Doug Fister (5-9, 4.88 ERA) deserved better although the game started out like last night when George Springer led off with a walk and Alex Bregman doubled him to third. Fister recovered to get Altuve to hit a comebacker before striking out Carlos Correa. Marwin Gonzalez grounded out to second to end the inning, great effort by Fister. Charlie Morton began his dominance in the bottom of the first as Xander Bogaerts flied out to right, Dustin Pedroia grounded out to short and Andrew Benintendi struck out to end the inning.
Fister got Evan Gattis to ground out to short to start the top of the second before Carlos Beltran flied out to right. Yuri Guriel looked at strike three to end the inning. Morton cruised in the bottom of the second inning as Mookie Betts grounded out to third, Mitch Moreland grounded out to short and Hanley Ramirez whiffed to end the inning.
The Astros struck first in the top of the third inning when Derek Fisher singled and moved to second on the Springer ground out. Bregman singled and Fisher came all the way around to score the first run. Altuve grounded out to first and Correa looked at strike three to end the inning but the Astros were up 1-0.
The Sox failed to answer in the bottom of the third as Rafael Devers flied out to center, Sandy Leon watched strike three go by and Rajai Davis grounded out to second to end the inning.
Fister recovered to have a strong top of the fourth as Gonzalez hit a comebacker to the mound, Gattis lined out to third and Beltran flied out to center to end the inning. The Sox once again looked pitiful in the bottom of the fourth as Bogaerts popped up to second, Pedroia grounded out to third and Benintendi grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Astros iced the game in the top of the fifth inning as Guriel singled to start but Fisher whiffed. Springer grounded out but Bregman blasted a 753 foot bomb over the Mass Pike to give the Astros a commanding lead. Altuve grounded out to third to end the inning but it was now 3-0 Astros.
Somehow the Sox managed to fight back in the bottom of the fifth inning even though Betts grounded out to start. Moreland doubled and moved to third on the Ramirez ground out before Devers doubled him home. Representing the tying run, Leon looked at strike three to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
Fister returned for the top of the sixth inning and struck out Correa to begin. All of a sudden John Farrell sprinted out of the dugout, ran up to Fister, stole his glove and took off for the bullpen. Fister ran off in hot pursuit as David Price emerged from the Astros dugout and came in to pitch much to the confusion of the Astros. Gonzalez lined out to left and Gattis whiffed to end the inning. Fister pitched decently but got no run support in this one.
The Sox struck again in the bottom of the sixth as Davis singled and Bogaerts doubled him to third. Representing the go-ahead run...Pedroia grounded out to second although Davis scored and Bogaerts moved to third. That was it for Morton as Fransisco Liriano came in to pitch to the lefty Benintendi with the tying run on third. Naturally Benintendi whiffed so Liriano intentionally walked Betts to put runners at the corners. Betts swiped second and Moreland walked to load the bases. Chris Devenski came in to pitch and Ramirez grounded out to end the inning. The Sox pissed a huge chance to tie the game and trailed 3-2.
Things didn't start well in the top of the seventh inning when Beltran hit a routine grounder to Devers who threw his glove at the ball and ran away screaming for an error. Price recovered to get Guriel to pop up to first before striking out Fisher. Springer flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox mustered nothing in the bottom of the seventh as Devers popped up to first, Leon whiffed and Davis struck out to end the inning.
Addison Reed came in to pitch the top of the eighth inning and got Bregman to fly out to left before Altuve grounded out to short. Correa walked and advanced to second on a passed ball, so Reed intentionally walked Gonzalez. Gattis grounded out to end the inning. Juan Ceteno took over behind the plate as Will Harris came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Bogaerts struck out but Pedroia walked to once again put the tying run on. Brock Holt pinch ran for Pedroia but Benintendi whiffed again. All of a sudden Holt bolted for second out of nowhere and he was thrown out by a mile to end the inning. That's the second time this year Holt was brought in to pinch run only to run himself into an out.
Craig "The Buzzard" Kimbrel came in to pitch the top of the ninth and allowed a single to Beltran. Cameron Maybin came in to run for Beltran and was thrown out trying to steal shortly after. Guriel grounded out and Fisher struck out to end the inning. Ken Giles came in to close out the game and Betts grounded out to short to start. Moreland lined out to left but Ramirez doubled to put the tying run at second. Chris Young ran for Ramirez but Devers grounded out to end the game. The Sox wasted one chance after another and lost 3-2.
Jackass of the Night is a tough one considering so many people had difference chances to put the Sox ahead or tie the game. I gotta go with Andrew Benintendi. He was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts with 2 of them coming in crucial at-bats.
The Good:
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Rajai Davis was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
David Price threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Addison Reed pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Brock Holt was thrown out at second as a pinch runner.
Sandy Leon was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 3 but walked and drove in a run.
Mookie Betts was 0 for 3 but walked and stole a base.
Hanley Ramirez was just 1 for 4.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with an error but drove in a run.
Doug Fister took the loss but he went 5 1/3 innings and allowed 3 runs. More often than not, that's a good start.
Honorable Mention:
Chris Young pinch ran for Ramirez in the bottom of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
If you thought 2011 was a pretty bad collapse, the Sox are just 2 losses away from something far worse. The Sox not only had a 5 game lead with 7 to play, but they played last place teams from September 4 to the 27th....and still couldn't put the New York Yankees away. Their offense is totally inept more often than not and fans are grumbling that they have no chance in hell of winning the division or the play-in game. Some fans are even going so far to predict the Sox will lose 2-1 to the Twins next Tuesday. Obviously that's worse case scenario since the Sox have 2 games left to win the division. Its become fairly obvious whoever pitchers from here on in better throw a damn shutout otherwise they have no chance in hell. The loss dropped the Sox to 92-68, just 2 games ahead of the Yankees with just 2 to play. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox turn to Drew Pomeranz (16-6) to stop the bleeding against Lace McCullers Jr in game 3 of this 4 game set at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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