Thanks to a huge offensive night from Xander Bogaerts, the Boston Red Sox picked up a series-winning 6-5 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday at Minute Maid Park.
The Red Sox shortstop went 3-for-4 in the Father’s Day contest, hitting two home runs and compiling four RBIs.
Bogaerts’ strong performance bailed out starter David Price, who didn’t have his best stuff against Houston. The left-hander labored through five innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits with three walks.
The Astros threatened late, but they ultimately couldn’t push across the game-tying run.
With the win, the Red Sox improve to 39-30, while the Astros fall to 46-24.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Gritty.
It wasn’t a pretty win by the Red Sox by any means, but they gutted out the victory against a very strong club on the road.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless ninth inning, racking up his 20th save of the season.
ON THE BUMP
— Price struggled from the jump against the Astros. Jose Altuve narrowly missed a first-inning home run, sending a shot high off the left-center field wall for a long double. The Houston second baseman was plated two batters later when Brian McCann flared an RBIÂ single for the Astros’ first run of the game.
The left-hander would continue to labor, allowing five runners to reach base in the second and third innings combined. But despite the threats, Price managed to keep the Astros off the scoreboard in those two frames.
The fourth inning was much kinder to Price, as he shut down the side in order. The fifth frame, however, was a different story. Carlos Correa led off the fifth with a monster solo shot, giving the Astros a 2-1 lead. Price would struggle through the rest of the inning and surprisingly came back out for the sixth, but after Jake Marisnick led off the frame with a solo shot to put Houston within two, the lefty’s night was over.
— Heath Hembree followed Price and was rudely greeted. The right-handed reliever gave up a mammoth solo shot to George Springer on his first batter faced, narrowing the Red Sox’s lead to 5-4. Hembree would give up two more hits in the inning but managed to escape the frame with just the one run allowed.
— Joe Kelly allowed a leadoff double in the seventh inning but managed to pitch a scoreless frame.
— Matt Barnes came on in the eighth, but he only recorded one out in the inning. The right-hander allowed two walks before giving way to Robby Scott.
— Scott gave up a walk to his first batter faced, and a Carlos Beltran single looked as though it would tie the game. But thanks to a strong throw from Andrew Benintendi, Altuve was cut down at the plate, preserving Boston’s lead.
— Craig Kimbrel dodged a one-out single to convert the save.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Bogaerts got the Red Sox on the board with a first-inning solo shot. The star shortstop followed with another blast in the sixth inning, a two-run homer that gave Boston a 3-2 lead at the time. And as if that wasn’t enough, Bogaerts added an RBI single in the seventh for the Red Sox’s sixth run of the contest.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. contributed to Boston’s four-run sixth inning with a two-run double. He finished 1-for-4 on the night.
— Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Rutledge and Benintendi all reached base via single.
— Dustin Pedroia, Mitch Moreland and Christian Vazquez all went hitless in the ballgame.
TWEET OF THE DAY
A special day for JBJ and his daughter, Emerson.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox travel to Kansas City for a three-game series with the Royals starting Monday. Hector Velazquez is scheduled to get the ball for Boston and will be countered by Kansas City’s Jason Hammel. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Shanna Lockwood/USA TODAY Sports Images
