Angels held at Bay by Boston

There was an epic 10-pitch battle between Howie Kendrick and Jonathan Papelbon to end the game, some moves by Manager Mike Scioscia that could keep fan message boards abuzz for hours, a controversial call by an umpire, and five home runs.

If the games are a refuge from the overwhelming sense of loss the Angels are feeling for teammate Nick Adenhart, the 22-year-old pitcher who was killed in a traffic accident early Thursday, then Saturday afternoon provided quite a diversion for a grieving team.

Jason Bay hit a two-run home run off starter Joe Saunders in the seventh inning to give Boston the lead, and his solo shot off reliever Justin Speier in the ninth provided a key insurance run.

Then, with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Kendrick fouled off seven straight two-strike pitches before lining out to right fielder Rocco Baldelli, as the Red Sox held on for a dramatic 5-4 victory in Angel Stadium.

“After the fifth or sixth or seventh foul ball, I was kind of giggling out there,” said Papelbon, who threw 37 pitches in the ninth, a half-inning that took 24 minutes to complete. “How many more foul balls is this guy going to hit?”

Papelbon jumped ahead of Kendrick with two sliders taken for strikes. The closer peppered Kendrick with fastballs and sliders but couldn’t put him away until pitch No. 10, a 95-mph fastball that Kendrick crushed.

“Bases loaded, game on the line, those are the situations you want to be in,” Kendrick said. “I was doing my best to stay in the at-bat and hit one right at someone. That’s the way it goes, but it was a great at-bat, especially off one of the best closers in the game.”

Torii Hunter led off the ninth with a solo shot to right-center on an 0-and-2 Papelbon pitch, pulling the Angels within 5-4. Kendry Morales doubled on an 0-2 pitch.

Scioscia had three left-handed bats available -- Maicer Izturis, Reggie Willits or Gary Matthews Jr. -- to bunt the potential tying run to third or advance the runner with a grounder to the right side.

The manager used Willits to pinch-run and let the right-handed Juan Rivera bat. Rivera grounded out to short, Willits holding at second.

“Juan handles the fastball as well as anyone on our team -- I thought it was a good matchup,” Scioscia said. “He drives the ball up the middle, and maybe a hit to center ties the game. He just rolled over on it.”

Mike Napoli, who hit solo home runs in the third and fifth innings and doubled in the seventh, walked to put two on. With Matthews and Izturis still available, No. 9 hitter Erick Aybar struck out.

“He’s been hitting the ball hard all week,” Scioscia said of Aybar. “Papelbon made some good pitches.”

Chone Figgins walked to load the bases, but Papelbon survived the Kendrick at-bat, and the Red Sox snapped a nine-game, regular-season losing streak to the Angels, who were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

“Wow, that was fun, that was a ballgame,” Hunter said. “It was intense, right to the finish.”

The fourth inning wasn’t fun for Hunter. He led off with a fly to deep left that Bay fumbled at the wall but caught before it hit the ground. Hunter said the ball hit the wall before Bay caught it.

Had the play been ruled a hit, Hunter would have scored on Morales’ ensuing single.

“What can you do? The ump calls you out, you’re out,” Hunter said. “It hurts that they didn’t come together to talk about it. But I’m not going to beg for it. Next time, I’ve got to hit it out of the park.”

Saunders’ 25 2/3 -inning scoreless streak ended with Mike Lowell’s two-run homer in the fifth, and Saunders was “kicking myself” for a fat seventh-inning fastball that Bay hit for a two-run homer, giving Boston a 4-3 lead.

Scioscia brought Speier, who gave up 15 homers and had a 5.03 earned-run average in 2008, into a one-run game in the ninth. Bay’s shot to left made it a two-run game.

“His stuff looks crisper and he feels more confident,” Scioscia said of Speier. “When he hits his spots, he can be tough. Today, one got away.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com