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Final: Astros 13, Red Sox 5 - Barraclough shelled as Houston blows it open; Altuve hits for cycle
The Red Sox fell apart in Monday's 13-5 loss to the Houston Astros at Fenway Park, dropping their second in a row and third in four games. Jose Altuve hit for the cycle, capping it off with a two-run homer in the top of the eighth. Chris Sale made it through 4.2 innings with six strikeouts, giving up three runs on seven hits. Kyle Barraclough gave up 10 earned runs on 11 hits in 4.1 innings of work, relieving Sale and eating innings. Houston cracked it open with a six-run top of the sixth inning, which saw Barraclough give up four walks, two HBPs, a triple, a single and a homer.
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WHO: Astros (74-59) vs. Red Sox (69-62)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park, Boston
SERIES TO DATE: Season series tied, 2-2
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (5-3, 4.68) vs. RHP Cristian Javier (9-2, 4.52)
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUP
RED SOX
1. Alex Verdugo RF
2. Rafael Devers 3B
3. Justin Turner DH
4. Masataka Yoshida LF
5. Adam Duvall CF
6. Triston Casas 1B
7. Trevor Story SS
8. Connor Wong C
9. Luis Urias 2B
SP Chris Sale
ASTROS
1. Jose Altuve 2B
2. Alex Bregman 3B
3. Yordan Alvarez LF
4. Kyle Tucker RF
5. Jose Abreu 1B
6. Chas McCormick CF
7. Yaimer Diaz DH
8. Jeremy Peña SS
9. Martin Maldonado C
SP Cristian Javier
WHAT'S UP
The Red Sox begin a three-game set against the Astros on Monday, coming off losing two of three to Mookie Betts and the Dodgers and splitting a four-game series in Houston last week.
The Sox sit 4.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot, which Houston currently holds. Boston has 31 games remaining and has dropped four of seven. The Astros are 2.5 ahead of the Blue Jays and one game back of the Mariners for second in the Wild Card.
Boston is reportedly calling up star OF prospect Cedanne Rafaela and INF David Hamilton in addition to moving Pablo Reyes to the IL on top of placing Wilyer Abreu on the paternity list, per a report on MLB.com as well as The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey. Rafaela, 22, is hitting .312/.370/.618 with 14 homers in 48 Triple-A games with Worcester since being called up from Double-A Portland in June. He is the fourth-ranked prospect in the system, per SoxProspects.com, and he is No. 6, per Baseball America.
The Red Sox also recalled RHP Kyle Barraclough and optioned LHP Chris Murphy.
Sale is 5-3 with a 2.56 ERA in his career against Houston (10 starts). He gave up four runs on six hits with nine strikeouts in five innings of work in Boston's 7-5 win over the Astros in 10 innings last Wednesday. The Sox are 5-1 over his last six starts.
Javier will make his fourth start and sixth appearance against the Red Sox. He is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA. He gave up three runs on seven hits on 105 pitches through five innings in Houston's 9-4 win over Boston last Monday.