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Webster Solid, Uehara Shaky As Red Sox Lose 4-3

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara pitches. (AP/Elise Amendola)
Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Koji Uehara pitches. (AP/Elise Amendola)

Boston's rookie starter was solid. The star closer wasn't.

Allen Webster allowed three runs in six innings before Koji Uehara allowed the tie-breaking run in the Red Sox's 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

"The movement wasn't there," said Uehara (5-3). "I didn't have that drop" on the pitches.

Consecutive doubles by Brennan Boesch and Chris Iannetta in the ninth gave the Angels their sixth win in seven games and the Red Sox their fourth loss in five. But Webster kept Boston in the game after falling behind 3-1 when he allowed three runs in the third.

"I feel pretty confident right now on the mound," he said.

"Tonight," manager John Farrell said, "was another step forward for Webby."

Boesch's ground-rule double with two outs was the Angels' first hit since the fourth. Iannetta then lined a double off the left-field wall, just above the leap of Daniel Nava.

Joe Smith (5-1) got the win for the AL West leaders and Huston Street recorded his 34th save.

Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun made a sensational, leaping catch to rob Brock Holt of a three-run homer in the second. Calhoun made the grab at the low fence in front of his team's bullpen to end the inning.

"Game-changer," Iannetta said.

David Ortiz hit his 29th homer, a solo shot in the Boston first that increased his major league-leading total to 91 RBIs.

Boston rookie center fielder Mookie Betts, a second baseman in the minors, also took away a potential home run when he ran down Josh Hamilton's drive in the first in deep right-center field.

"Every game played in center field is going to be a positive experience for him, given that he's gone through a positional change," Farrell said.

The Angels took a 3-1 lead in the third with four consecutive hits, starting with a double by Iannetta. The next three hits all drove in runs - a single by Calhoun, a triple by Mike Trout and a single by Albert Pujols.

Pujols originally was ruled out for the second out of the inning on Will Middlebrooks' throw after the third baseman's diving backhand stop. The call was overturned on replay, but Trout would have scored anyway on his headfirst slide into home.

Jered Weaver's wildness led to Boston's next two runs that tied it at 3 after six innings.

In the fifth, Dustin Pedroia singled, Ortiz walked and both advanced on a wild pitch. Pedroia scored on Mike Napoli's groundout.

Xander Bogaerts began the sixth with a walk, took third on a single by Christian Vazquez and scored on a sacrifice fly by Holt.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Angels: LHP Joe Thatcher isn't expected to return from the disabled list as hoped by Friday for the start of a three-game series with Oakland. He has been sidelined since Aug. 3 with a sprained left ankle.

Red Sox: Middlebrooks left the game in the fourth with right hamstring tightness. Kelly Johnson pinch-ran after Middlebrooks was hurt while beating out a grounder to shortstop for a single. ... C David Ross is expected to be activated Wednesday after going on the disabled list with plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Garrett Richards (13-4, 2.53) pitches in the third game of the series Wednesday night. He won his last three games, including a complete-game shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers and a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox.

Red Sox: RHP Clay Buchholz (5-7, 5.79) has a 3.00 ERA in his last two starts after a 9.00 ERA in his previous four, a stretch that followed an 11-0 complete-game win over Houston.

WISE WALK

With a runner at second and two outs in the ninth, Street walked Ortiz intentionally then struck out Napoli. "Both guys are going to hit a mistake and Huston didn't make any," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

HAMILTON RETURNS

Josh Hamilton went 0 for 3 and was hit by a pitch after sitting out two games following a 10-game stretch in which he went 5 for 38 with 18 strikeouts. He took extra work before the game with hitting coaches Don Baylor and Dave Hansen. "He's going to have to figure it out," Scioscia said. "He's not going to figure it out sitting."

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