Red Sox Notes: Nathan Eovaldi Has Historically Bad Second Inning In Loss

The Boston Red Sox fell out of their game against the Houston Astros early despite taking the lead in the first inning.

Any momentum that was gained by Rafael Devers’ solo blast in his first at-bat was taken away quickly by the worse inning of Nathan Eovaldi’s career.

“They did an outstanding job (of) hitting mistakes,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “We didn’t get any swings and misses, I think it was one If I’m not mistaken, a slider to (Alex) Bregman I think.

“Obviously surprising, now we just got to move on to the next one.”

The veteran right-hander Eovaldi became one of three pitchers in MLB history to allow five home runs in the same inning.

“He’s a strike-thrower,” Cora said. “He very aggressive in the zone and they had their game plan and they got good pitches to hit. I think that’s the bottom line.”

While Eovaldi deserves his fair share of blame, Cora gave respect to the Astros’ potent offense for their 13-run outburst on Tuesday.

“When they get going it’s that fastbreak offense,” Cora said. “They attack early and they hit the ball in the air and today the conditions, you saw it, it was playing small today. It’s one of those (games), we’ll take a look at and make adjustments for the next one.”

Red Sox Wrap: Nathan Eovaldi’s Blow-Up Inning Haunts Boston Vs. Astros

May 17, 2022

Here are some more notes from Red Sox-Astros:

— J.D. Martinez extended his hit streak to 18 games with a two-run home run in the third inning.

— Both Rafael Devers and Martinez were a triple shy of hitting the cycle.

— Trevor Story appears to be turning a corner. He had a two-hit game including a double and a walk.

— After a strong start, Tyler Danish has now allowed six earned runs in his last two outings (4 1/3 innings).

— The Red Sox finish off the three-game set with the Houston Astros on Wednesday, where they can still win the series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. ET following an hour of pregame coverage, and you can watch it all on NESN.