Brad Peacock got the start for Houston and he walked Andrew Benintendi to start the top of the first inning. Mr. Mookie Betts whiffed and Mitch Moreland looked at strike three before Benintendi swiped second. Xander Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning. Price took the mound in the bottom of the first and got Aledmys Diaz to fly out to right to begin. Alex Bregman whiffed on a full count but Michael Brantley singled. All of a sudden Price started gagging, coughing and wheezing. Sox manager Alex Cora came out of the dugout, took one look at Price, and brought in Colten Brewer to replace him. For a starter with a reputation of not being able to pitch in a big game, Price lasting 3 batters in a series the Sox needing to win was not a good look. Carlos Correa singled off Brewer but Yuli Gurriel flied out to center to end the inning.
Rafael Devers doubled to start the top of the second but Michael Chavis looked at strike three. Jackie Bradley Jr flied out to center before Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to end the inning. Josh Reddick and Tyler White stroked back to back singles to start the bottom of the second but Max Strassi banged into a double play. Kemp whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox pissed another chance away in the top of the third inning as Sandy Leon grounded out to second to start. Benintendi doubled and Mr. Mookie singled him to third, but Moreland whiffed. Bogaerts watched strike three go by to end the inning. Diaz flied out to center to open the bottom of the eighth before Bregman singled to short. Bregman was erased on the force by Brantley before Correa singled. Gurriel lined out to right to end the inning.
Devers singled to start the top of the fourth inning before moving to second on the grounder by Chavis. JBJ flied out to left and Vazquez whiffed to end the inning. Travis Lakins took over for the bottom of the fourth and Reddick grounded out to first to start. White grounded out to third and Strassi grounded out to short to end the inning.
Robinson Chirinos took over for Strassi behind the plate for the top of the fifth inning and Leon popped up to short to start. Benintendi grounded out to second and Mr. Mookie grounded out to third to end the inning. Lakins returned for the bottom of the fifth and Kemp struck out swinging to start. Diaz lined out to right and Bregman grounded out to third to end the inning.
Moreland flied out to left to start the top of the sixth before Bogaerts flied out to center. Devers whiffed to end the inning. The Astros struck first in the bottom of the sixth although Brantley grounded out to short to start. Correa walked, Gurriel singled to left and Reddick singled home Correa to give the Astros the lead. Heath Hembree came in for Lakins and White singled off the glove of Chavis to score Gurriel. Chirinos flied out to center and Kemp grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 2-0 Astros.
The Sox got one back in the top of the seventh against Hector Rondon as Chavis singled to left to begin. JBJ flied out to center before Vazquez flied out to center as well. JD Martinez pinch hit for Leon and walked to chase Rondon. Ryan Pressly came in and Benintendi singled home Chavis. Inexplicably Martinez was picked off to end the inning but the Sox were down 2-1.
Christian Vazquez took over behind the plate with Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. Diaz doubled to center and Bregman walked to put the runners on instantly. Brantley beat out a double play ball but Correa whiffed. Guriel singled to short to score Diaz with another run. Reddick lined out to second to end the inning with the Astros up 3-1.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the eighth inning as Mr. Mookie flied out to right to begin. Moreland grounded out to first and Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning. White grounded out to third to start the bottom of the eighth before Chririnos whiffed. Kemp flied out to left to end the inning.
Somehow the Sox showed some balls against Astros closer Roberto Osuna in the top of the ninth inning. Devers and Chavis struck back to back singles before JBJ was plunked to load the bases. Vazquez singled home Devers and Chavis to tie the game. The Sox then blew their chance at the lead when Sox manager Alex Cora sent Steve Pearce to pinch hit for Velazquez. Pearce looked at strike three before Benintendi popped up to third. Mr. Mookie walked to re-load the bases but Moreland grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The game was tied 3-3 but the Sox paid dearly for not going ahead.
Just as soon as the Sox tied it, Matt Barnes blew it in the bottom of the ninth. Diaz doubled to start before Bregman and Brantley worked back to back walks to load the bases. Correa delivered the kill shot to end the game with a single to center to score Diaz. The Astros had walked it off 4-3.
Jackass of the Night is Matt Barnes. He was tasked to keep the game tied and allowed four straight batters to reach to lose the game in the bottom of the ninth.
The Good:
Andrew Benintendi was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a stolen base.
Rafael Devers was 3 for 4 with a run scored.
Michael Chavis was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
JD Martinez walked as a pinch hitter.
David Price retired 2 of the 3 men he faced before leaving.
Colten Brewer tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
Heath Hembree got the final 2 outs of the seventh inning.
The Bad:
Mitch Moreland was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 2.
Steve Pearce struck out as a pinch hitter.
Travis Lakins allowed 2 runs in 2 1/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but walked.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a game tying, 2 run single.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 but was hit with a pitch.
Hector Velazquez allowed a run in 2 innings of work.
Final Thoughts:
That sucked. Once again the Sox couldn't beat a good team and was outplayed by the Astros. Its hard to believe the Sox wiped out these same Astros in 5 games last October when it looks like if the two teams played 10 times this year, the Astros would win 9 out of 10. Losing David Price 3 batters into the game hurt big time and the bullpen did their best to hold the Astros to 3 runs in 8 innings. Barnes blew it big time and that's on Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski. He had all off-season to find a set up guy and a closer and thought Tyler Thornburg and Colten Brewer would be the answer. The loss dropped the Sox to 27-25, 5.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The Sox have one game left with the Astros tomorrow afternoon and they run smack into Astros ace Justin Verlander. The Sox counter with Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3) at 4:00 PM Eastern time at Minute Maid Park.
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