Angels rally past Sox

Masterson’s strong early, but relievers falter late

Angels 7, Red Sox 5

MLB. Justin Masterson enjoyed an afternoon that every big league hopeful dreams about.

And then the ragged Sox bullpen promptly went out and ruined it for the 23-year-old rookie sinkerballer by coughing up six runs en route to a 7-5 loss to the Angels at Fenway Thursday.

The defeat capped off a 5-2 homestand that still has the Olde Towne Team firmly entrenched in the AL East’s top spot, despite scrambling to find an emergency starter for the third straight day.

The kid from Double-A had himself quite a Major League debut, as he cruised through six innings and dominated the Halos hitters with his sinker/slider/ changeup repertoire.

Masterson allowed only a single run on a pair of hits, and enticed Angels hitters to continually pound balls into the ground while inducing 11 ground-ball outs with his hard sinker.

The Sox sent their prized pitching prospect back to Portland after the cameo appearance, but it’s safe to say he left an impression almost as big as his 6-foot-6, 250-pound frame.

“I expected to come up and hopefully do well and then go back [to the minors] and continue to show them that I’m ready to go,” said Masterson, who was in line for the victory until the bullpen crumbled.

“When the time comes that I’m needed, then that’s when I’ll be up here [again].”

A Coco Crisp ground ball out with the bases loaded in the second inning coupled with RBI doubles by Crisp and Kevin Cash in the fourth frame had Boston cruising with a two-run lead, but things curdled quickly after Masterson’s departure in the sixth.

Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen both failed to retire a batter to start off the seventh inning, and four runs had crossed the plate by the time Hideki Okajima escaped a bases loaded mess.

David Ortiz smoked a two-run homer in the ninth off Scott Shields that got the Sox to within two runs again, but Francisco Rodriguez came in and did his closing thing for the Angels.