Contreras Crushes Early, Sox Dominate Angels 8-1

Willson Contreras didn’t wait around. First inning, two walks already on the board, and he turned on a fastball and deposited it into the left field bleachers. Game over. The Red Sox led from that moment forward, which against a struggling Angels team felt less like a slugfest and more like a controlled demolition. This is what good baseball looks like: early aggression, patient at-bats, and the discipline to make a team pay for mistakes.

What stood out wasn’t just Contreras’ three-run blast—it was the way the Sox’ entire approach complemented it. Six walks in one game. Three of them came from batters who were working counts, fouling off pitches, refusing to chase. That’s the kind of baseball Alex Cora preaches. You can’t manufacture eight runs without some combination of power and patience, and the Sox delivered both in Anaheim. The Angels looked overmatched, which frankly, isn’t surprising given where both teams sit in the standings.

Contreras continues to look like one of Craig Breslow’s better midseason acquisitions. The guy can hit and he can manage a lineup from behind the plate—two things that matter enormously over 162 games. When your designated hitter and your cleanup hitter are both clicking, you don’t need to manufacture runs. You just need your pitching staff to keep the other team off the board, which they did Saturday.

The Red Sox will face better pitching and better teams down the stretch. But performances like this—where you build an early lead and simply coast—tend to stick with teams. There’s confidence in that. There’s momentum. And right now, with July just getting started, the Sox look like they’re playing the kind of baseball that could matter come October.