Eovaldi got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jose Altuve flied out to center to start. Carlos Correa grounded out to short but Alex Bregman hit a ground rule double into the right field stands. Yordan Alvarez lined a base hit to right and Bregman came around third. Renfroe fired home and...YERR OUTTA THERE! Bregman was out and the inning was over.
The Sox actually struck first against Odorizzi in the bottom of the first as Danny Santana walked to start. Rafel Devers doubled him to third but JD Martinez went down hacking. Xander Bogaerts hit a sac fly to score Santana and Renfroe singled home Devers to increase the lead. Marwin Gonzalez struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox led 2-0 but would have just two hits the rest of the way.
The Astros struck back in the top of the second as Yuli Gurriel took strike three to start. Michael Brantley grounded out to third but Kyle Tucker doubled to right. Myles Straw hit a ground rule double to right to score Tucker but Garrett Stubbs popped up to third to end the inning with the Astros down 2-1.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Christian Arroyo went down hacking to start. Christian Vazquez went down swinging and Kike Hernandez lined out to center to end the inning.
The Astros ambushed Eovaldi in the top of the third as Altuve hit a home run all the way to Venus to tie the game. Correa walked and moved to second on the Bregman grounder to third before Alvarez doubled Carlos home to put the Astros up for good. Gurriel hit another ground rule double to left to score Alvarez and Brantley singled home Gurriel. Tucker took strike three and Straw was called out on strike three to end the inning with the Astros up 5-2.
Gurriel adds to the lead
Santana grounded out to short to start the bottom of the third before Devers struck out swinging. Martinez hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Eovaldi recovered in the top of the fourth as Stubbs popped up to short to start. Altuve struck out swinging but Correa singled to center. Bregman doubled Correa to third and Alvarez walked to load the bases but Gurriel grounded into a force to end the inning. The Sox struck back in the bottom of the fourth when Bogaerts pounded his 11th home run of the season to cut the lead. Renfroe lined out to third, Gonzalez grounded out to first and Arroyo struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox down 5-3.
Brantley lined out to left to start the top of the fifth before Tucker grounded out to short. Straw singled to center but Stubbs popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fifth as Vazquez grounded back to the mound to start. Hernandez grounded out to short and Santana flied out to center to end the inning.
Altuve grounded out to third to start the top of the sixth before Correa struck out swinhing. Bregman walked and that was it for Eovaldi. He had one bad inning in the second but battled to toss 5 2/3 innings. Darwinzon Hernandez came in and got Alvarez to ground out to short to end the inning.
Cristian Javier came in for the bottom of the sixth and Devers lined out to center to start. Martinez flied out to center and Bogaerts hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock got tagged in the top of the seventh inning although Gurriel grounded out to short to start. Brantley singled to center and Tucker doubled him to third. Straw hit a fly ball to right and Renfroe fired home....but Brantley was clearly safe. Stubbs was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning with the Astros up 6-3.
The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Renfroe flied out to left to start. Gonzalez grounded out to first and Arroyo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Phillips Valdez got tagged in the top of the eighth although Altuve struck out swinging to start. Correa singled and Bregman hit a home run all the way into the Pacific Ocean to wrap up the scoring. Alvarez grounded out to first but Gurriel singled to center. Brantley singled Gurriel to third and Tucker walked to load the bases. Straw flied out to end the inning with the Astros ahead 8-3.
Chas McCormick came in for the bottom of the eighth for Alvarez and Vazquez flied out to left to start. Hernandez singled to left and took second on a wild pitch, but Santana took strike three. Devers lined out to center to end the inning.
Brandon Workman came in for the top of the ninth and Stubbs struck out swinging to end the inning. Altuve grounded out to second and Correa took strike three to end the inning. Javier finished off the Sox in the bottom of the ninth as Martinez popped up to second to start. Bogaerts struck out swinging and Renfroe popped up to third to end the game. The Astros had won it 8-3.
Jackass of the Night is Nathan Eovaldi. He allowed 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings to put the Sox in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
The Good:
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with a home run and 2 total rbis.
Kike Hernandez was 1 for 3.
Darwinzon Hernandez retired the only man he faced.
Brandon Workman tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
JD Martinez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Garrett Whitlock allowed a run in the seventh inning.
Phillips Valdez allowed 2 runs in the eighth inning.
The Ugly:
Danny Santana was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but walked and scored a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Hunter Renfroe was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and threw out a runner at home.
Final Thoughts:
The Astros have the Red Sox' number and Sox GM Chaim Bloom better be looking hard at not only this series but last one as well. If the Astros and Red Sox were to face each other in October, it won't be going well for the Red Sox. They need an ace pitcher to shut these guys down and unless Chris Sale comes back healthy, they don't have it. The bullpen did well last night but got rocked for 3 runs tonight. The only positive to come out of the last two games is back to back scoreless outings for Workman. If he can get his wind back, he'll be an important piece of the puzzle moving forward. Framber Valdez shut them down last night and the tag team of Jake Odorizzi and Cristian Javier shut them down tonight. If Garrett Whitlock is supposed to be like Javier, the Sox refuse to let him off the hook. All in all the Sox are searching for answers against a team that is smacking them around Fenway. The bad news was the New York Yankees smacked around the Minnesota Twins again but the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the Washington Nationals to keep the standings deficit the same. The loss dropped the Sox to 37-25, 1.5 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to avoid a sweep tomorrow night when the Sox send Eduardo Rodriguez (5-4, 5.59 ERA) to the mound against Zack Greinke of the Astros. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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