Astros - 012 000 000 - 3 4 1 Red Sox - 100 020 10x - 4 11 0Chris Sale had control problems (5.1-4-3-5-10, 106), tying a career high with five walks. But the Red Sox persevered and snapped the Astros' 10-game winning streak and avoided a sweep.
An infield error and a wild pitch in the first inning helped Boston take a 1-0 lead. In the second, Sale walked Yuli Gurriel, gave up a double to Josh Reddick, hit Jake Marisnick, and threw a wild pitch, allowing Houston to tie the game at 1-1. Sale walked Alex Bregman to start the third and he scored on Carlos Correa's 11th homer of the year.
Boston tied the game with a TO/BE inning in the fifth. With two outs, Michael Chavis homered to left. Mookie Betts doubled and scored on a Xander Bogaerts pop-up that fell in short right-center among three Astros for a single.
Sale got into trouble in the following inning. Gurriel doubled to center and then Sale walked both Robinson Chirinos and Reddick with one out. Marcus Walden came in with the bases loaded and got Marisnick to ground into a 6-3 double play. Sale: "That was honestly probably the biggest moment and he stepped up big for us."
Walden issued a one-out walk in the seventh, but got another double play to end the seventh, though it came only after the Red Sox challenged umpire Laz Diaz's incorrect call at first.
Bogaerts's two-out double off the wall in left-center (just above the 379 marker) in the seventh scored Betts with the go-ahead run.
Matt Barnes pitched a clean eighth against the Astros' 4-5-6 hitters and Brandon Workman earned his first career save in the ninth. He struck out Chirinos, walked Reddick, struck out Marisnick, and retired Tony Kemp on a liner to center.
The Red Sox begin a four-game series in Toronto on Monday afternoon.
Chavis, 2BAlex Cora considered several possible lineups for today, including one with J.D. Martinez leading off. He decided to go with Michael Chavis at the top of the order.
Betts, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Martinez, LF
Vázquez, C
Pearce, 1B
Devers, 3B
Núñez, DH
Bradley, CF
Christian Vázquez - whose slugging percentage so far this season is nearly double what it was last year (.536 to .283) - is making his sixth career start (in 285 games) batting above the #6 spot.
Unbelievable.
ReplyDelete"Robinson Canó didn't run out of the box after he hit a fair ball into the ground in front of home plate in the fourth inning on Sunday.
Marlins catcher Chad Wallach pounced on the ball and threw to second base, starting a double play as Cano stood in the batter's box, seemingly thinking it was foul.
This follows the events of Friday night's loss to the Marlins, when Cano didn't run out another double-play ball, saying that he was duped by the scoreboard.
Cano later grounded into another inning-ending double play in the seventh."
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Duped by the scoreboard? What does that even mean? ... Canó is so lazy he makes Manny Machado look like Pete Rose.