HOUSTON -- All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 7-3 loss to the Astros, complete with BSJ analysis and insight.
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Red Sox offense cools: Coming into this series, the Red Sox were atop nearly every offensive category in the majors, but you wouldn't know it by watching the first two games here. The Sox had just five runs in the first 18 innings and have been stymied by the Houston pitching staff. In four different innings Friday night, the Sox went down in order 1-2-3, and when they did get some chances, couldn't capitalize, going hitless (0-for-6) with runners in scoring position. As Alex Cora noted, the Sox did barrel up some balls that were hit right at defenders -- Jackie Bradley Jr. smoked a liner to right in the seventh and Rafael Devers hit a ball to the warning track in right in the sixth. But they haven't produced the necessary runs to keep up with the Astros.
Joe Kelly's brilliant run comes to a screening halt: Before Friday night, Kelly had pieced together eight straight scoreless appearances, and dating back to April 1, he had yielded just one run. In fact, heading into Friday, he hadn't given up so much as a hit since May 12. But that changed in a hurry in the eighth when, after one out, Kelly gave up a titanic homer to Carlos Correa. It got worse after that, too, with a walk to Yuli Gurriel and another mammoth homer -- this one to Evan Gattis. After not giving up a homer in the first two months of the season, Kelly allowed two homers in the span of three batters.
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Betts playing it safe: Outfielder Mookie Betts, who has been out of the lineup for the last six days with what the Red Sox now say is a left abdominal strain, was feeling improvement overall in recent days, but still feels discomfort when he swings and doesn't want to risk making the injury worse. Hence, the move to the 10-day DL retroactive to Tuesday. "It's not enough pain for me to not play," he said. "It's more of, this one of those things where, if you go out and take one swing, you can be out basically the rest of the year. So I have to let it heal and try and avoid ending the year.''
TURNING POINT
In the fifth inning, the momentum seemed to be shifting toward the Red Sox after a rocky start. They had used two homers in the fourth to close to within a run, and a one-out single and stolen base by Jackie Bradley Jr. followed by a walk to Andrew Benintendi gave the Sox first-and-second with one out and the heart of the lineup due. But Houston starter Gerrit Cole overpowered Xander Bogaerts with a 98 mph fastball and Mitch Moreland saw three straight curveballs as he struck out, stranding two runners.
TWO UP
J.D. Martinez: Martinez hit a franchise-tying 13 homers in May, but when the calendar flipped to June Friday, he didn't cool off any, belting one of his patented opposite-field homers in the fourth.
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Mitch Moreland: It's been a week since Hanley Ramirez was designated for assignment, opening the door for additional playing time for Moreland. He belted another homer, giving him six extra-base his in the last week
ONE DOWN
Rafael Devers: Moved up to fifth in the batting order in the absence of Betts, Devers had a rough night at the plate (0-for-4, two strikeouts) and had some trouble on slow rollers in the field.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Tough to put the boys in that kind of situation -- two out of the gate to a team like that is not where you want to be.''
— Chris Sale, who allowed the Astros to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The back-to-back homers in the fourth (by Moreland and Martinez) marked the third time the Sox have hit consecutive homers this season.
- Of Moreland's last 12 hits, 10 have gone for extra bases.
- Martinez has 14 homers in his last 28 games.
- Bradley Jr. extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single in the fifth.