Final: Astros 8, Red Sox 2

HOUSTON – Ugly doesn’t begin to describe it.

For the second time in as many days, the Red Sox were thoroughly outclassed against the Houston Astros in Game 2 of the ALDS, losing in the exact same fashion and by the same score as they did in Game 1,  bsorbing another 8-2 beating.

They now face the seemingly impossible task of having to win three games in a row to advance in the post-season.

For the second straight game, a Red Sox starter was hit early and hard. Drew Pomeranz surrendered a two-run homer to Carlos Correa in the first. Two innings later, he was tagged for a solo shot from George Springer. Following a double, single and another run, he was lifted without recording an out in the third.

The offensive onslaught continued in the sixth when the high-powered Houston offense doubled its run output off Eduardo Rodriguez and Addison Reed.

The first run for the Sox came in the second when Chris Young doubled, stole third and rode home on Jackie Bradley Jr.’s single to center. Bradley added another run-scoring single in the ninth off Ken Giles.

The Sox have been outscored 16-4 in the series to date.

GAME NO.: ALDS Game 2
WHO: Red Sox (0-1) vs Houston Astros (1-0)
WHEN:  2:05 EST
WHERE:  Minute Maid Park
RADIO: WEEI (93.7 FM)
TV: FS1
PITCHERS:  LHP Drew Pomeranz (17-6, 3.32) vs. LHP Dallas Keuchel (14-5, 2.90)

BOX SCORE:    MLB Gameday

IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:

• More bad news? Sure, we've got that, too. Mookie Betts, who appeared to aggravated a sore left wrist in his at-bats in the top of the eighth, came out of the game, replaced by Rajai Davis.


• I'm sure it was just the enthusiasm of a rookie getting a big strikeout against the hottest hitter and working out of a bases-loaded jam. But someone should probably tell Austin Maddox that he should rethink twirling and hopping off the mound after fanning Jose Altuve. His team is, after all, losing by seven, and about to go down 2-0 in the ALDS.


• This inning (the sixth), it's gone from embarrassing to downright ugly, as the Astros tacked on four more and now lead 8-1. First, the usually sure-handed Mookie Betts drops the ball on a transfer to allow a run to score. Then, Carlos Correa lashes a two-run double down the line. Then, Evan Gattis pounds a ball off the wall in left. Addison Reed was hit hard and the rout is on.

The rout is on. Carlos Correa breaks it open for the @astros with a 2-out, 2-run double. https://t.co/qhkLod4N1r

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 6, 2017

• Way back in the first and second innings, the Red Sox had a span of eight plate appearances where they put five hitters on base: two walks, and three hits. But since then Keuchel has been in a rocking chair, retiring the last 13 Red Sox hitters in succession. It helps to pitch with the lead, sure, but Keuchel had that in the second innings, too, and the Sox managed to put some pressure on him.


• File this under "what else can go wrong?'': it seems like Pedroia's knee is acting up. He fielded a grounder awkwardly in the bottom of the fourth, seeming to lose his balance as he went to the ground and glove a grounder from Alex Bregman. Then, in the top of the fifth, he stumbled a bit coming out of the box and didn't run well down to first.


• The Red Sox liked enough of what they saw from Xander Bogaerts in the leadoff spot over the final few weeks of the season that they kept him there for the playoffs. But to date, he's contributed noting from atop the batting order, going hitless in seven plate appearances.


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  • The Red Sox had hoped that David Price could be a true weapon in the post-season, but surely they didn't envision his first appearance would come with the team already down by three runs and the bases loaded with one out. Price was supposed to serve as a high-leverage bridge to the late-inning relievers. Instead, he's trying to stop the flood of runs by the Astros and the series in danger of slipping away
  
  
  • It's pretty clear that Smith doesn't have it -- he's issued walks to the first two hitters he faced and then allowed a bullet to third that Deven Marrero snared. It's likely the Sox would have preferred to have David Price in  for Reddick, but unaccustomed as he his to getting ready in a hurry, Price needs some time to warm. He's in now.
  
  
  • That's it for Drew Pomeranz, who has a short afternoon: 2-plus innings, four runs allowed and responsible for another baserunner. Falling behind early is never a good strategy, but it's even worse for the Red Sox, who don't seem to have the firepower to catch up.
  
  
  • Pomeranz hung a breaking ball to George Springer and paid for it with an opposite field homer to right. Houston has not out-homered Boston 6-0 in the first 12 innings of this series. That sort of discrepancy maybe isn't a huge surprise since the Astros were second in homers in the AL and the Sox last, but so far, losing the power battle is killing the Red Sox.
  
  
  
  

SPRINGER DINGER! Another @astros home run.

3-1 over the Red Sox in the 3rd. https://t.co/H8CcCnxXiU

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 6, 2017

• That called third-strike to Hanley is an example of what I was referring to earlier about Hernandez and the strike zone. According to GameDay strike zone, that pitch was a bit inside and Keuchel got the call. That's the first called strikeout of the game for the lefty.


• Yuli Gurriel isn't an easy guy to walk, drawing just 22 in 564 plate appearances during the regular season. And yet, Pomeranz just put him on by throwing four straight balls.


• Interesting to note that Red Sox hitters have already called time three times in the middle of an at-bat, stepping out on Keuchel. He's a pretty deliberate worker to begin with, so it's unclear whether this is a matter of the Sox responding to him taking a lot of time, or an effort to disrupt him.


• Jackie Bradley Jr. worked a tough at-bat there with Keuchel before connecting -- on the eighth pitch he saw -- on a ground ball through the middle to score Young with the first run of the game for the Sox. A key will be the Red Sox' willingness to use the whole field against the lefty. Bradley did that there, staying on a two-seamer and driving it up the middle of the diamond.


• A key to today's game could well be, gulp, home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. If he gives Keuchel a wide strike zone, it could be a long afternoon for the Red Sox.


• Strong at-bat from Chris Young, who jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Keuchel and lined a double to left, then quickly stole third on him. Obviously, as good as Keuchel is holding runners at first, it's a different matter with runners at second and Young took full advantage.
  
  
  
  • With the count full, Pomeranz simply made a bad pitch to Carlos Correa -- a 92 mph four-seamer, over the heart of the plate, and for the second time in as many games, the Sox fall behind by multiple runs in the very first inning.
  
  
  
  

CRUSHED! CARLOS CORREA!

2-run homer, @astros take the 2-0 lead. https://t.co/hAemHRaUHg

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 6, 2017

• Altuve showed an example of his great plate coverage with that two-0ut single. Pomeranz threw a curve ball a few inches from the dirt and Altuve slammed a line drive into left. He's one of the best bad-ball hitters in the game. Farrell today stressed the importance of keeping balls out of the middle of the plate against him, but that only goes so far since Altuve can and will swing at anything and still make hard contact.


• You can already see how difficult it is for Red Sox baserunners to get much of a secondary lead with Keuchel on the mound. Benintendi was fooled a few times off first, leaning back toward to the bag as Keuchel delivered to the plate. The Houston catchers have struggled with throws all season, but Keuchel can be a great equalizer with his ability to control the running game and limit jumps.