The Boston Red Sox were limited to just three hits through seven innings, two of which came in the first, all while the Houston Astros recorded 17 hits en route to a 8-3 victory at Fenway Park on Wednesday.
It was the second consecutive loss for the Red Sox, while the Astros now have won five of six games against Boston this season.
Nathan Eovaldi wasn’t his best on the mound and Boston’s bats didn’t do nearly enough in the middle innings as Houston retired nine straight batters in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings combined. The Red Sox mustered just four hits.
Boston’s bullpen, which has been shut down for much of the start to June, allowed the Astros to tack on three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to put the game away.
With the loss, Boston fell to 37-25 on the season while the Astros improved to 35-26.
Here’s how it went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Uneventful.
Boston took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Astros overcame that deficit with a four-run third inning and never looked back.
ON THE BUMP
— Eovaldi was knocked around during a four-run third inning, but the right-hander otherwise buckled down and gave the Red Sox 5 2/3 innings.
Eovaldi allowed five runs — the first which came after a pop up that probably should have been caught by either center fielder Kiké Hernández or right fielder Hunter Renfroe — on 11 hits. He threw 74 of his 107 pitches for strikes while recording five strikeouts.
The Astros compiled four hits, including a home run by José Altuve, and a walk in the third inning. Eovaldi stranded bases loaded in the fourth by inducing a ground ball to third baseman Rafael Devers.
— Darwinzon Hernandez came on to relieve Eovaldi. He got the final out of the sixth inning on four pitches, three of which were strikes.
— Garrett Whitlock took the mound in the seventh and allowed the Astros to extend their lead to 6-3 after two hits and a Myles Straw sacrifice fly.
— Phillips Valdéz came on for the eighth and allowed a two-run home run to Houston’s Alex Bregman. Valdéz later loaded the bases, but got out of the jam without furthering the damage.
— Brandon Workman came on for the ninth and retired the side.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox took an early 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of runs on two hits and a walk in the first inning.
Danny Santana led off the first with a walk and advanced to third on a double to deep center by Devers. Xander Bogaerts then hit a sacrifice fly to score Santana from third and give Boston a 1-0 lead. Hunter Renfroe connected on a two-out, RBI single to score Devers from second.
— Bogaerts blasted a leadoff home run to left field in the fourth inning to cut Boston’s deficit to 5-3.
— Boston’s bats then went largely silent as the Red Sox were retired in order during the second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh frames.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
There was one Boston highlight on the night, and it came from Renfroe. The Red Sox right fielder recorded his seventh assist of the season as he threw out Bregman trying to score from second in the first inning.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox return to Fenway Park to host the Astros in the third and final game of the series Thursday. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET on NESN.
