It was a bad night for Boston sports. The Boston Bruins lost Game 2 of their second round NHL playoff series to the New York Islanders and the Boston Red Sox suffered an epic beat down at the hands of the Houston Astros. The Astros have had to deal with a lot of criticism the last two years for their cheating scandals and they took out their frustrations on the collective bungholes of the Boston Red Sox. The Astros made mincemeat out of Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4, 5.64 ERA) who's now 0-4 in the month of May. Houston pounded out 13 hits, drew 6 walks and scored 11 runs to ice this game early. The Sox bats were silenced by Jose Urquidy who allowed just 1 run off 3 hits through 6 innings. The Sox had just 5 hits in the game as the Astros wiped the field with them 11-2 at Minute Maid Park.
Urquidy got the ball in the top of the first and Kike Hernandez flied out to right to start. Alex Verdugo grounded out to first and JD Martinez struck out swinging to end the inning. Rodriguez got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jose Altuve tried to bunt his way on, but Eduardo snuffed it out. Chas McCormick walked but Alex Bregman banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Xander Bogaerts flied out to right to start. Rafael Devers and Danny Santana both struck out swinging to end the inning. The Astros struck first in the bottom of the second as Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker stroked back to back base hits to start. Aledmys Diaz got a base hit to center to load the bases with nobody out. Taylor Jones scored Correa with a sac fly, advancing Tucker to third and Myles Straw hit a ground ball to Marwin Gonzalez. Gonzalez threw to first to get Straw as Tucker scored but Diaz strayed too far off second and they gunned him down to end the inning with the Astros ahead 2-0.
Urquidy dominated the top of the third as Christian Vazquez grounded out to short to start. Gonzalez struck out swinging and Hunter Renfroe grounded out to third to end the inning. The Astros iced the game quickly in the bottom of the third as Martin Maldonado effortlessly singled to left to start. Altuve easily clobbered a home run all the way to Dallas to ice it but somehow McCormick struck out swinging. Bregman took strike three and Correa struck out swinging to end the inning with the Astros up 4-0.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fourth as Hernandez and Verdugo both went down hacking to start. Somehow Martinez drew a lucky walk but Bogaerts flied out weakly to left to end the inning. Tucker lined out to center to start the bottom of the fourth and Diaz grounded out to short. Jones singled to right but Straw forced him at second to end the inning.
Devers struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth and Santana grounded out to second. Vazquez broke up the no hitter with a ground rule double down the right field line but Gonzalez grounded out to third to end the inning. Maldonado grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fifth but Altuve singled to center. McCormick took strike three but Bregman walked. Sox manager Alex Cora had enough of Rodriguez who once again laid an egg in his fourth straight start. Colten Brewer made his season debut by walking Correa to load the bases. Tucker effortlessly singled to center to score Altuve and Bregman. Diaz struck out swinging but the game was over 6-0.
The Sox finally rallied in the top of the sixth as Renfroe doubled to left to begin. Hernandez lined out to right, Verdugo doubled to left to score Renfroe to get the Sox on the board but Martinez struck out swinging. Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 6-1.
Jones walked to start the bottom of the sixth but was thrown out at third by Hernandez on a base hit to center by Straw. Maldonado lined out to center but Straw stole second. Altuve walked and McCormick beat out a roller to third to load the bases. Bregman effortlessly singled to right to score Straw and Altuve for the exclamation point. That was it for the incompetent Brewer and Phillips Valdez poured gas on the fire when Correa doubled home McCormick. Tucker singled home Correa and Bregman to wrap up the scoring and Diaz lined out to left to end the inning with the Astros up 11-1.
Enoli Paredes came in for the top of the seventh and blew away the Sox. Devers took strike three, Santana struck out swinging and Vazquez went down hacking to end the inning. Bobby Dalbec and Christian Arroyo came in for Bogaerts and Verdugo in the bottom of the seventh and Jones grounded out to third to start. Straw took strike three and Maldonado struck out swinging to end the inning.
Robel Garcia took over at second with Nivaldo Rodriguez now on the mound for the top of the eighth. Gonzalez flied out to left but Renfroe smashed his seventh home run of the season to cut the lead. Hernandez grounded out to third but Arroyo doubled to right. Martinez flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 11-2.
Matt Andriese took over on the mound with Kevin Plawecki taking over behind the plate and Vazquez giving Devers the night off in the bottom of the eighth. Garcia struck out swinging and McCormick also went down hacking, but Bregman was plunked. Correa walked but Tucker lined out to center to end the inning.
The Sox went quietly in the top of the ninth as Dalbec grounded out to third to start. Plawecki grounded back to the mound and Santana grounded out to second to end the game. The Astros whooped the Red Sox damn ass 11-2.
Jackass of the Night is Eduardo Rodriguez. The incompetent lefty was charged with 6 runs in just 4 2.3 innings to put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Christian Arroyo doubled in his only at-bat.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3.
Hunter Renfroe was 2 for 3 with a home run and 2 runs scored.
Matt Andriese tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Danny Santana was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Colten Brewer allowed 4 runs in just 1 inning.
Phillips Valdez allowed 2 inherited runners to score and 1 of his own in 1 1/3 inning.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked,
Final Thoughts:
That was an epic disaster and something needs to be done about Rodriguez. He's back to where he was in 2016-17 where he nibbled and didn't trust his stuff. He's supposedly healthy and his velocity was fine so once again he's got the mental block in his head. Sox manager Alex Cora was able to fix him in 2018 so let's see if he can do it again. Once again the offense was silenced but that seems to be a common trait among the whole league...except the Astros tonight. The Astros pounded every mistake Sox pitchers made and they ended this one early. The Sox bats need to wake up real quick because the Tampa Bay Rays have won 16 of 17 and looks unstoppable right now. The Rays and New York Yankees are playing each other so it would be imperative to win the next two games to gain ground on someone. The Yankees offense hasn't been there this season and if that continues, the Sox and Rays can collectively take them out of the race early. As for this game, the less said of this disaster the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-21, 2.5 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to rebound tomorrow night when Garrett Richards (4-3, 3.83 ERA) takes on Luis Garcia of the Astros. The game begins at 8:10 PM Eastern time at Minute Maid Park.
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