All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 4-3 loss to the Astros, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Sloppy defense contributes to loss: The Red Sox didn't help themselves at all in the field Friday night, committing three errors, two of which led to two unearned runs, and in turn, a loss to Houston. They were nearly out of trouble in the second inning when Steve Pearce threw wildly past Chris Sale, who was covering first. The ball ended up behind the plate where Sandy Leon retrieved it, then lost a foot race to home plate as second baseman Aledmys Diaz, who scored all the way from second. A two-out error by shortstop Xander Bogaerts didn't prove as costly in the third, but in the fourth, with runners at the corners and one out, Bogaerts tried to throw home to cut down Robinson Chirinos and threw wildly, past Leon. The Sox then had Jake Marisnick in a rundown between first and second, but as second baseman Michael Chavis ran Marisnick back to the first base bag, Pearce ran past the baserunner, giving him a clear path back to the bag.
https://twitter.com/astros/status/1132096672538849280
Sale not at his sharpest: Of the four runs charged to Chris Sale, just two were earned, thanks to aforementioned defensive miscues. But this night didn't feature Sale at the top of his game. He walked two and only struck out five in his six innings of work, and his command was off, leading him to mislocate some pitches early in the game and producing hard contact. Part of the issue may have been the Astros' approach, which saw their hitters take an aggressive stance against the lefty, often swinging at the first or second pitch of an at-bat and not allowing Sale to get ahead of them in the count. Only later in the outing, over his final two innings of work, did Sale seem to get into any kind of groove, retiring the Astros in order in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Sox homers all solo shots: The good news? The Red Sox hit three balls out of the ballpark, including a pinch-hit homer in the top of the ninth that allowed them to close to within a single run. The bad news? They never had anyone on base when they homered. All three shots -- one each by Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., and finally, Christian Vazquez -- came with the bases empty. In that sense, it was similar to the 13-inning victory the Sox had in Toronto Wednesday night when they also hit three homers, all of them solo. But beyond the big swings, the Sox weren't able to generate anything at the plate all night. They had chances against starter Wade Miley in the middle innings, but stranded five baserunners over two innings, including three in scoring position.
TURNING POINT
In the fifth inning, having been held to just one hit over the first four innings, the Red Sox loaded the bases with one out but Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out and Michael Chavis, swinging at the first pitch, flied out to center. Had the Sox gotten a base hit, or even a flyout before two outs, it might have changed the tenor of the game.
ONE UP
Mookie Betts: Betts had two hits -- a double in the fourth and a single in the eighth, the only member of the lineup to collect a multi-hit game.
TWO DOWN
J.D. Martinez: The Red Sox slugger returned to the lineup for the first time since Sunday, but was obviously not himself, going 0-for-3 with a walk.
Steve Pearce: It was a rough night in the field for Pearce, who made an errant throw to Sale covering, leading to one run, then mismanaged a rundown, enabling a Houston baserunner to scamper back to first safely.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"You've got to play clean against them. ... If we play better defense, we have a chance (to win).'' Alex Cora
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- When Bradley Jr. homered in the eighth inning of Houston reliever Ryan Pressly, it marked the first time in the last 40 appearances that a run had been scored against Pressly.
- Eleven of the last 21 regular season games between these two games have been decided by a single run.
- The five strikeouts by Chris Sale were his fewest since April 9, the home opener.