It was a bad night for Boston sports as the Brooklyn Nets eliminated the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of their first round NBA playoff series and the Houston Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox. If the Red Sox are getting decisively beaten down by the Astros who have been bordering on .500 for the first two months of the season, how are they going to compete against the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees this month? The Astros once again held the Red Sox offense to almost nothing while turning a close game into a laughter by the end. Garrett Richards (4-4, 3.75 ERA) pitched well, holding the Astros to just 2 runs in 6 innings. The problem was Astros starter Luis Garcia held the Sox to just 1 run in 7 innings. The wheels fell off in the bottom of the seventh when Hiro Sawamura and Garrett Whitlock allowed 3 walks, 2 hits and combined with 2 errors, turned a 2-1 game into 5-1. The Sox were held to just 5 total hits as the Astros laughed at the Sox 5-1 at Minute Maid Park.
Garcia got the ball in the top of the first and Kike Hernandez led off with a fly out to center. Alex Verdugo beat out a roller to first but JD Martinez hit one up the elevator shaft. Verdugo took off for second and the throw by Martin Maldonado got away, allowing Verdugo to take third. The slumping Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. The Astros ended the game 4 pitches into the bottom of the first when Jose Altuve hit a home run to Jupiter off Richards to set the tone. Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman both struck out swinging before Yordan Alvarez grounded back to the mound to end the inning but the Astros were up for good 1-0.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Rafael Devers struck out swinging to start. Hunter Renfroe also went down hacking and Danny Santana grounded out to first to end the inning. Yuli Gurriel took strike three to start the bottom of the second but Kyle Tucker hit a rocket to right. Tucker tried to stretch a triple but was thrown out at third by Bogaerts. Chris McCormick walked but Myles Straw lined out to second to end the inning.
Christian Vazquez flied out to right to start the top of the third before Marwin Gonzalez grounded out to third. Hernandez walked but Verdugo grounded out to second to end the inning. Martin Maldonado and Altuve drew back to back walks to start the bottom of the third. Correa banged into a double play and Bregman grounded out to second to end the inning.
Martinez struck out swinging to start the top of the fourth and Bogaerts went down hacking. Devers flied out to left to end the inning. The Astros struck again in the bottom of the fourth as Alvarez doubled to right to start. Gurriel walked and both runners moved over on the grounder to the mound by Tucker. McCormick hit a sac fly to score Alvarez to increase the lead. Straw took strike three to end the inning with the Astros ahead 2-0.
The Sox broke through in the top of the fifth when Renfroe doubled to left to start. Santana beat out a little roller to first to put runners at the corners but Vazquez popped up to short. Gonzalez grounded out to first but Renfroe scored to cut the lead. Hernandez popped up to third to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Sox get a run back
Maldonado flied out to center to start the bottom of the fifth and Altuve struck out swinging. Correa grounded out to third to end the inning.
Verdugo singled to left to start the top of the sixth bit Martinez flied out to right. Bogaerts flied out to right and Devers struck out swinging to end the inning. Richards returned for one last inning in the bottom of the sixth as Bregman singled to right to begin. Alvarez hit a grounder to Gonzalez who flipped to Bogaerts for the out and back to first....SAFE! But wait! Sox manager Alex Cora challenged that Alvarez was out at first and replays confirmed it, double play. Gurriel flied out to right to end the inning. Richards did well but received no run support, tossing 6 innings of 2 run ball.
Garcia came back for one final inning in the top of the seventh and Renfroe grounded back to the mound to start. Santana flied out to center but Vazquez singled to left. Gonzalez grounded out to second to end the inning. The wheels fell off when Hiro Sawamura came in for the bottom of the seventh and Tucker singled to right to start. McCormick hit a double play ball to Devers.....booted for an error. Straw then hit a double play ball to Bogaerts who flipped to Gonzalez to nail McCormick and Gonzalez then turned around and threw the ball into left field for no reason for an error to score Tucker. Sawamura gave up as he walked Maldonado then Altuve intentionally to load the bases. That was it for Sawamura as Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to stop the bleeding....only to walk Correa on 4 pitches not even close to score Staw. Bregman struck out swinging but Alvarez hit a swinging bunt to Devers who couldn't make the play at first, scoring Maldonado to ice the game. Gurriel forced Correa at third to end the inning but the bad defense and pitching led to the Astros leading 5-1.
Brooks Raley came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Verdugo grounded out to short and Martinez grounded out to third to end the inning. The Astros threatened in the bottom of the eighth when Tucker singled to center to start. McCormick struck out swinging but Renfroe dropped a base hit by Straw. Maldonado lined out to left but Altuve walked to load the bases. Correa flied out to right to end the inning.
Ryan Stanek came in for the top of the ninth and Bogaerts struck out swinging to start. Devers flied out to left and Renfroe struck out swinging to end the game. The Astros had won it 5-1.
Jackass of the Night is Hiro Sawamura. The errors didn't help nor did Whitlock but he was charged with 3 runs to put the game out of reach.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4 with a stolen base.
Danny Santana was 1 for 3.
Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3.
One of the rare times the losing pitcher ends up on the Good list but Garrett Richards tossed 6 innings of 2 run ball to keep the Sox in the game. He allowed 4 hits and 4 walks.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with an error and 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but scored a run and made an outfield assist.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with an error but drove in a run.
Garrett Whitlock allowed 2 inherited runners to score but none of his own in 1 1/3 innings.
Final Thoughts:
Forget the 7th inning for a second, the real downfall of the Sox lately is the heart of their order. Bogaerts and Devers are in a slump and Martinez hasn't been hitting as well lately. Tonight they went 0 for 12 with 6 strikeouts. The Sox basically don't hit without those 3 and tonight was no different. When someone like Garcia shuts you down, that's a problem. Santana hasn't been hitting home runs as frequent as expected and the worst part is Jarren Duran is unavailable for a callup since he's participating in the US Olympic trials. Richards didn't pitch bad and even Sawamura was victimized by bad defense. It was an all around bawful effort they can ill afford with the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays playing each other. The Sox are wasting a golden chance to gain ground on whoever loses. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-22, 2 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow night when "The Undefeated" Nick Pivetta (6-0, 3.86 ERA) puts his undefeated streak on the line against Framber Valdez of the Astros. The game begins at 8:10 PM Eastern time at Minute Maid Park.
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