BOSTON (AP) – This time it was Boston’s bullpen that blew a late-inning lead.

Garret Anderson homered and drove in four runs, Darin Erstad added four RBIs and the Los Angeles Angels scored 11 times in the final three innings to rally past the Red Sox 13-6 Saturday.

One day after squandering a 4-1 lead in the seventh inning of a 7-4 loss, the Angels’ bullpen held Boston to one run over the final three innings.

That might be just what the team needs to get going on its 12-game, 14-day road trip. The normally reliable bullpen was 0-3 with two blown saves and a 12.91 ERA on the trip before turning it around Saturday.

“They had a tough night last night and came back and did the job,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Needless to say, it’s a tough lineup to get through. And for those guys to hold that lead, it’s the only way we’re going to get it done.”

The Red Sox led 5-2 when starter Bronson Arroyo was lifted, but the bullpen was terrible.

Bartolo Colon (7-3) struck out 11 in six innings, throwing a season-high 119 pitches for the Angels. Anderson’s go-ahead, three-run homer capped a four-run seventh and gave him a club-record 990 RBIs.

When he headed to the dugout trailing 5-2 after six, Colon thought he kept the game within reach for his offense.

“I just kept saying, “Keep it close. Just keep it close,”‘ he said through a translator. “If I just kept it close, three or four runs was going to be all right.”

Trailing 5-1, the Angels began their comeback in the sixth. Dallas McPherson singled, moved to third on Jeff DaVanon’s single and scored on Arroyo’s wild pitch.

In the seventh, Red Sox manager Terry Francona went to struggling left-hander Alan Embree (1-3), who retired just one batter and allowed four runs. Erstad’s RBI single made it 5-3. Steve Finley followed with a single before Anderson homered into the Red Sox bullpen, chasing Embree.

“It was very frustrating. I’ve been in a funk and it started steamrolling on me,” said Embree, who has allowed 10 runs and 10 hits in his last six appearances, raising his ERA to 6.75. “I don’t blame anybody for booing me. I’d be booing myself. I set the tone for the game.”

Anderson was just 1-for-12 in his career against Embree before the homer.

“He left a fastball over the plate and I got a good piece of wood on it,” Anderson said. “That hasn’t been the case a whole lot of my career against him.”

Anderson went 4-for-6 with a triple, and Adam Kennedy added two doubles after getting a career-high four hits Friday.

Kevin Millar hit a pair of solo homers and an RBI double for the Red Sox.

“It was just one of those games where they just kept coming at us,” Millar said.

And the Angels didn’t stop until they broke it open.

“We thought we were in the driver’s seat. The game was going our way and then all of a sudden something bad happened,” Boston’s Johnny Damon said.

Erstad’s run-scoring single off Mike Timlin in the eighth increased the lead to 7-5. Millar’s second homer cut it to 7-6 in the bottom half.

Orlando Cabrera’s RBI single, Erstad’s two-run single, Finley’s two-run triple and Anderson’s RBI single produced a six-run ninth.

Colon gave up five runs, 10 hits and one walk before Brendan Donnelly, Scot Shields, and Joel Peralta each worked an inning in relief.

Chone Figgins opened the game by hitting Arroyo’s fifth pitch into the right-field seats.

The Red Sox got some help from the Angels’ defense and grabbed the lead with three runs in the second. Millar had an RBI double off the left-field wall after Trot Nixon’s infield hit with one out.

Bill Mueller then got an infield hit and Millar scored on the play when second baseman Kennedy threw wildly past first for an error. After Mueller moved to second on Ramon Vazquez’s single, Damon was credited with an RBI double to make it 3-1 when right fielder Figgins misplayed a line drive as the ball ticked off his glove.

Nixon’s RBI double made it 4-1 in the third.

Millar homered into the Green Monster seats in the fifth, making it 5-1.

Arroyo pitched six solid innings, giving up two runs and six hits. He was roughed up for seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2-3 innings in his last start, a loss to Baltimore on Monday.

Notes: Anderson now has 991 RBIs. Tim Salmon owned the Angels’ previous record with 989 in 13 seasons. … It was Figgins’ first career leadoff homer. … Cabrera received another standing ovation when he came to bat for the first time. … It was Millar’s fourth career multihomer game. … Arroyo had his hair back in cornrows, just as he did at the end of last season. … Damon made a diving catch after a long run to the warning track in the fourth. … Red Sox C Kelly Shoppach struck out three times in his second career start. … Erstad turned 31 years old. … Scioscia was ejected by plate umpire Bill Hohn after Figgins was called out on strikes in the seventh. … The gametime temperature reached 80 degrees at Fenway Park for the first time this season.

AP-ES-06-04-05 1844EDT

Copy the Story Link