Red Sox Notes: Boston’s Lineup Changes Narrative With Key At-Bats

The Boston Red Sox did major damage at the plate against the Houston Astros in a 17-1 victory in the series finale at Minute Maid Park on Thursday to split their four-game series.

The offensive turnaround sparked major progress for the Red Sox after a forgettable start to the series. In the two losses, the team left 21 runners on base and went just 4-for-28 with runners in scoring position.

Over the final two games, however, the Red Sox made a major adjustment with 24 runs in the winning efforts and went a combined 14-for-33 with runners in scoring position.

The series finale marked a total outburst for the Red Sox, tallying 17 runs on 24 hits.

From the get-go on Thursday, Alex Verdugo got Boston on the board quickly with a leadoff solo home run. The outfielder set the tone with another solid day at the plate, notching a four-hit performance.

Every hitter in the lineup tallied a hit and the large lead allowed Red Sox manager Alex Cora to pull starters Justin Turner and Adam Duvall to give the veterans a rest.

“From the first at-bat, we grinded to the end,” Cora said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “It was a good effort by everybody.”

The biggest breakout of the day, however, came from the recently promoted Wilyer Abreu. Just two days after making his big league debut and collecting his first hit, the 24-year-old mashed his first home run in the majors as part of a 4-for-5 day with two runs scored and 4 RBIs.

“He’s a good hitter, man,” Cora said. “To get a pitch in the zone and hit it like that was huge. He kept putting together at-bats at the end. When you dominate the strike zone, good things happen. That’s what he does.”

The Red Sox tagged Houston starter J.P. France for 10 earned runs on 11 hits in 2 1/3 innings for the loss. The right-hander had been in the midst of a solid season for the Astros, posting a 2.75 ERA in 17 starts entering Thursday.

“In film, it looked like his stuff was better,” Cora noted. “Today was probably an off-day for him. He’s one of the best. He’ll bounce back. He’ll probably pitch against us next week and make adjustments. We’ve just got to make sure we’re ahead of that and putting good at-bats (together).”

After the first two losses of the series, Boston’s standing in the postseason race seemed dire as the club fell five games behind the red-hot Seattle Mariners, at the time winners of eight straight games, for a playoff spot. Following the split, the Red Sox remain in the thick of the conversation.

“A lot of people thought the season was over three days ago, that’s not the case,” Cora said. “If you follow this team, you know it’s a rollercoaster. “We have games left and have a chance to keep playing good baseball. The weekend is going to be fun and we get (the Astros) again next week. We just keep rolling. It was a good road trip. A few bad innings and defensive mistakes put us in a bad spot. Overall, we were happy with the results. We’ve just got to go home and play good baseball this weekend.”

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Astros game:

— The Red Sox moved to 3 1/2 games behind the Mariners in the American League wild-card race.

— Boston has homered in 13 straight games after Verdugo’s leadoff blast, according to Red Sox senior manager of media relations and baseball information J.P. Long.

— Verdugo tallied three hits in a game for the fourth time in August. The lefty went 4-for-7 with two runs scored.

— Boston set new season highs with 17 runs and 24 hits in the lopsided win over Houston.

— The Red Sox jumped back over the .500 mark on the road, now with a record of 33-32 away from Fenway Park.

— The Red Sox return home for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night on Apple TV+. The teams meet for the middle game of the set on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.