The Latest Breaking News from Christian Vazquez

Until arriving in Toronto on Monday, the Red Sox were riding their hot starting rotation.

BOSTON — It looked for a minute there Wednesday night like the Tarik Skubal we saw in May and early June might be back. He was bullying hitters with his fastball and throwing just enough sliders and changeups to keep hitters honest.

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.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The optimism of a change in the Angels’ manager’s office eventually gave way to more frustration, in the form of a franchise-record 13th consecutive loss and an injury to Mike Trout.

BOSTON — The Red Sox were encouraged by a better month of May that put them within sniffing distance of the three-team wild card race, but even as they finally emerged to become one of the best offenses in baseball, inconsistency as a whole followed them.

Alex Cora wasn’t one bit worried about what’s become a rare occurrence for his Boston Red Sox, an offensive dud in Wednesday’s loss.

Kelly will be re-evaluated Thursday morning.

BOSTON — Eventually, the Red Sox’ bats were going to cool off.

BOSTON — Two weeks ago, the Red Sox probably wouldn’t have won a game like the one played on Saturday at Fenway Park.