The way the Angels were playing during their franchise-record 14-game losing streak, with breakdowns in every facet of the game and the pressure mounting with every defeat, it seemed like it would take something extraordinary, something unexpected, for them to end their 2 1/2-week freefall.
They got both in Thursday night’s 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox before a crowd of 28,595 in Angel Stadium, the first provided by their two-way phenom and reigning American League most valuable player, the second by a 5-foot-9, 170-pound shortstop who is barely hitting his weight.
Shohei Ohtani gave up one run and four hits and struck out six — one with a 101-mph fastball, his hardest pitch of the season — in seven innings and hit a two-run home run in the fifth to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
