BOSTON — Matt Thaiss sat quietly at his locker, his head down, distraught over what had just transpired.
The Angels backup catcher, who was making just his third start of the season, allowed his glove to be hit by two Boston Red Sox hitters, accounting for two critical catcher’s interference calls in the decisive eighth inning of the Angels’ 9-7 loss.
“It’s awful,” Thaiss said. “It’s the reason we lost. It stings. I’m sick to my stomach over it. We’ll rebound tomorrow.”
Thaiss admitted that he was too close to the plate the first time, and then “I didn’t make an adjustment to get back a couple inches, to give myself more room.”
Manager Phil Nevin said they would have to look at the video to determine what was wrong with Thaiss’ positioning, but acknowledged that “obviously,” Thaiss was “too close.”
Catcher’s interference is a rare call, and it was even more unusual to see two in one inning. There were three in the game, because Shohei Ohtani had reached on interference by Boston catcher Connor Wong earlier in the game.
The plays represented a couple Angels mistakes in a crushing loss, spoiling a day in which top prospect Zach Neto (0 for 4, two strikeouts) made his big league debut and Gio Urshela hit a first-inning grand slam to put the Angels ahead.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson had a sloppy outing, allowing six runs in four innings. The Angels trailed when he left, but they had re-taken the lead with two runs in the fifth and one more on an Ohtani single in the sixth.
Relievers Matt Moore and Carlos Estévez efficiently held the lead over six outs before it all unraveled with Ryan Tepera on the mound in the eighth.
He gave up a leadoff single to Enrique Hernandez, and then he seemed to retire Raimel Tapia on a line drive to deep left field. But plate umpire Cory Blaser ruled that Tapia’s bat had nicked Thaiss’ glove, though, so he was awarded first base. The Angels challenged the call, but replay confirmed it.
After a strikeout, Reese McGuire also reached on catcher’s interference. This time, there was no doubt that his bat hit Thaiss’ glove. That loaded the bases. Yu Chang then pulled a ground ball through the left side of the infield to drive in two runs.
Tepera recorded one more out, but hit Justin Turner with a pitch and walked Rob Refsnyder, forcing in another run. Tepera then signaled for a trainer and left the game with an injury. Nevin said Tepera had a shoulder injury, and he’ll be evaluated.
The Angels came up empty in the ninth, ending the roller-coaster game.
The Angels took a quick lead when Urshela popped a grand slam over the Green Monster in the first inning.
Urshela’s first homer of the season followed a Mike Trout double — the 300th of his career — and walks to Anthony Rendon and Hunter Renfroe.
Anderson had a four-run cushion before he threw his first pitch, but the Angels were down by two runs when he threw his last pitch. Anderson gave up two-run homers to Rafael Devers in the first and Chang in the fourth. He was eventually charged with six runs, his second poor outing in his first three starts with the Angels.
After pitching six scoreless innings against the Oakland A’s in his season debut, Anderson has allowed 11 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings in his past two starts.
Anderson has been spared losses in each of those games because of the Angels hitters. They rallied to overcome a four-run deficit last time.
Rendon and Urshela drove in runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game and Ohtani singled to push home the go-ahead run in the sixth.
“We were in position to win a game when our starter wasn’t at his best,” Nevin said, “and we just didn’t finish it.”
