If there’s one thorn in the Boston Red Sox’s side, it’s the Houston Astros.
The Astros walked away with their tenth consecutive win on Saturday, defeating Boston 7-3 at Fenway Park to clinch the series win. Hector Velazquez was handed the loss. He drops to 1-3 on the season.
Boston fell to 23-22 with the loss, while Houston climbed to 31-15.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Cringeworthy.
The Sox started the game off on the wrong note and just couldn’t find a way to rise above the Astros and a tough rookie starter.
ON THE BUMP
— Velazquez’ night got off to a shaky start, and he didn’t last long in Saturday’s outing.
It all started with a Michael Brantley double to right field that put the Astros on the board first. With the bases loaded, a Josh Reddick sacrifice fly knocked in the second run of the night, while giving Velazquez his first out of the evening.
A bloop single to center field was enough to drive home Houston’s third run of the game, and drive Velazquez from the game.
— Colten Brewer would come in to try and do some damage control and round out the first inning, but wasn’t very successful.
Tyler White lined an RBI-double down the right-field line on the very first pitch he saw off Brewer to give the Astros a 5-0 lead.
Brewer would finally escape the inning on a strikeout dealt to Jake Marisnick.
In the second, the righty would allow a sacrifice fly to Carlos Correa, with Alex Bregman beating out Bradley’s throw to the plate (after an impressive catch) to make it a 6-1 game.
Brewer would return to the mound for the third, striking out Marisnick with a man on third to escape the inning unscathed.
— Ryan Weber entered the game in the fourth. Although he would walk one batter, the righty would retire the three remaining batters.
The fifth, however, wasn’t as stellar. It wasn’t long before Weber allowed Josh Reddick to crush a leadoff solo homer into the bullpen, making it 7-3 Houston.
The 28-year-old would eventually escape a bases-loaded jam to end the inning.
Weber would return to the mound for the sixth for a one-hit inning.
— Tyler Thornburg took the hill in the seventh where his recent struggles only continued, loading up the bases before getting out of yet another Boston jam.
The righty would retake the mound for a smooth eighth inning (minus a leadoff single given up to Brantley.)
— Josh Smith took over pitching duties for the Sox in the ninth and struck out the side.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— After a rough first inning for Boston’s pitching staff, the Red Sox’s patience at the plate allowed them to knock in a run of their own.
The Sox would get one back with the bases loaded in the first thanks to a passed ball, allowing J.D. Martinez to score from third. They wouldn’t do much else in the inning, but would end the first with a 5-1 score.
— Boston would strike again in the third inning.
This time, it was an RBI-double hit by Mitch Moreland that would drive in a run, bringing the Sox within four.
But an opportunity to continue the inning was squandered after umpires overturned a call ruling Xander Bogaerts safe at first due following a mishandled ball by Tyler White, eventually ruling him out.
— Christian Vazquez set a new personal best in the fourth with his sixth home run of the season, wrapping one around the Pesky pole to make it 6-3 Houston.
— The Sox would get another chance to make some magic happen with another bases-loaded situation in the fifth, but were unable to capitalize on the prime opportunity.
TWEET OF THE DAY
It really doesn’t get much more picturesque than this.
UP NEXT
Boston will wrap up their three-game series against Houston in a Sunday afternoon matinee, with Chris Sale slated to take the mound for the Sox. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. ET.
