In the season of Murphy's Law for the Boston Red Sox, its latest victim was Brayan Bello. Not only did the pathetic Red Sox offense get held to just 4 hits and a run against Jose Urquidy and the Houston Astros, rookie starter Bello was brought in for relief only to pull a groin and most likely be out for the season just like everyone else it seems. Sox manager Alex Cora said he needed starter Rich Hill (4-5, 4.52 ERA) to go long to save his tired bullpen who've locked down the first two games. Instead the Astros jumped on Hill for four runs courtesy of a two run Trey Mancini home run. Hill was gone after the third inning, Bello in the fourth and Kaleb Ort had to be the sacrificial lamb. Reese McGuire had two hits in his Sox debut but the team as a whole had just four as the Astros effortlessly won this one 6-1 at Minute Maid Park.
Urquidy got the ball in the top of the first inning and Jarren Duran led off by striking out swinging on straight fastballs right down the middle. Tommy Pham hit a weak fly out to center and Rafael Devers struck out swinging on a changeup headed to the backstop to end the inning. The Astros ended the game early against Rich Hill as Jose Altuve effortlessly got a base hit to left to start. Jeremy Pena easily doubled to left and Yordan Alvarez grounded out to short to score Altuve, putting the Astros up for good 3 batters into the game. Alex Bregman hit a sac fly to center to score Pena but Aledmys Diaz popped up to Yolmer Sanchez to end the inning with the game over already 2-0.
The Sox quit in the top of the second as Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging at a pitch right down the middle to start. Alex Verdugo weakly popped up to third and Christian Arroyo grounded out weakly to first to end the inning. The Astros pounded Hill in the bottom of the second as Kyle Tucker caught Hill asleep with a bunt single to start. Trey Mancini laughed as he hit a home run all the way to San Antonio to ice the game. Christian Vazquez grounded out to short and former Sox prospect Mauricio Dubon struck out swinging. Altuve doubled to left but Pena grounded back to the mound to end the inning with the Astros up 4-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the third as Bobby Dalbec took a straight fastball right down the middle to start. Reese McGuire made his Sox debut with a weak fly out to center and Yolmer Sanchez struck out swinging on a ball that bounced eight feet from home plate to end the inning. The Sox proved nobody has a clue what's going on in the bottom of the third when Alvarez took strike three but stayed in the batter's box. Not a single person on the Red Sox nor the umpires figured it out and Alvarez got another pitch. Luckily Alvarez grounded out to first but if he had hit a home run, it would have been par for the course with the way Cora's team is completely unaccountable. Bregman flied out to right but Diaz singled to center, only for Tucker to fly out to right to end the inning. Even though Cora wanted him to go long, he pulled Hill after just three innings and four runs allowed. Way to put the Sox in a position to win by yanking your starter early again, Alex!
Hill lasted just three innings
Durran continued his cold streak by weakly flying out to left to start the top of the fourth before Pham grounded out weakly to short. Devers took a straight fastball right down the middle for strike three to end the inning. Brayan Bello came in to pitch the bottom of the fourth but Christian Vazquez in the other dugout noticed something was off about him. Mancini struck out swinging but Bello was clutching at his groin. Vazquez himself took strike three and told McGuire behind the plate that Bello was hurt. Sure enough, Dubon doubled to left and Altuve beat out a roller to second to put runners at the corners. Finally Cora woke up for his nap and saw Bello in obvious pain, yanking him mercifully. Hiro Sawamura came in and got Pena to force Altuve at second to end the inning. Lord knows when we see Bello ever again.
Bogaerts grounded out weakly to short to start the top of the fifth before Verdugo was accidentally hit with a pitch to break up the perfect game. Verdugo moved to second on a weak grounder to the mound by Arroyo and Dalbec flied out weakly to left to end the inning. Kaleb Ort came in to take a beating in the bottom of the fifth although Alvarez flied out to center to start. Bregman got a base hit to right, Diaz was hit with a pitch and Tucker doubled to center to score both runners. Kyle Tucker pretty much outhit the Red Sox by himself. Mancini flied out to right to move Tucker to third but Vazquez lined out to right to end the inning with the Astros up 6-0.
McGuire broke up the no-hitter with his first base hit to center to start the top of the sixth. Sanchez struck out swinging on a pitch over his head and Duran struck out swinging on a straight fastball right down the middle, but Pham somehow doubled to left. With a chance to get back in the game, Devers struck out swinging on a curveball nowhere close to the plate to end the inning. Dubon struck out swinging to start the bottom of the sixth before Altuve ripped a base hit to right. Pena struck out swinging and Alvarez grounded out to second to end the inning.
Bogaerts flied out weakly to right to start the top of the seventh before Verdugo swung and missed at a hanging curveball for strike three. Arroyo grounded out weakly to third to end the inning. Bregman got a base hit to left to start the bottom of the seventh but Diaz flied out to right. Sanchez made a great catch to rob Tucker of a single and doubled off Bregman at first to end the inning.
Seth Martinez came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Dalbec flied out weakly to left to begin. McGuire got another base hit to right and Sanchez walked. Duran beat out a double play ball to put runners at the corners but Pham grounded weakly back to the mound to end the inning. Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Mancini struck out swinging to begin. Vazquez flied out to right and Dubon lined out to left to end the inning.
Will Smith came in to close out the top of the ninth and Devers flied out weakly to left to start. Somehow Bogaerts smashed his ninth home run of the season to break up the shutout but Verdugo flied out weakly to center. Arroyo grounded out weakly to first to end the game. The Astros avoided a sweep with a 6-1 victory.
Jackass of the Night is Rich Hill. The Sox needed a good start with almost no offensive talent in the game and he allowed 4 runs in 3 innings to put them in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
The Good:
Reese McGuire was 2 for 3.
Brayan Bello got two guys out before leaving with injury.
Hiro Sawamura got the final out of the fourth inning.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 4.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Kaleb Ort allowed 2 runs in 3 innings of work.
The Ugly:
Tommy Pham was just 1 for 4.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but the one hit was a solo home run.
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but was hit with a pitch.
Yolmer Sanchez was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts but walked.
Final Thoughts:
Talk about quitting. This game wasn't even competitive and was over in the first inning. Every move Chaim Bloom has made has backfired and the trade deadline may prove to be no different. The Sox scored a combined 6 runs in 3 games against the Astros and needed outstanding pitching to win two of them. With Trevor Story out and the bottom of the order a black hole, they'll be lucky to score 4 runs a game moving forward. Urquidy was good but he's pitching against a bonafide triple A team these days. The less said of this disaster, the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 53-53, 3 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the third wild card. The Sox now travel to Kansas City for a four game set with the lowly Royals. If the Sox want to keep pace in the wild card chase they need to win at least three of these games. Tomorrow night Nick Pivetta (8-8, 4.47 ERA) takes on Kris Bubic of the Royals. The game begins at 8:10 PM eastern time at Kauffman Stadium.
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