Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire, left, congratulates closing pitcher Kenley Jansen after the Red Sox beat the Angels, 9-7, on Saturday in Boston. Mary Schwalm/Associated Press
BOSTON — Yu Chang snapped an 0-for-28 drought with a two-run homer and delivered a go-ahead, two-run single after Los Angeles’ Matt Thaiss was called for his second catcher’s interference in the eighth inning, lifting the Boston Red Sox to a 9-7 comeback win over the Angels on Saturday.
“It’s just a matter of gaining confidence,” Red Sox Manager Alex Cora said of Chang. “He made a comment that when he was (at the World Baseball Classic) how confident he was playing. Then he comes here and it gets harder. We understand that.”
Rafael Devers added his seventh homer, a two-run shot, and Rob Refsnyder drove in two runs for Boston.
Gio Urshela hit a grand slam and drove in five runs and Mike Trout added three hits with his 300th career double for the Angels, who were sloppy in a 5-3 loss in the series opener.
The 31-year-old Trout became the fourth in MLB history to reach 300 doubles, 300 homers and 200 stolen bases by his age-31 season, joining Willie Mays, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.
Shohei Ohtani had two singles, his second had pushed the Angels ahead 7-6. He extended his on-base streak to 36 games, the majors’ longest current active stretch.
Thaiss had his catcher’s interferences in three batters to help Boston load the bases in the eighth against Ryan Tepera (1-1) before Chang drove his single to left. Tepera walked Refsnyder with the bases loaded.
“It is rare,” said Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire. “It doesn’t happen that much. But it does happen when the hitter is seeing the ball deep, trying to go the other way. That’s typically when it happens.”
Chang felt it was a relief to get that first hit.
“I’m so happy that the team gave me that consistent opportunity to play every day even though I didn’t hit well in the beginning,” Chang said through a translator. “What the coaches expressed to me is: they don’t want me to think about the past. They want me to do the same routine and have the same consistency and grab any opportunity you have coming.”
Ryan Brasier (1-0) got the win and Kenley Jansen the final three outs for his fourth save and the 395th of his career.
A day after the Angels made three errors, allowed a run on a passed ball, hit a batter and walked six in a 5-3 loss, Urshela’s first-inning slam into the first row of Green Monster seats gave them a 4-0 lead.
Devers hit his over the Monster in the bottom half.
Chang’s came in a three-run fourth that pushed Boston ahead 6-4.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW
The Angels called up highly touted shortstop Zach Neto from Double-A before the game, demoting shortstop David Fletcher to Triple-A.
The 22-year-old Neto was the club’s first pick from the 2022 draft and he’s the initial player from that class to make their MLB debut. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
6 IN 4
Both starters, Boston’s Nick Pivetta and Tyler Anderson each gave up six runs in four innings.
SPECIAL GUESTS
There was a pregame ceremony honoring medical personnel, fire and police that came to the aide of injured near the finish line when two bombs went off at the Boston Marathon 10 years ago. Angela Menino, the widow of then-Boston Mayor Tom Menino, and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick were also on hand.
The father of Krystle Campbell and aunt of Lingzi Lu, two of the three killed that day, threw out ceremonial pitches along with some that were injured. More than 260 were injured.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Angels: Urshela collided with second baseman Brandon Drury, ranging far to catch a pop up. The two went to the ground hard but stayed in the game.
Red Sox: Manager Alex Cora said outfielder Masataka Yoshida will probably DH on Sunday and return to left field for the Patriots’ Day morning game when Ohtani is scheduled to pitch for the Angels. Yoshida missed his fourth straight with hamstring tightness.
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