Alex Bregman's homer off Chris Sale in 8th breathed new life into Astros

If you thought Chris Sale, when he took the mound for the top of the eighth inning on Monday at Fenway, seemed capable of carrying the Red Sox into a deciding Game 5 of the AL Division Series — and possibly the driver’s seat with all the momentum going back to Houston — you weren’t alone.

The Astros might not have said it, but they were thinking the same thing.

“Chris Sale had pitched so well for the entire stretch,” said Houston manager A.J. Hinch.

Sale had pitched four scoreless innings to that point to maintain Boston’s 3-2 lead. Four of his previous five outs were strikeouts, including one against Marwin Gonzalez that ended the seventh with runners on first and second.

“(Sale) and (David) Price both were electric,” said George Springer, of Boston’s starters-turned-relievers who had silenced the Astros’ bodacious bats that outscored the Red Sox 19-4 in the first 19 innings of the series.

For Red Sox manager John Farrell, there wasn’t much hesitation to send Sale out for a fifth inning of work. Plus, he had closer Craig Kimbrel waiting in the wings.

“(I was) very comfortable,” said Farrell, when asked how he felt about how the eighth inning was shaping up. “With six outs to go, up a run, and Chris Sale, who was still strong, still throwing the ball extremely well, I felt like we were in a good position.

And then Alex Bregman strode to the plate.

“(In Game 1), he started me off with a changeup, and then he ended up striking me out my third at-bat when on a changeup,” the third baseman said. “And I was looking for it the whole day. I got a little anxious my first at-bat and kind of came off it and popped it up to center, because I was so excited that I got it and I guessed right. I told myself that I would get it again, I just needed to stay close and stay on it.”

After taking and swinging through two changeups and taking a fastball to run the count to 2-1, Bregman finally got the changeup he wanted — up and over the plate — and deposited over The Wall in left.

“Two-one changeup stayed in the middle of the plate,” said Farrell.

"I felt fine," said Sale. "I just made a bad pitch...I'm trying to get him out front - didn't work."

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It may have only tied the game at three, but let the pressure off on an Astros bench that was starting to feel it with a trip back home staring them in the face.

“Yeah, when they took the lead it was, at least for myself, it was, all we got to do is just score one and breathe,” said Springer. “And this guy (Bregman) hit the homer here.”

With Sale showing the slightest weakness, the Astros pounced. Evan Gattis singled with one out and Brian McCann lined out before Sale was lifted for Kimbrel. After a five-pitch walk and running the count full, Astros outfielder Josh Reddick slapped the go-ahead single to left field.

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“The Bregman homer was really something that was very emotional for our dugout,” Hinch said. “To be able to get back in the game, even though it was a one-run game, was pretty emotional. Our dugout woke up.”

Kimbrel allowed the deciding run in the ninth on a double off the wall by pinch-hitter Carlos Beltran. After fanning the lead-off hitter, Kimbrel hit Gonzalez on the foot and allowed a two-out bloop single to Yuli Gurriel to put runners on first and second for Beltran.

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Thanks to the boost from the Bregman home run, the Astros were back to grinding away at their at-bats. By the time his one inning of work was done (Kimbrel was lifted for Addison Reed after Beltran’s double), Kimbrel had thrown a season-high 38 pitches.

“They put up tough at-bats against him,” Farrell said. “Typically, we're so accustomed to seeing a lot of swing-and-miss when Craig is on the mound. They fought off some good pitchers' pitches to get deep in counts and then were able to put some balls in play.

"I know he's trying to run a fastball in closer to Reddick on the 3-2 pitch that leaks back over the outer half, but we had arguably our two best pitchers or two really good pitchers to close things out to get the final six outs. (The Astros) got the job done.”