The Houston Astros can't leave town fast enough for the Red Sox.
Having taken three of four from the Sox in Houston last week, the Astros have taken the first two games of the series at Fenway, too, after their 8-3 bashing of the Sox Wednesday night.
The Astros shelled Nathan Eovaldi for 11 hits, including a four-run third inning. The 11 hits were the most allowed by Eovaldi in a start since 2015.
The Sox got two runs in the first, then collected just two more hits over the final eight innings, including a homer by Xander Bogaerts, his first in 15 games.
WHO: Red Sox (37-24) vs. Houston Astros (34-26)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: HOU 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: HOU 4-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7-2, 3.78) vs. RHP Jake Odorizzi (0-3, 7.16)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
ASTROS
Altuve 2B
Correa SS
Bregman 3B
Alvarez LF
Gurriel 1B
Brantley DH
Tucker RF
Straw CF
Stubbs C
RED SOX
Santana 1B
Devers 3B
Martinez LF
Bogaerts SS
Renfroe RF
Gonzalez SS
Arroyo 2B
Vazquez C
Hernandez CF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Single by Kike Hernandez with one out in the eighth is just the second hit for the Red Sox since the first inning.
T8: For the second night in a row, it's gotten ugly for the Sox. Alex Bregman jumps on a changeup over the heart of the plate from Phillips Valdez with a man on and it's 8-3 Houston.
T7: Renfroe came very close to his second outfield assist on a sac fly to right, but while the throw beat Michael Brantley, Christian Vazquez didn't apply the tag quickly enough and Brantley slides in safely.
B5: You can't hit a ball much farther or harder than Santana did there -- the very deepest area of the triangle, in front of the garage door in right center, some 415 feet away.
T5: Eovaldi has, at best an inning left, now at 90 pitches. But with most of their low-leverage guys rested Tuesday, Cora has some of his best relievers available to keep this one close and buy time for the hitters to scratch out a couple more runs.
B4: First homer in a while for Bogaerts -- 48 at-bats and 14 games ago -- as he goes into the Monster Seats to cut the lead to two runs.
T4: This time, Eovaldi finds his way out of a mess, getting Yuli Gurriel to hit into an inning-ending forceout, leaving the bases loaded.
T3: Astros are hitting Eovaldi hard. Three straight hits -- including two doubles -- produce three more runs.
T3: Jose Altuve, big crowd favorite at Fenway, takes Nate Eovaldi over everything in left to tie the game. That's just the third homer Eovaldi has allowed this season in nearly 70 innings.
T2: It would appear that there was poor communication there between Renfroe and CF Kike Hernandez. Renfroe went for the ball rather gingerly in front of the bullpen wall and the ball falls in for a double.
B1: Red Sox get out in front early -- a sac fly from Xander Bogaerts scores Danny Santana (walk) and Renfroe follows with a single through the shift to right field, scoring Rafael Devers. Red Sox haven't led much in their six games against the Astros, but they're up 2-0.
T1: That was fun to watch that unfold - a line single to right by Yordan Alvarez, with Hunter Renfroe charging the ball on one-hop, and firing a strike to the plate to throw out Alex Bregman. That's Renfroe's seventh outfield assist of the season. Some of his throws have been a little wild and off-line, but that was a strike.
WHAT's UP: The Red Sox lost the opener of their series with the Astros Tuesday night, but are 12-6 in the last 18 and have won five of their last six...The Sox lead the majors in doubles (137) and extra-base hits (215)...They rank second in slugging at .435 and are third in batting average (.257), while fourth in runs (300) and sixth in OPS (.751)....The Sox are 33-3 when scoring four or more runs for a winning percentage of .917, the highest in the game.. They're also 28-3 when scoring five or more and 23-1 when scoring six or more...The Sox have outhomered opponents 74-46 for a plus-28, the largest difference in MLB. When hitting two or more homers, the Sox are 18-2....Red Sox pitchers have a 3.04 ERA in June, third best in the big leagues behind Tampa Bay and Houston.....Overall, for the season, the Sox pitching staff is fifth in ERA at 3.87 and 12th in MLB....Red Sox starters have allowed no more than one homer in 43 straight games, their longest single-season streak since 1980, when they had a 58-game run....Red Sox relivers are second in MLB with a 10.91 strikeout-per-9-innings rate. They're fourth in the AL and sixth in MLB in ERA at 3.44.
NOTES:
* OF Alex Verdugo remained out of the lineup for a second straight night, slowed some by a sore back. Alex Cora didn't sound too concerned about it and expects Verdugo to back on the field Thursday night in the series finale. In the meantime, J.D. Martinez was in left field, Xander Bogaerts was given a night off from shortstop as the DH and Marwin Gonzalez filled in at short.
* Kevin Plawecki, who took a pitch off the facemask Tuesday night, was doing better and available, according to Cora.
* Matt Barnes, who is eligible for free agency after the season, said he would be willing to have additional contract discussions with the team. Barnes said there were fairly extensive talks during spring training that failed to yield an extension, but he's open to additional talks. "I'm always willing to listen,'' he said.