Bedard: Red Sox salvage split with shellacking of Astros to set up one final push

After losing the first two games against the Astros, the Red Sox looked like toast as they fell 5 games out of the last wild-card spot.

They lost by a combined score of 16-7. Their "defense" bordered on embarrassing.

Red Sox fans had a right to wonder if their team had already thrown in the towel.

Then Adam Duvall clubbed a three-run homer in the 10th inning to boost the Sox to victory and to within 4 games with Seattle losing earlier in the day.

And then Thursday afternoon happened.

The Red Sox lit up standout Astros pitcher J.P. France for 10 runs on 11 hits in just 2.1 innings to their way to an emphatic 17-1 victory. They departed Houston 3.5 games behind the Mariners and Astros.

It was complete and utter domination from start (Alex Verdugo's lead-off homer) to finish (Houston catcher Martín Maldonado gave up four runs and five hits in the ninth, including Connor Wong’s homer.

The Red Sox set season highs for runs and hits with 24, their most since 2015.

In the starring role? Wilyer Abreu, who was part of the return for catcher Christian Vazquez last August in the same ballpark that stunned the Red Sox players.

“Obviously the mood last year when we got him, it was a lot different than now,” Alex Cora told reporters.

Yup. Going 6-for-12 with a homer, two doubles, five RBIs and two walks in Abreu's first three big league games will win him a lot of fans in the locker room. Included was a 431-foot two-run homer to right-center field in the second inning.

"He's a good player," Cora said. "It's been good and let's see how many at-bats we can get him."

On the mound, Brayan Bello gave the Sox exactly what they needed staked to a big lead and the bullpen short on arms: 103 pitches, 64 strikes in seven innings. His sinker had some serious bite in the upper-90s.

A lot of players, especially young ones, would have lost focus, relaxed and wavered. Bello showed a lot of maturity tending to his business.

“Great effort by Brayan going deep into the game," Cora said. "We needed that.”

Verdugo, Connor Wong and Abreu each had four hits. Adam Duvall was 9-for-16 with three homers, three doubles and eight RBI and two walks in Houston.

Ok, great. Every team has one of these games. The split was obviously nice and a season-saver.

“A lot of people thought the season was over three days ago but that’s not the case, man,” Cora said. “If you follow this team, you know it’s a rollercoaster. ... We’ve got a chance to keep playing good baseball. This weekend is going to be fun (vs. the Dodgers). We get them (Houston) again next week and then we just keep rolling. So it was a good road trip. Just a few bad innings, a few defensive mistakes that put us in a bad spot. But overall, we’re happy with the results and now we’ve just gotta go home and play good baseball this weekend.”

Mookie Betts and the Dodgers visit Fenway starting Friday night for three before the Astros visit with another three-game set.

This is pretty much it for the Sox with the schedule they have coming up (a visit to the Royals is a nice breather).

A split keeps them in it. Anything less and the season is on the brink.

When Cora spoke about people thinking the season was over, he got that little twinkle in his eye he gets when he can prove people wrong. He loves this stuff. And, yeah, it's been a little funny that his team is so inconsistent and up and down.

But enough is enough. You have the Mookie Show coming to your own park, then the Astros. Time to show some real fight against real teams on a consistent basis.

Until then, it's hard to take the Red Sox seriously, even after today's fireworks.

Notes: Closer Kenley Jansen wasn’t available Thursday after leaving Wednesday night’s game with tightness in his right hamstring. Cora said he would be evaluated when they return to Boston on Friday, and they hope he can avoid going on the injured list. ... RHP Kutter Crawford (6-6, 3.66 ERA) will start Friday’s opener of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... On Betts' return: "It should be a standing ovation,” Cora told reporters. “I’m obviously not going to tell the fans to get there by first pitch but they should, to be honest with you. Because it’s going to be a special moment. This is a special kid that did a lot of great things for the organization not only on the field but off the field, too. He’s an impactful player. It just so happens he’s playing for the Dodgers now. But I think for the game, he’s becoming one of those guys that he’s the face of the game.”