Red Sox come out on top after see-saw game to beat Angels 9-8 and win seventhth straight

Red Sox beat Angels 9-8 for seventh straight win

BOSTON — Alex Gonzalez hit a bases-loaded blooper down the left-field line with two outs in the ninth inning on Wednesday night to give the Boston Red Sox a 9-8 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Boston trailed 3-0 and 7-5 before tying the game in the bottom of the eighth. The Angels took the lead in the top of the ninth on three straight two-out singles against Daniel Bard (2-1). But closer Brian Fuentes (1-5) coughed up the lead in the bottom half.

The Red Sox have won seven straight, and 10 in a row at Fenway Park.

Fuentes, who had converted 71 of his last 79 saves, got two quick outs before walking David Ortiz and giving up infield singles to J.D. Drew and Jed Lowrie. Pinch-hitter Nick Green quickly fell behind 0-2 but stayed in the box despite a questionable check swing and then fouled off three pitches at 1-2 before taking three balls to walk in the tying run.

Gonzalez, who hit a two-run, bases-loaded bloop to right to give Boston the lead in a five-run sixth inning, looped one down the left-field line that fell in front of Juan Rivera when he decided not to dive for it.

That set off a familiar celebration in Fenway, where the Red Sox have the best home record in the major leagues. It was familiar, too, for Los Angeles, Boston’s likely first-round playoff opponent.

The Angels have lost 12 of their last 13 playoff games against the Red Sox dating to 1986 and are 0-4 all-time in postseason series against the Red Sox.

If the standings hold, the teams will meet again in the first round this year.

Despite losing four of their last five, the Angels maintained a six-game lead over Texas in the AL West; the Rangers fell 6½ games behind Boston in the wild-card race.

Erick Aybar had four hits for the Angels and Rivera had three, including a two-run double in a four-run seventh inning — aided by a dropped third strike — that gave Los Angeles a 7-5 lead. Bobby Abreu’s third hit was an RBI single to break a ninth-inning tie and give the Angels an 8-7 lead.

Boston scored two in the eighth on a run-scoring groundout by Casey Kotchman and an RBI single by Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Angels took a 3-0 lead against Paul Byrd, but Boston scored five times in the sixth, keeping the inning alive when the Angels failed to turn a double play on back-to-back grounders before taking the lead on Alex Gonzalez’s two-run, bases-loaded bloop to right.

NOTES: Red Sox manager Terry Francona said C Victor Martinez will be back in the lineup on Thursday, but 1B Kevin Youkilis might have to take another day or two. RHP Tim Wakefield is getting better and could pitch on Monday for the third time since the All-Star break. … Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was unavailable. … Guerrero was hit by a pitch in the ribcage in the seventh and was pinch hit for in the eighth. The Angels said it was a bruise and no X-rays were taken. … Angels starter Joe Saunders had won four straight, allowing two earned runs or fewer in each of his last four starts. … Making his fourth start since signing a minor league deal in August, Byrd went 5 1-3 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and a walk, striking out four. He also gave up three long outs in the first two innings and a 415-foot double to Abreu in the fifth.