BSJ Game Report: Astros 9, Red Sox 4 - Defense, Paxton crumble to begin series in Houston

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Astros, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Paxton, defense struggle in rough start to series: The Red Sox jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, thanks to an Adam Duvall three-run homer in the top of the first, but quickly squandered the hot start in Monday's 9-4 loss at Houston. Boston fell to 4.0 games out of the Wild Card with the loss to the Astros, who got a pair of home runs from Chas McCormick and one from Yainer Diaz. James Paxton struggled, making it through just 4.0 innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on nine hits (one home run) with four strikeouts and three walks. Rafael Devers and the defense struggled to pick up Paxton early on, even if Boston only had two official errors.

TURNING POINT

Fourth inning: The Sox had an opportunity to retake the lead, down 4-3 with two runners on and no outs in the top of the fourth, but after Alex Verdugo lined out, Devers struck out and Masataka Yoshida lined out, they failed to come away with anything before the end of the inning. When it flipped over, McCormick took full advantage after two straight walks by Paxton, launching a three-run homer to left and turning the mole hill to a mountain for Boston, now down 7-3 at that point. 

ONE UP

Adam Duvall: The lone bright spot in this one was Kevin Millar calling Duvall's first-inning homer. Duvall finished with 3-for-5, adding a double in garbage time and coming a triple shy of the cycle. The first-inning bomb was just about the only meaningful offense Boston got with runners in scoring position. 

TWO FINE

Alex Verdugo: Solid day at the plate for Verdugo, also going 3-for-5 with a run, but had the snafu in the field with Luis Urias on what should have been a popout in the sixth. 

Chris Murphy: Valiantly ate innings and saved the bullpen ahead of three more crucial games on tap in Houston. Went just as long as Paxton, going four innings but in 31 fewer pitches than the starter (80; 101). Gave up seven hits, but limited the damage to two runs (earned), which both came on homers for McCormick and Diaz. Struck out four with no walks. 

FIVE DOWN

Rafael Devers: Fresh off his scorcher in New York, water found its level with Devers at the plate as he finished 1-for-5 with a strikeout. Had a rough night at third, and should have been credited for at least one error. His defensive woes didn't help the cause behind a struggling Paxton. Should have made the play in the first inning when he shanked a throw to second. He acknowledged in his postgame that, "I haven't been consistent with my defense or my hitting."

James Paxton: Another concerning performance for Paxton on normal rest. He now owns a 9.82 ERA through three starts on four days' rest. Just didn't have anything working for him, and it was clear from the start, even if he didn't get a lot of help behind him. Plenty of loud contact against him, and his velocity was down, even if only slightly, on all of his pitches. Spin rate was down nearly across the board, too.

"Just didn't have it tonight," Paxton told reporters. "It didn't feel great coming out of my hand, but tried to give everything I had and battle for the team. ... My body felt fine. I just didn't feel like it was coming out that great today. ... I feel like they were hunting fastballs. I wasn't able to throw my breaking ball for strikes consistently tonight. So, I think they were keying off the fastball, I left some over the middle of the plate, and they did damage."

Trevor Story: Continues to have an absolutely putrid road trip. Went 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts as the DH in this one. 

Offense with RISP: Boston was just 3-for-18 with RISP. The opportunities were there, especially against a struggling Cristian Javier and the Sox couldn't make him pay. Left 11 on base altogether, including seven in scoring position with two outs. 

Defense: Old habits die hard. The Sox' defense again showed why they have the most errors in baseball (87), between Devers struggling at third, Reese McGuire committing catchers' interference in the first inning, Yoshida failing to make a play he should have made on the run toward the wall in left or a miscue with Verdugo and Urias in right. Boston gave Houston and its .254 expected batting average plenty of help.  

QUOTE OF NOTE

"It's difficult when we played the defense we did early on," Alex Cora told reporters. "[Paxton] kept making pitches, and we didn't make plays. When we give those guys more than 27 outs, that's what's going to happen. ... Probably one of the sloppiest games in the last few weeks, but that's going to happen. We played so good over the weekend, and we've been so good for a while here. We'll take a mulligan and be ready for tomorrow."

UP NEXT

Second of the four-game set will be Tuesday night in Houston at 8:10 p.m. ET. RHP Tanner Houck (3-6, 5.05 ERA) will make his return to the lineup against RHP Justin Verlander (8-6, 3.36 ERA).