught me for a long time. Kind of weird seeing him in the box, in a different uniform.”

The walks and the early lack of control have been familiar issues for Rodriguez.

“Just amped up,” Rodriguez said. “In the past, first inning’s usually been something that’s kind of nipped at me a little bit. Just trying to get out of my own way, I guess.”

Rodriguez gave up a fifth run in the third inning, when he allowed three more singles.

Every run the Angels allow is magnified these days because the offense has had so much trouble.

They couldn’t score a run in five innings against Brayan Bello, who was knocked out of the Red Sox rotation because he’d pitched so poorly. The Red Sox put him back in the rotation for a spot start on Monday.

The Angels’ best chance to get back in the game came immediately after Rutschman’s homer. They loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but Moisés Ballesteros hit a pop-up.

Unfortunately for the Angels, that was the only time Ballesteros didn’t come through. He had three hits, including a homer and a double.

“It’s actually a good at-bat,” Suzuki said of the popup. “I think it was a changeup it might have been a back-door. Something offspeed. He kind of got under. But his other at-bats were pretty consistent today.”