In what's been a dreary season so far, the Boston Red Sox posted arguably their best win of the season against their nemesis the Houston Astros. The Sox took a 2-1 lead after five innings but Garrett Whitlock was knocked out in the sixth inning with Jake Diekman allowing the tying run to score. After a frightening injury to Houston starter Jake Odorizzi and a 2 hour rain delay, the Sox turned back the clock a year. The Astros took a 3-2 lead after Matt Barnes had a meltdown but Trevor Story tied the game with his first Fenway home run in the seventh and the Sox surged ahead in the eighth. A JD Martinez rbi double and a Xander Bogaerts two run home run put the Sox up for good. Hansel Robles was given the chance to close and he delivered by slamming the door. The Sox opened the salvo on the defending American League champion Astros with a 6-3 victory at Fenway Park.
The Lock got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jose Altuve was hit on the wrist to start. Michael Brantley singled to right but Alex Bregman struck out swinging. Yordan Alvarez struck out swinging and Yuli Gurriel lined out to center to end the inning. Odorizzi cruised in the bottom of the first inning as Kike Hernandez popped up to second to start. Rafael Devers and JD Martinez both struck out swinging to end the inning.
Kyle Tucker grounded out to second to start the top of the second inning but Chas McCormick walked. Jason Castro forced McCormick at second and former Sox prospect Mauricio Dubon grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the second as Xander Bogaerts grounded out to second to start. Alex Verdugo struck out swinging and Trevor Story popped up to first to end the inning.
Altuve struck out swinging to start the top of the third before Brantley flied out to center. Bregman grounded out to second to end the inning. Odorizzi remained perfect in the bottom of the third as Franchy Cordero grounded out to short to start. Christian Vazquez flied out to right and Jackie Bradley Jr struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Lock stayed strong in the top of the fourth inning as Alvarez grounded out to first to start. Gurriel lined out to right and Tucker popped up to third to end the inning. The Sox finally got a base hit in the bottom of the fourth as Hernandez got a base hit to right to start. Devers flied out to center but Martinez got a base hit to right. Bogaerts walked to load the bases and Verdugo hit a pop up to center. McCormick misjudged the ball and it fell in to score Hernandez but Martinez was "forced" at third base. Story popped up to second to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Cordero scores a run
Cordero tried to start a rally with a double high off the Monster to start the bottom of the fifth but Sox manager Alex Cora refused to have Vazquez bunt. Naturally Vazquez grounded out to short and JBJ did the same to move Cordero to third. Somehow Cordero scored on a passed ball to give the Sox the lead but Hernandez grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 2-1. Unfortunately Odorizzi pulled a hamstring on the last pitch and really did have to be hauled off on a gurney. Hope he's ok, that looked bad.
Naturally the Astros didn't wait around to tie the game in the top of the sixth as Brantley hit a ground rule double into the right field stands and Bregman walked to chase Whitlock. Garrett would be charged with 2 runs in 5 plus innings. Jake Diekman came in and walked Alvarez to load the bases and Gurriel hit a sac fly to score Brantley to tie the game. Bregman moved to third but somehow Tucker popped up to left to chase Diekman. Cora wanted John Schreiber to pitch to McCormick and John struck him out swinging to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
All of a sudden it started downpouring out of complete nowhere to put the game in a rain delay. 2 hours later play resumed with Phil Maton came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Devers got a base hit to left. The rally ended as Devers was doubled off first on a liner to third by Martinez. Bogaerts was plunked but Verdugo flied out to center to end the inning.
As usual the Sox bullpen fell apart in the later innings against the Houston Astros as Castro effortlessly doubled to left to start the top of the seventh. Dubon dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Castro to third and he scored on the clutch base hit off the second base bag by....you guessed it....Altuve to put the Astros up for good. As boos rained down on Barnes, he was pulled for Matt Strahm. Strahm hit Brantley but froze Bregman for strike three and punched out Alvarez to end the inning. As usual the Sox bullpen coughed up the game and the Astros led 3-2.
Shockingly the Sox fought back in the bottom of the seventh as Story smashed his second home run of the season to tie the game. Cordero lined out to left, Vazquez struck out swinging and JBJ was retired on a squibber in front of the plate to end the inning with the game tied 3-3.
Strahm returned for the top of the eighth and Gurriel flied out to center to start. Tucker lined out to left but McCormick doubled to center. Castro struck out swinging to end the inning. Hector Neris came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Hernandez somehow doubled to left to start. Rather than drop down a bunt, once again Cora let Devers hit away and naturally he flied out to left to strand Hernandez. Martinez didn't strand Kike though, he doubled to center to score him to put the Sox on top. Bogaerts then smashed a home run over the Monster to give the Sox some insurance. Verdugo popped up to second but Story walked and stole second base. Cordero struck out swinging after a 3-0 pitch that should have been called ball four to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-3.
Cora rolled the dice by giving Hansel Robles another chance to close with a three run lead to start the top of the ninth. Bobby Dalbec took over at first for Cordero and Dubon got a base hit to left to start. Somehow Altuve banged into a double play and Brantley lined out to left to end the game. The Sox had won it 6-3.
Hero of the Night is JD Martinez. His RBI double in the eighth put the Sox in front for good.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 2 with a hit by pitch, walk and a 2 run homer.
Trevor Story was 1 for 3 with a walk, stolen base and home run.
Garrett Whitlock tossed 5 plus innings and was charged with just 2 runs. He allowed 3 hits and struck out 3.
John Schreiber got the final out of the sixth inning.
Matt Strahm tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Hansel Robles got the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Matt Barnes allowed a run in just 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Franchy Cordero was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Jake Diekman allowed an inherited runner to score in 2/3 of an inning.
Honorable Mention:
Bobby Dalbec played first base in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Some fans pointed out this was the first win of the season that genuinely felt like a 2021 win. Coming from behind with timely offense to beat the defending AL champs is definitely a feel good win for sure. It wasn't just that they beat them it was how they did it. Everyone expected them to collapse when Altuve put the Astros on top but the Sox didn't quit. Story, Martinez and Bogaerts all delivered to guide the Sox to victory. The only drawback to this game is Matt Barnes is finished. He's had a good run but him and Ryan Brasier are straight batting practice right now. If Sox GM Chaim Bloom didn't sign Matt to that extension last year, he'd have been gone by now. Still, Cora is starting to learn who he can trust and who he can't. Right now Schreiber and Strahm are his set up guys and Robles is the closer come hell or high water. Once Michael Wacha comes back they HAVE to put Whitlock in the bullpen. He's much more effective throwing 2-3 innings as a reliever than trying to stretch him to five as a starter. Like I've been saying since Day 1, this offense is too good to continue to be THAT bad. The bottom of the order looked iffy but Story is starting to come around. It's just a matter of time before Verdugo, Vazquez and Hernandez follow suit. The win improved the Sox to 14-21, good for 4th place in the AL East. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Astros tomorrow night when Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 3.15 ERA) takes on Jose Urquidy of Houston. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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