Returning to Minute Maid Park for the first time since 2019, the Red Sox were throttled by the Houston Astros, 11-2.
The Astros shelled Eduardo Rodriguez for six runs in 4.2 innings and absorbed his fourth straight loss. He's allowed at least four or more runs in each of those starts and his ERA sits at 5.64 ERA.
The Red Sox didn't have their first hit until the fifth inning. Their only runs came on a run-scoring double by Alex Verdugo and a solo homer from Hunter Renfroe.
The bullpen wasn't much better in relief of Rodriguez, with Colten Brewer shelled for four runs in an inning of work.
WHO: Red Sox (32-20) vs. Houston Astros (28-24)
WHEN: 4:10 p.m.
WHERE: Minute Maid Park
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-3, 5.06) vs. RHP Jose Urquidy (3-2, 3.22)
TV/RADIO: NESN, ESPN; WEEI-FM 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Santana 1B
Vazquez C
Gonzalez 2B
Renfroe RF
ASTROS
Altuve 2B
McCormick LF
Bregman 3B
Correa SS
Tucker RF
Diaz 1B
Jones DH
Straw CF
Maldonado C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B6: It's past ugly as the Astros bat around a put up a five-spot against the Red Sox bullpen.
B6: Colten Brewer roughed up for two more runs and he's gone. Faced nine hitters and walked three and gave up four hits.
T6: Red Sox finally break through against Urquidy with doubles by Renfroe and Alex Verdugo. Until this inning, they had collected just one hit.
B5: That's all for Rodriguez, who gets lifted with two on and two out in the fifth. Charged with four runs and responsible for two runners and seemingly headed for his fourth straight loss.
T5: First hit and first man in scoring position as Christian Vazquez drops an opposite-field double into the right field corner with two out.
B3: Jose Altuve pulls one just inches fair to the right of the left field foul pole for a two-run homer. That's now four straight starts in which Rodriguez has allowed at least four earned runs.
T3: It's been nine up, nine down for the Red Sox. Urquidy is making quick work of them, too, averaging just 11 pitches per inning so far.
B2: Astros get a couple -- one on a sac fly, another as part of a double play -- after loading the bases with no out.
B2: For as well as he's played in right field generally, Hunter Renfroe has been sloppy at times and has had difficulty picking the ball up on a few occasions.
T2: Jose Urquidy is almost daring the Red Sox to hit his four-seamer - over 90 percent of his pitches have been fastballs.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox are a season-high 12 games above .500...They have won three straight games and seven of their last nine, and are 14-7 in their last 21. The Sox are unbeaten in their last five series (4-0-1). Since getting swept by the Orioles to begin the season, the Sox are an MLB-best 32-17 (.653)....: At 16-7 (.696), the Sox own MLB’s second-best record on the road with only Tampa Bay (19-7) better...They are 6-1-0 in series away from Fenway Park (lost series at TEX, 1-3). The Red Sox are 16-13 (.552) at Fenway Park, the AL’s 5th-best home record...They are 16-10 at home since their first series...The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (115), extra-base hits (187), slugging percentage (.447), and OPS (.768) and rank second in batting average (.261) and third in runs per game (5.13). The Sox are an MLB-best 28-3 (.903) when scoring four or more runs....When they score seven or more runs, they're 16-0...The Sox are the only team to record at least one extra-base hit in every game this season....The Red Sox are out-homering their opponents, 68-38, with the plus-30 differential the largest in MLB...They're fourth in the AL in homers with 68...The Sox have hit multiple homers in 10 of their last 14 games...They are 17-2 (.895) when hitting two or more homers...Red Sox pitchers have allowed a league-best 0.75 HR/9.0 IP, which is also third-fewest in MLB...They have allowed one or no homers in 22 of their last 24 games...The Sox are the only team yet to allow three home runs in a game this season...The Red Sox and Astros will play all seven of their games in the span of the next 11 days, with four in Houston this week followed by three at Fenway next week...The Sox are 32-24 all time vs. Houston, but the Astros have won each of the last three season series....Red Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 44 times, the third-most in the majors behind Oakland (46) and the Dodgers (45)...They have thrown five or more innings in 29 of the last 31 games. The Sox are 15-3 when their starter lasts six or more innings... Sox starters have thrown six or more innings in 10 of their last 19 games, after doing so in only eight of their first 33.,,,Sox starters are tied for the MLB lead in wins (24). Sox starters have allowed 1 or 0 HR in 34 straight games, their longest streak since 2010...Red Sox relievers rank fourth in the AL and eighth in MLB in ERA (3.55), after posting a 5.79 ERA in 2020. Five Red Sox relievers have a sub-3.50 ERA: Garrett Whitlock (1.85), Matt Barnes (2.63), Hirokazu Sawamura (2.75), Adam Ottavino (2.95), and Darwinzon Hernandez (3.38). Among relievers with 20.0 IP, Barnes leads the AL in WHIP (0.67)...He ranks second in the AL in saves (12)...Ottavino has a 1.53 ERA (3 ER/17.2 IP) in 19 games since April 17....Josh Taylor has made 12 consecutive scoreless appearances since April 30....Carlos Correa is 5-for-7 lifetime against Eduardo Rodriguez and Alex Bregman is 3-for-7 with two homers..Xander Bogaerts is 0-for-11...Rafael Devers has 20 extra-base hits among his last 27 hits...Hunter Renfroe has seven hits in his last three games.
NOTES:
* This series marks the return of Alex Cora to Houston for the first time since he was suspended for the 2020 season for his involvement with the Astros' 2017 sign-stealing scandal. "Obviously, it's not my proudest moments, the last 14-15 months when we talk about Houston and myself,'' acknowledged Cora. "The fact that we're playing good baseball (means) the story should be the Boston Red Sox against the Houston Astros, two of the best teams in the big leagues. I think it helps. (But) I put myself in this situation. I handled the situation the way I'm going to handle it and I'm not afraid to talk about it. It's part of who I am. It's part of my present, it's been part of my past and it's going to be part of my future. It's something that I'm not proud of, but at the same time, I have a job to do and my job is to manage the Boston Red Sox and hopefully get back to the World Series. I still have some goof friends over there -- Carlos (Correa), Alex (Cintron) and Martin (Maldonado). They still work for the Astros. They're good friends. I'm looking forward to seeing them.''
* Cora was unsure how the fan reaction would be toward him at Minute Maid: "That's going to be interesting. We'll see how they react and we'll go from there.''
* Added Cora: "I'm not proud of it. But it happened. It's part of who I am. This is going to be part of who I am for the rest of my life. I made a mistake and I don't think I'm the first human being to make a mistake. The thing is, at this level, at this platform, it's going to be tough forever. It's not only when I come to (Houston); it's going to be when I go to other places and there's going to be situations that are going to come up during the season. There's going to be books, there's going to be stuff that's said, there's going to be narratives. For people to judge me, I understand. There's nothing I can do about the past. What I can do is be myself in the present and keep getting better.''