Red Sox Notes: Matt Barnes Bested By Ex-UConn Teammate George Springer

BOSTON — The Red Sox lost Friday night, and Matt Barnes is going to hear about it.

The Red Sox’s 7-6 loss to the Houston Astros at Fenway Park wasn’t particularly debilitating — the team had won five straight entering the game and still pounded out 11 hits.

But this one might leave an extra sting for Barnes. With the game knotted at 5-5 in the top of the sixth inning, the Red Sox reliever was one pitch away from escaping a jam when George Springer cranked his 3-2 curveball over the Green Monster for a two-run homer.

What makes it worse for Barnes is that Springer was his teammate for three full seasons at the University of Connecticut.

Barnes downplayed the significance of getting victimized by his old college buddy, insisting his approach against Springer was the same as it was against any other hitter. But he did admit he’ll have some words for Springer after the 26-year-old got the best of him.

“I didn’t think there was any way that he was sitting on a curveball,” Barnes said. “I thought he was probably sitting (fastball), and then, at best, he fouls that ball off hard to the left side because he’s out in front sitting heater.

“I’ll talk to him and see what he says about whether he was sitting on it or something like that. That’s a frustrating one.”

Barnes ended up taking the loss, as the Husky-on-Husky crime gave Houston a 7-5 lead that Boston couldn’t recover from.

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Let’s hit a few other notes from Red Sox-Astros:

— We’re running out of numbers to quantify Jackie Bradley Jr.’s incredible offensive tear, but this statistic defies logic: After 3-for-4 performance Friday that included a double, 49 of Bradley’s last 91 hits have gone for extra bases.

The Red Sox center fielder owns a 19-game hitting streak, the longest in Major League Baseball this season, and he has multiple hits in each of his last six games.

“I’m just trying to focus on one at-bat at a time,” Bradley said after the game. “Trying to make it tough for the pitcher and get on for the guys behind me.”

— Travis Shaw continues to show some pop. The Red Sox third baseman blasted a solo homer to dead center in the fifth inning, his fifth long ball of the season and sixth extra-base hit in his last five games.

— Rain didn’t slow the Red Sox and Astros down Friday, but it did wash out Eduardo Rodriguez’s scheduled rehab start for Pawtucket.

That means Rodriguez will make his fourth rehab start Saturday in the first in the first game of the PawSox’s double-header. The 23-year-old left-hander and right-hander Joe Kelly both are close to making their return to the big-league club, which could push a starter out of Boston’s current rotation.

— Manager John Farrell confirmed Kelly will make another rehab start Monday for Pawtucket.

— Clay Buchholz’s spot in the rotation might be in jeopardy after another rough outing in his last start. But Farrell, who challenged the right-hander earlier this month, declined to call Buchholz out again before Saturday’s scheduled start.

“Go out and pitch to his capabilities,” Farrell said before Friday’s game. “He had a very good bullpen (Thursday). We have a couple of guys who are getting closer in their progression to get back to us. So, no, it’s just ‘Clay, go take the ball and pitch to your capabilities, and everything will work out.'”

Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images