BOSTON _ And when the skies opened, the Angels could not be stopped.
For one night, everything that has plagued them this season became their strength. They amassed 22 hits and 21 runs in one of the biggest, most one-sided victories in franchise history. They toppled the Boston Red Sox by a 19-run margin, 21-2. In one particularly preposterous inning, the seventh, the Angels scored 11 runs on nine hits and elicited massive boos from Fenway Park fans.
"We just had it tonight," Kole Calhoun said. "It was nice to come out with a win and do it big."
Before Saturday night, the Angels' season high for runs in a game was 11. They had lost four straight games and 10 of 11 and sunk entirely out of playoff contention, 16 games below .500 and last in the American League West.
The season is now halfway completed, the Angels still possessing no practical chance of contending. But, for a night, they had a great time, at a time when pure clean fun has been hard to find.
"That's a big thing for a team, you know," said starting pitcher Hector Santiago, who went six innings for his fifth win. "Every day, you feel like you're just down, down, down. So, it's going to be a good night."
Santiago had specially designed cleats shipped to him for the occasion to break the streak. The image of the Angels' erstwhile Rally Monkey is airbrushed on the left shoe. The 28-year-old left-hander believed they contributed to the extent of the victory.
"He carried us through the whole game for sure," Santiago said. "He was tired, man."
Santiago, who has struggled for most of 2016, faced Boston's David Ortiz with runners at the corners and one out in the first inning Ortiz has been unfathomably good this season at age 40, eliciting even more support from the Boston faithful. They cheered when he emerged into the on-deck circle, and they booed Santiago as Ortiz called time and turned his back to the mound.
But Santiago whipped a two-seamer inside, and Ortiz grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Santiago's career has been similar to that of Clay Buchholz, Boston's Saturday starter. Before Saturday, Santiago had a 3.91 career earned-run average, Buchholz a 4.01 mark.
Buchholz could not complete five innings before the Angels chased him, six runs to his name; Santiago permitted only an unearned run in his six innings.
Third baseman Yunel Escobar returned to the Angels' lineup after a seven-game absence and reached base twice in five tries. He will be on display for the next four weeks as the Angels attempt to attract trade offers from opposing ballclubs. Escobar's eminent issue is his defense, and he didn't help the cause by throwing away a grounder to allow Boston's first run, in the fifth inning.
In part because of platoons, in part because of injuries, the Angels employed their opening-day defensive lineup Saturday for the first time since opening day.
It worked wonderfully. The Angels had scored 21 runs only three previous times in their history, and not since 2004. No major league teammates had logged at least five hits and five RBIs in the same game in 80 years, a feat first baseman C.J. Cron and catcher Carlos Perez achieved Saturday. Never in franchise history had a player logged six hits, five runs and five RBIs in a game, a feat Cron accomplished.
Cron hit two home runs, a double and three singles. His teammates _ excited, incredulous, and perhaps a bit jealous _ razzed him afterward.
"I mean, I like hitting," Cron said. "It's my favorite thing to do."
