All good things must come to an end and the undefeated streak of Nick Pivetta (6-1, 3.77 ERA) was snapped by the combination of the Houston Astros and the awful Boston Red Sox offense. Pivetta pitched well, allowing just 2 runs and 3 hits in 6 solid innings. The bullpen tossed 3 scoreless frames and nine times out of ten that's good enough to win. Unfortunately the Sox bats took another night off as Framber Valdez held the Sox to just 1 run in 7 innings. The Sox as a team outhit the Astros 7 to 4 but couldn't the clutch hit with a man on base to bail out Pivetta. Christian Arroyo had two hits in the game and he came on with 2 on in the ninth but made the final out to add insult to injury. The Sox are fading fast with their latest lost to the Astros 2-1 at Minute Maid Park.
Valdez got the ball in the top of the first as Kike Hernandez grounded out to short to start. Alex Verdugo struck out swinging but JD Martinez singled to center. Xander Bogaerts walked and Rafael Devers beat out a roller to third to load the bases. Hunter Renfroe walked on four pitches to score Martinez to give the Sox the lead, but Bobby Dalbec grounded out to short on a full count to end the inning. Another wasted chance with the Sox only leading 1-0.
Naturally the Astros answered in the bottom of the first against Pivetta as Jose Altuve walked and Carlos Correa doubled him to third. Alex Bregman struck out swinging but Yordan Alvarez was plunked to load the bases. Yuli Gurriel hit a sac fly to score Altuve but Kyle Tucker singled to left. Robel Garcia struck out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Christian Vazquez flied out to center to start the top of the second before Christian Arroyo took strike three. Hernandez grounded out to third to end the inning. Myles Straw flied out to right to start the bottom of the second and Martin Maldonado took strike three. Altuve walked but Correa struck out swinging to end the inning.
Valdez cruised in the top of the third as Verdugo grounded out to third to start. Martinez grounded out to short and Bogaerts struck out swinging to end the inning. Pivetta cruised in the bottom of the third as Bregman struck out swinging to start. Alvarez went down hacking and Gurriel flied out to right to end the inning.
Valdez turned up the heat in the top of the fourth as Devers, Renfroe and Dalbec all struck out swinging in short order. The Astros took the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Tucker doubled to right to start. A wild pitch moved Tucker to third but Garcia took strike three. Straw grounded out to third but Tucker scored to put the Astros up for good. Maldonado flied out to center to end the inning with the Astros ahead 2-1.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the fifth as Vazquez grounded out to short to start. Arroyo got a base hit to left but Hernandez flied out to left. Verdugo struck out swinging to end the inning. Pivetta recovered in the bottom of the fifth as Altuve swung at air for strike three. Correa grounded out to thrid and Bregman lined out to center to end the inning.
Martinez grounded out to third to start the top of the sixth before Bogaerts went down hacking. Devers singled in the hole at short but Renfroe whiffed again to end the inning. Pivetta returned for one final inning in the bottom of the sixth as Alvarez grounded out to first to start. Gurriel flied out to right and Tucker took strike three to end the inning. Pivetta had only allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings but got no run support.
Dalbec grounded out to second to start the top of the seventh before Vazquez grounded out to third. Arroyo singled in the hole at short but Hernandez struck out swinging to end the inning. Darwinzon Hernandez came in for the bottom of the seventh and Garcia grounded out to second to start. Straw struck out swinging and Maldonado grounded out to short to end the inning.
Ryan Stanek came in for the top of the eighth and Verdugo flied out to center to start. Martinez also flied to center and Bogaerts lined to center to end the inning. For whatever reason Hiro Sawamura was brought in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and he did get Altuve to ground out to second to start. Correa grounded out to short but Bregman hit a roller past Bogaerts for a double to chase Hiro. Josh Taylor came in and Vazquez picked off Bregman to end the inning.
Ryan Pressly came in to close out the top of the ninth and Devers flied out to left to start. Renfroe did get a base hit to right to put the tying run on and Danny Santana pinch hit for Dalbec. Santana struck out swinging but Vazquez singled to left. With the game on the line...Arroyo popped up to short to end the game. The Astros ended Pivetta's undefeated streak and won it 2-1.
Jackass of the Night is Kike Hernandez. The leadoff hitter went 0 for 4 with a strikeout in a game that was decided by one run.
The Good:
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4.
Hunter Renfroe was 1 for 3 with a walk and an rbi.
Christian Arroyo was 2 for 4.
Once again the losing pitcher ends up on the Good list as Nick Pivetta tossed 6 innings of 2 run ball while allowing just 3 hits.
Darwinzon Hernandez pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Hiro Sawamura got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
Josh Taylor technically got the last out of the eighth inning.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Danny Santana struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but picked off Bregman in the eighth.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox are in deep doo-doo because they're about to be dropped into third place with the New York Yankees taking two of three games against the Tampa Bay Rays so far. The Sox have absolutely no answers for the Houston pitching that's held them to four runs in 3 games. Houston's pitching has been good but they haven't been THAT good this season. The worst part is both Garrett Richards and Nick Pivetta pitched well and have nothing to show for it. Hats off to Pivetta who didn't lose a game until June after being activated last September. Its a problem around the league but the Sox just aren't generating much offense. Xander Bogaerts is in an 0-22 slump and the rest of the offense is sagging because of it. Kike Hernandez has no business being a leadoff hitter while hitting .228 but Verdugo doesn't want to do it. If Jarren Durran wasn't in the Olympic trials, he possibly would be brought up now. The Sox offense are desperate for answers and it doesn't look like help is on the way. The loss dropped the Sox to 32-23, 2 games behind the Rays for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox look to avoid a series sweep when Martin Perez (3-2, 3.55 ERA) takes on Jake Odorizzi of the Astros. The game begins at 2:05 PM Eastern time at Minute Maid Park.
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