In the top of the eighth inning with the game knotted at six, a player well known for his open struggle to tackle the mental aspect of the game of baseball stepped to the plate. His capitulation to the whirlwind of disaster engulfing Boston in the middle innings felt inevitable; like the next domino to fall in what was shaping up to be a truly awful night for the Red Sox.
Trevor Story had already left the game with a brutal looking shoulder injury, the pitching staff had already coughed up a pair of leads, Ceddanne Rafaela made a completely inexcusable drop in center that left him looking overconfident at best and disinterested at worst, and the Angels sent Jose Soriano to the mound to fire off his 99 mph cannon and finish off Boston’s sinking ship.