HOUSTON -- They came. They saw. They split.
The Red Sox belted out 15 hits and overpowered the Houston Astros 9-3 to take their second straight win and earn a split of the four-game series between the clubs.
The Sox got homers from Mitch Moreland and Andrew Benintendi and three different players knocked in multiple runs to back the starting pitching of Rick Porcello, who pitched into the seventh, allowing just two earned runs.
Boston chased starter Charlie Morton in the sixth inning. He allowed six runs, the most he's given up in a start this season.
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS
10:43 Sam Travis pinch-hits for J.D. Martinez with runners at second and third, which would seem indicate there might be a physical issue with Martinez. He fouled a ball off his foot in the first inning and that may have gotten more painful over the course of the night. In any event, Travis takes full advantage of the opportunity and drives a single to center, scoring two runs.
9:57 Porcello has a rough seventh and is pulled with one out. It began with an error by Eduardo Nunez, continued with a walk and a hit batsman. With the bases loaded, Alex Bregman jumps on a slider down and away -- not a bad pitch by any means -- and lines it to left to score two. Matt Barnes now on.
9:16 Huge two-run triple from Brock Holt, who split the defenders in the outfield -- driving a booming fly to straightaway center. Astros had shifted CF Tony Kemp over to left with RF Springer playing straight up and when the ball fell behind them both, Holt got to run all the way to third.
8:58 Don't think there's a hotter hitter or someone more locked in in all of baseball right now more than Benintendi. His second HR to the second deck in the last two days; overall that's seven homers in the last 18 games.
8:36 Impressive bit of pitching by Rick Porcello, who works out of first-and-second no out jam by striking out the heart of the Houston lineup -- Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa -- and does so with a mere 12 pitches.
8:25 Alex Cora made it a point to give the Red Sox the green light on the bases in this series, noting that, given how good the Astros' starters are, the Sox would have to push the envelope a bit and take advantage when they got on base. But that was a horrendous decision by Xander Bogaerts, who played that ball halfway, raced back to second to tag up, then was easily thrown out trying to advance to third. Particularly bad since the flyout was the second out of the inning, giving the Sox little advantage to going to third.
7:58 Unlike last fall in the Division Series, the Red Sox have done a pretty effective job neutralizing Jose Altuve in this series. He's 3-for-12 with a walk and four strikeouts. All three of the hits have been singles, and one was of the infield variety.
7:54 Just as Charlie Morton hung a curveball for Moreland, Rick Porcello made the same mistake against George Springer and paid for it. Springer belted his fourth leadoff homer of the season -- and 13th overall this year -- to cut the Red Sox lead in half very quickly.
7:48 It's really amazing to see the transformation made by Mitch Moreland this season. In the first few days of June, he's got 10 homers and the third-highest OPS on the Red Sox. He's gone from a glorified platoon player to the Red Sox' cleanup hitter and shows no signs of letting up. He got a hanging curveball from Charlie Morton and drilled it to straightaway center for a two-run homer, marking the second straight night that the Sox have managed to take a lead in the top of the first inning.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Houston Astros
WHEN: 7:35 p.m.
WHERE: Minute Maid Park
WHAT'S UP: This is the fourth game of the series, with the Red Sox looking to achieve a split before returning home for a six-game homestand. The Sox have gone 15-3 in series finales this season, but this will be their toughest test yet, given the opposition and the identity of their starting pitcher, who hasn't lost in 11 starts this season.
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Rick Porcello (6-2, 3.74) vs. RHP Charlie Morton (7-0, 2.04)
TV/RADIO: ESPN/WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Benintendi LF
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Moreland 1B
Nunez 3B
Bradley CF
Holt 2B
Swihart RF
Leon C
ASTROS
Springer RF
Bregman 3B
Altuve 2B
Correa SS
Gurriel 1B
Gattis DH
Davis LF
Stassi C
Kemp CF
NEWS AND NOTES:
- Dustin Pedroia will visit with Dr. Riley Williams Tuesday, the doctor who performed his knee surgery last October, to determine what's causing the soreness in the left knee and forced Pedroia to the 10-day DL Saturday. "The frustrating part is,'' said Pedroia, "the whole time I never had an issue in one (specific) spot in my knee (during the rehab process) and then I had one the day after I had an off-day. It hit us all at once. It feels a little better today. I'll find out more on Tuesday. That's the part that stinks. It's tough to deal with. We didn't do anything wrong.'' Pedroia said he spoke with Steven Wright, who underwent a similar surgery last spring and felt discomfort the duration of his rehab. As disappointed as he is, Pedroia is convinced that this is a temporary setback. "I'm going to be back to normal,'' he said, "it just may take a little time. It's going to get better.'' Pedroia is hopeful he can return when the ten days are up, but will know more Tuesday after the visit and an MRI.
- 3B Rafael Devers was held out of the lineup to give him a day to figure some things out at the plate. He was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He's 5-for-31 in the last week or so, with the strikeouts piling up. "He's been expanding (the strike zone) a lot,'' said Alex Cora. "It seems like lately he's been late on fastballs and early on off-speed pitches. We need this guy to perform offensively, so I think having the day off will be good for him.''
- Wright will get a spot start Tuesday against the Tigers. His temporary insertion into the rotation will give all the starters the equivalent of two days rest, since the Sox are off Monday. The hope is that he can give the Sox five innings or so. "I do feel it's that time of year,'' said Cora of the grind of the schedule. "If I'm feeling it, I know they're feeling it. The traveling, all those days games last week...I think it makes sense to give him that start. I think it's good for him and I think pushing everybody back is going to be beneficial in the long run.''