BSJ Game Report: Astros 6, Red Sox 2 - Boston falls further behind in another sloppy loss to 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

Boston falls flat again, loses more ground: The Red Sox dropped their third straight game with a 6-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday at Fenway. With the win, Houston takes the pivotal series ahead of Wednesday's finale and extends their lead to 6.5 games over Boston for the final Wild Card spot. Brayan Bello made it through 4.2 innings in the start, and Adam Duvall homered for the second game in a row. Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez combined for back-to-back home runs in the top of the first. The Sox' playoff odds currently sit at a paltry 6.3 percent, according to FanGraphs. 

"We got tomorrow. Play tomorrow, you've got to find a way to win, then Thursday's off and Friday, we'll see we're were at," Alex Cora said. "They're gonna play their division. We've got some series against our division, of course. You know, we've just got to play better baseball. We haven't done that. We are where we are because we've had struggles in certain areas of the game, and it's catching up now."

TURNING POINTS

Top of the first: Tuesday was better than Monday in the sense that it wasn't as ugly, but the way the first inning started certainly had things looking pretty bleak from the start. After starting off with a tidy strikeout of Jose Altuve, Bello left a sinker over the plate for Bregman to take deep to left before Alvarez took a cutter in the go-zone deep to right with a mind-boggling 113.2 mph exit velocity. An early 2-0 hole sure felt like a mountain for Boston. 

Top of the sixth: Trailing by just two, down 3-1, the Red Sox still had plenty of life, but back-to-back singles of Joe Jacques before John Schreiber gave up a walk and a two-RBI double allowed Houston to open it up to 5-1. Reese McGuire's poor effort at the plate didn't help things, either. 

ONE UP

Adam Duvall: When you’re hot, you’re hot, and nobody embodies that quite like Duvall. Seven homers in his last nine games and yet another one against the Astros, going deep over the Monster in the sixth. Finished 2-for-4 with the one RBI and run as well as a strikeout. Another good night at the plate, despite everything around him.

"We don't have time for that, right?" Cora said when asked if he wonders how things would have been different had Duvall not gotten hurt earlier in the year. 

He added, "He's looked very calm, not expanding. ... He's staying with his game plan, recognizing what they're trying to do.  ... He's locked in right now."

FIVE DOWN

Reese McGuire: Not a good night behind the dish for McGuire. Probably have gotten the interference call on Mauricio Dubon’s steal in the fifth had he just gotten up and thrown through the plate, but instead hesitated, threw and then tried to sell it with a tuck-and-roll over the falling Jeremy Peña. Lazy play in the sixth on the relay trying to get Yainer Diaz out at the plate. Throw seemed to be there in time for him to make a play, but instead just reached, allowing Diaz to get in on the slide. 

Brayan Bello: Boston’s one reliable starter of late failed to make it through at least five innings, putting even more strain on the taxed bullpen. The home run ball continues to be his Achilles heel, as the Astros tagged him for back-to-back bombs in the first to put the Sox in an early hole. He settled in nicely after, to his credit, but couldn't get extended in the game. Worth noting he got no help on a Rafael Devers error in the fifth but still had a chance to get the third out of the inning before coming out of the game. 

Bullpen: On a night where the Red Sox had at least some arms available, Boston’s bullpen couldn’t aid in the fight to stop the bleeding with Jacques, Schreiber and Josh Winckowski each surrendering an earned run. Schreiber couldn’t find his way out of a sixth-inning jam inherited from Jacques, and intentionally walking Kyle Tucker in the seventh backfired with Winckowski getting somewhat knocked around in that inning. Trying to save arms in games like Sunday and Monday only goes so far with how ineffective the bullpen has been on the balance of late.

Offense with RISP: Boston couldn't muster anything with RISP, going 0-for6 and stranding eight in all. Had a bit of a faux rally going in the ninth with two on, but went out with a whimper. Devers had runners on first and second with two gone in the bottom of the seventh, but struck out swinging on a high-cheese fastball above the zone to end a seven-pitch at-bat. That AB felt like it was for the season.  

Defense: The Red Sox once again handed the opponent a number of free outs even with as 'meh' as the pitching was. There were McGuire's blunders behind the plate and Devers' error in the fifth, not to mention Trevor Story failing to turn two in the seventh after David Hamilton made a great play at second. A double play would have ended the inning and prevented Houston's sixth run. 

NOTABLE 

Alex Verdugo was 2-for-5 with a run and a pair of singles, snapping an 0-for-13 run entering the game. 

The Red Sox have lost four of five and six of nine, falling to 13-14 in August. They've dropped their second straight series and are now winless in three straight, falling to 7-8 in the first 15 of 16 straight games. 

Boston starters have made it through at least the fifth inning just once in their last five starts (4.2 IP, 4.2, 4, 4.1 5). 

Bregman was 3-for-5 with two runs, a home run and one RBI. Alvarez had three-plus hits for the second straight game, going 3-for-5 with a run, one RBI and three extra-base hits (home run, two doubles). 

QUOTE OF NOTE

"We just didn't make plays behind [Bello]," Cora said. "We put ourselves in a bad spot, not making plays."

When asked if giving the Astros extra outs defined the game: "I believe so. We didn't make two or three plays, and they're really good at what they do. They kept putting pressure on us. We also walk Diaz, then Dubon put a good swing on it. ... Two-out walks are tough, tough to defend."

UP NEXT

Final of the three-game set will be Wednesday at Fenway Park with first pitch set for 4:10 p.m. RHP Kutter Crawford (6-6, 3.65 ERA)) will face LHP Framber Valdez (9-9, 3.40 ERA).