Miley blew away Michael Chavis to begin the top of the first inning before Mr. Mookie Betts popped up weakly to right. Xander Bogaerts popped up weakly to second to end the inning. Sale took the mound and Jackie Bradley Jr had to climb the centerfield wall to rob George Springer of a home run to start. Alex Bregman hit an absolute rocket Benintendi had to reach over the left field wall to catch before he had to rob Carlos Correa of a triple to end the inning.
JD Martinez whiffed badly to open the top of the second inning before Steve Pearce whiffed on a straight fastball right down the middle. Andrew Benintendi looked at strike three right down the middle to end the inning. Benintendi made a great diving catch off a rocket by Yuli Gurriel to rob him of a triple before Aledmys Diaz effortlesly crushes a single to right. The bumbling Sandy Leon muffed a pitch by Sale to allow Diaz to reach second but somehow Sale struck out Robinson Chirinos. Josh Reddick hit a routine grounder to Pearce who threw 100 feet behind Sale to the backstop. Leon grabbed the ball and ran sideways rather in front of Diaz which allowed him to score on the error to put Houston up for good. Michael Chavis had to make a great diving catch of a bullet hit by Tyler White to end the inning but the game was over, 1-0 Astros.
Eduardo Nunez popped up weakly to left to open the top of the third before Sandy Leon swung at a pitch that bounced in front of the plate for strike three. Jackie Bradley Jr whiffed on a straight fastball right down the middle to end the inning. The Astros struck again in the bottom of the third when Jake Marisnick effortlessly pounded a 50,000 foot home run to increase the lead. Mr. Mookie robbed Springer of a home run before Bregman walked. Somehow Sale struck out Correa but Bogaerts booted a routine grounder for an error to allow Gurriel to reach. Diaz whiffed to end the inning with the Astros ahead 2-0.
The Sox blew a chance at a comeback in the top of the fourth as Chavis grounded back to the mound to begin. Mr. Mookie doubled and Bogaerts walked, but Martinez banged into a double play to end the inning. The Astros poured it on in the bottom of the fourth as Chirinos drew a walk to start. Reddick singled Chirinos to third but White whiffed. Marisnick hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts who threw the ball completely out of the park for an error to score Chirinos and and advance Reddick to third. Springer hit a sac fly to score Reddick to ice the game. Mr. Mookie robbed Bregman of a home run to end the inning with the Astros up for good 4-0.
Pearce tried to start a rally in the top of the fifth with a single but Benintendi lined out to center. Nunez singled and Leon walked to load the bases....but JBJ whiffed. Marisnick robbed Chavis of extra bases to end the inning, what a waste. Sale got Correa to line out to short to begin the bottom of the fifth before Gurriel grounded out to short. Diaz whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox finally struck in the top of the sixth inning. Mr. Mookie flied out to right but Bogaerts atoned for his errors with his 9th home run of the season. Martinez grounded out to third and Pearce whiffed to end the inning but it was 4-1 Astros.
Sale came back for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth inning. Chirinos popped up to second to start before Reddick popped up to short. White flied out to right to end the inning. Sale failed to hold down the Astros by allowing 4 runs in 6 innings.
Will Harris replaced Miley for the top of the seventh and Benintendi whiffed to start. Nunez grounded out to third and Leon popped up to third to end the inning. Marcus Walden came in for the bottom of the seventh but Marisnick singled to start. Jake was erased on the force by Springer and he himself was erased on the force by Bregman. Correa grounded into a force to end the inning.
The Sox inched closer against Ryan Pressly in the top of the eighth when JBJ launched his third home run of the season to cut the lead in half. Mr. Mookie singled and Tony Kemp came in to play for Springer. Bogaerts whiffed but Martinez walked to put the tying runs on. Mitch Moreland pinch hit for Pearce,...and took strike three to end the inning with the Sox down 4-2.
Heath Hembree came in for the bottom of the eighth and had no idea where the ball was going. Gurriel flied out to center but Diaz and Chirinos walked. Reddick flied out to center but White walked to load the bases. Hembree recovered to punch out Marisnick to end the inning.
The Sox had a chance to crack Houston closer Roberto Osuna in the top of the ninth but failed. Benintendi flied out to center to begin before Nunez whiffed. Vazquez pinch hit for Leon and crushed his 7th home run of the season to bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately JBJ whiffed to end the game. The Astros had won it 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is Chris Sale. He failed to live up to his ace billing by allowing 4 runs in 6 innings.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4.
Steve Pearce was 1 for 3.
Christian Vazquez hit a pinch hit home run.
Marcus Walden pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Michael Chavis was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Mitch Moreland struck out as a pinch hitter.
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts hit a home run but committed 2 errors and struck out.
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 but walked.
Eduardo Nunez was just 1 for 4.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 2 but walked.
Jackie Bradley Jr was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a home run.
Final Thoughts:
What a miserable season this has been so far. Not only are the Red Sox completely mediocre, they can't do ANYTHING right. They can't hit in the clutch, make the clutch pitch or even field properly. They had every chance to win this game and just couldn't get the job done. Its one thing if this was the 1982 Red Sox offense but this is the same team that won 108 games last year, what happened? The Astros look better in every facet of the game and this was the same team the Sox curbstomped last October. The Sox better get fired up in a hurry or they're going to fall so far out of the race they may be sellers instead of buyers at the trade deadline. The less said of this unmitigated disaster, the better. Tomorrow the Sox are back in action against the Astros with Brad Peacock going for Houston and David Price on the mound for Boston. The game begins at 8:15 PM Eastern time at Minute Maid Park.
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