All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Astros, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Bullpen game goes sideways for Sox: Starter Chris Sale was better this game, but he still wasn't sharp and his inability to go past the third inning (2.2 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks) cost the Red Sox later as Hansel Robles (7th) and Hirokazu Sawamura (8th) were each touched for a run to give Houston the victory. Tanner Houck, who allowed Jose Altuve's game-tying blast in the 6th would have entered the game in any event, but it's likely Robles and Sawamura wouldn't have entered the game if Sale was able to get the Sox into the 4th inning, at the least.
Robles got the first two in the seventh before Correa touched him for a homer that gave Houston a 4-3 lead.
CORREA TIME. pic.twitter.com/LB12AwUNaR
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2021
Sawamura was basically a disaster in the 8th:
Walk
Single
Hit by pitch to load the bases
Sac fly by Altuve to make it 5-3.
"It's hard, but we've done it before, so we just are going to keep doing that," Alex Cora of needing 19 outs out of his bullpen. "Of course, we want our starters to go deeper in the game, but we feel like today we were very close to pulling this off pitching-wise. I think, like I said, they took advantage of two pitches. Altuve on the slider, and Correa on the changeup, but I think overall we did an outstanding job, and they took advantage of those two mistakes."
Prior to Game 1, Boston had won 23 consecutive postseason games when having a multi-run lead. The team was 15-0 with leads of two runs-or-more under Cora.
Sox bats go silent, except for Hernandez: After Houston took a 1-0 lead, the Red Sox struck back with three runs in the third thanks to Altuve booting a possible inning-ending double play when it was 1-1. After that? The Red Sox couldn't break through until Hernandez's second homer of the game leading off the ninth. The Red Sox left the bases loaded in the first, hit into double plays the first two innings, squandered a one-out double in the 4th, a leadoff walk and sac in the 6th, and a leadoff single in the 7th.
"I think overall we put good at-bats from the beginning to the end," Cora said. "I think we didn't cash in early on, but I think, yeah, they beat us, and we need to execute better, but overall a good baseball game."
Hernandez adds to his legend: Kiké Hernandez couldn't stay as hot as he entered this series, right? Wrong. He took it to another level. Hernandez, who also had a diving grab in center that saved two runs, was 4 for 5 in this game with two RBI, two runs and 11 total bases.
It is ALL @kikehndez right now!
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2021
(MLB x @ftx_app) pic.twitter.com/wvkcX0o5pB
In this postseason, he is 14 of 28 with four home runs and four doubles, and his OPS is 1.571. He's just the fourth player to have multiple 4-hit games in the same postseason (Albert Pujols, Robin Yount, George Brett), and he's only played six games. Hernandez is the first player ever to have 13 hits in a four-game span in the postseason.
"I have no idea (how to describe Hernandez's hot streak)," Cora said. "Enrique is en fuego."
ANOTHER ONE FOR KIKÉ! pic.twitter.com/HFVIrLuaA1
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2021
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox seemed to have everything lined up as Houck faced Altuve with two outs in the sixth inning. But the rookie righthander hung an 84 mph slider right over the middle of the plate and suddenly it was tied and Astros fans were back into it.
José Altuve is the 4th player in #postseason history to hit 20 homers.
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 16, 2021
The others:
Manny Ramirez: 29
Bernie Williams: 22
Derek Jeter: 20 pic.twitter.com/YnxAuqJmsS
SECOND GUESS
You can argue that Cora should have left Sale in a bit longer, after he struck out Kyle Tucker to make it two outs and two on, but the way Adam Ottavino pitched in relief (1.1 of perfect ball) made it sting a bit less.
But Cora got awfully cute with his substitutions later in the game (Danny Santana hit and whiffed for Hunter Renfroe in the 8th, Travis Shaw flew out for Christian Vazquez, who has had some late-season hits, in the same frame). But leaving Sawamura in after he loaded the bases — he did not get the hoped-for ground ball but instead a sac fly that was the difference in the game — was probably the worst call.
THREE UP
Kiké Hernandez: Not only is he tearing it up at the plate — this game was the third of his postseason career in which he totaled 10 total bases, the most such games in MLB history — but he made three standout catches in center, including one off the bat of Michael Brantley that saved two runs to end the second inning.
The @kikehndez show 😤 pic.twitter.com/iS0kKCiTHb
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2021
Rafael Devers: Was the only other Sox to have multiple hits (2 for 5).
Adam Ottavino: Had a perfect 1.1 innings — including a ground ball out with two on to his first batter — to get Boston through five with a 3-1 lead.
ONE DOWN
Tanner Houck: Since recording 30 consecutive outs at one point, the rookie right-hander has allowed 4 earned runs and three home runs in 3.1 innings pitched for an ERA of 10.80.
Hirokazu Sawamura: Was a disaster in the 8th inning and was lucky it wasn't much, much worse.
J.D. Martinez: Was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Yeah, because that ball as soon as it touched his bat, it was gone. I haven't seen a hitter this hot in the last week than Kiké Hernández. Boy, when I saw that ball go up, I was, like, oh, man, that was a blast. Then he blasted another one. Yeah, it's not a good feeling when you know you're live on air and you see that ball leaving the ballpark." — Dusty Baker on being caught saying "Oh, Lord," during a Fox interview that coincided with Hernandez's first homer.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- In 51 previous ALCS matchups, the team winning Game 1 has gone on to win the series 32 times, or 63% of the series played. Since the introduction of the seven-game series in 1985, 20-of-35 (57%) teams winning Game 1 have gone on to win the series.
- The Boston Red Sox are now 4-8 all-time in Game 1 of the ALCS. In 2018, 2013, 2004 and 1986 they lost Game 1 before rallying to win the series. In the first three, they won the World Series.
- Altuve now has 20 career postseason home runs, tied for third-most in MLB postseason history with Hall of Famer Derek Jeter. Manny Ramirez holds the all-time record with 29 round-trippers while Bernie Williams (22) ranks second.
- Correa has delivered four career go-ahead homers in the seventh inning-or-later in the postseason, the most in baseball history.
- Tonight's Game 1 featured eight pitchers from the Red Sox and eight pitchers from the Astros, totaling 16 hurlers. It represents the most pitchers ever used in an ALCS contest. Both Clubs also now share the record for the most pitchers used in a nine-inning ALCS game.
UP NEXT
Game 2 is at 4:20 p.m. today on FOX and will feature RHP Nathan Eovaldi (11-9, 3.75/1-0, 2.61) vs. RHP Luis Garcia (11-8, 3.30/0-0, 16.88).