Against some teams, a four-run lead seems like enough.
The Astros aren’t typically one of those teams, but thanks to a gutsy combined performance by seven Boston pitchers, the Red Sox pulled off a 7-3 come-from-behind victory to take their third straight series and overtake the Yankees in both the American League East and Wild Card standings.
It took a while, though.
“That took forever, that game,” manager Alex Cora said. “There was a lot of traffic but at the end we were able to get 27 outs and we won the series.”
Houston took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Christian Walker’s second home run in as many days, but the home team battled back immediately, took the lead in the third, and never looked back.
Romy Gonzalez thought he had a leadoff double on Astros starter Colton Gordon’s first pitch of the game, but the ball had ricocheted off the best of the Green Monster. Home run.
“I was kind of upset,” Gonzalez said. “I was telling all the boys I was hitting a home run first pitch today, and when the ball bounced back I’m like, no way, but I’m glad it was a homer.”
Gonzalez’s first career leadoff bomb barely cleared the line. Trevor Story’s and Abraham Toro’s two-run homers in the third and fourth, respectively, were no-doubters. Story’s bounced off the best of the Plymouth Rock sign atop the Monster, and backward to Lansdowne Street. Toro’s wasn’t far behind; it soared to the very back of the Monster seats.
The Astros out-banger their hosts 14-10 but had difficulty following through. They left at least one man on base in all but the fourth inning, and finished the evening 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and a whopping 14 men left on base.
Walker Buehler wove in and out of traffic for 4.1 innings, but managed a much cleaner getaway thanks to his teammates. He yielded three earned runs on nine hits, walked three and didn’t strike out a single batter.
“A lot of hits, a lot of pitches in the middle,” manager Alex Cora assessed. “We got to keep working. This guy’s too important for us, too important for us. And he knows he’s better than this, we know he’s better than this.”
Boston defense turned two double plays during his start, cleaning the diamond for him in the second and fourth.
“Not good. Definitely not good,” Buehler assessed. “I feel like I got in a decent little rhythm there in the middle but I just couldn’t make the big pitch with two strikes to even get a strikeout, let alone kind of get us through the game the way I needed to.
“But that’s why it’s so fun to be on a team like this that scores early, scores often, and gets you a lead that I can kind of dilly-dally out there for a while and whatever, and great bullpen can come in and finish it all for us… Yeah, it’s just inconsistent and frustrating, but I like winning (as a team) more than I like winning myself, honestly. I think being a part of a team like this is special, especially that it kind of hasn’t been done like this in a while here. I just would like to contribute.”
Buehler ultimately pitched deeper than Gordon, who was unable to record an out in the fifth inning. Roman Anthony’s leadoff single prompted the first Astros pitching change of the day. Gordon exited charged with six earned runs on seven hits and one walk, with six strikeouts, a banger batsman, and three home runs.
With Gordon out of the game, the Boston bats went quickly and quietly for nearly the entire remainder of the game. In the fifth, former Red Sox arm Kaleb Ort began a stretch in which the Astros retired eight of nine men and didn’t allow a banger until Rob Refsnyder and Story roped back-to-back doubles with two outs in the seventh.
Justin Wilson relieved Buehler and set the tone for the bullpen. The veteran lefty inherited two baserunners from the Sox starter, and responded with a pair of quick strikeouts to end the inning.
Steven Matz pitched a scoreless sixth inning for his Red Sox debut, and earned the adoration of the Fenway Faithful when he punched out Astros leadoff man Jose Altuve on three pitches in the sixth inning.
Garrett Whitlock worked around traffic in his scoreless seventh inning of work, as did Jordan Hicks, who loaded the bases in the eighth. The sold-out crowd rose as Carlos Correa came to the plate, and they screamed in jubilation as Hicks struck him out looking.
“The crowd was rockin’, just a beautiful day here at Fenway,” said Story. “It’s such a home field advantage. You can feel the place shakin’, man. It causes a lot of stress for the other team, I know that from playing here as a visitor. It’s amazing, man, and when we get it like this and the boys are playing well and we’re into August, that’s the type of baseball you want to play.”
When Jorge Alcala couldn’t finish the ninth, Cora brought in his closer. Once again, Aroldis Chapman slammed the door.
“That’s why I feel it’s different than last year: the bullpen is in good shape,” Cora said. “Last year around this time, (Chris Martin) was down, Kenley (Jansen) missed a series in Colorado, he never bounced back from that, and (Justin) Slaten was down, too. This year we’re deeper, we have better fastballs than in the past, and the guys are doing an amazing job.”
Something else is different about these Red Sox, too. With ever-changing lineups and someone new coming up clutch in any given game, their brand of unpredictable is baffling opponents on a regular basis.
“I think we’re playing with joy,” Cora said. “We’re having fun running the bases and putting pressure on the opposition.”
“We’re having fun moving the pieces, trying to win as many games as possible, and I love the fact that people are enjoying this,” Cora continued. “It’s great. Shoot, you know, it’s fun. It’s a packed house. Last weekend (with the Dodgers) was tough. It felt like we were in LA, but this weekend, usually (Astros) bring a lot of people, and it’s been loud for us… This town, they love the Red Sox, and they’re showing up, and you can feel it in the city, you can feel it at Fenway, and we just got to continue to do the things that we’re doing.”
Benches clear but no brawl
After Story’s RBI double in the seventh, Astros reliever Hector Neris intentionally balked him to third base. The Astros reliever appeared to believe the Red Sox were stealing signs from the bases, which Major League Baseball allows so as long as teams don’t use electronics (something both clubs have been investigated and disciplined for in the last half-decade).
“Not much, honestly,” Story said of what was going through his mind on the bases. “If he wanted to balk me over, that’s fine. One step closer to home. But yeah, I feel like we put some good at-bats together there late in the game and they didn’t like it.”
Neris was able to get out of the inning without allowing another run, but as he walked back to the Astros dugout, he shouted at Red Sox third base coach Kyle Hudson.
Hudson laughed at the incensed pitcher, but the benches and bullpens cleared nonetheless.
“You gotta ask Neris” was all Cora would say postgame.
“Yeah, I’m not sure,” said Story. “I was walking back to the dugout and then I just saw everyone kind of come out at that point. So yeah, I think you’ll have to ask them.”
“Nothing,” Neris told reporters in the visitor’s clubhouse. “It’s part of the game. Something funny.”
Asked if he thought the Red Sox were stealing signs, Neris smiled and said, “Maybe. Maybe yes, maybe no.”
A force to be reckoned with
Between Gonzalez and Refsnyder, the Red Sox have two of the best lefty killers in the game.
“He just mashes, man,” Story said of Gonzalez. “He takes care of lefties, him and Ref, like I’ve never seen before. They’re a force for us, man.”
Wild and free
The Red Sox are 61-51, a season-high 10 games over .500. They’ve won six of their last seven games, seven of their last nine, and are 11-1 in their last 12 home games. They’re also 42-17 all-time in their yellow City Connect uniforms.
With their win and the Yankees’ loss – shutout 2-0 by the Marlins – on Saturday, Boston also overtook their New York rivals in the division and Wild Card standings; the Red Sox are today second in the American League East and hold the best AL Wild Card.
“This is kind of that final stretch,” Story said. “Everyone calls it the dog days of August, but this is the final push to really show what you’re about, and we’re embracing that. We’re embracing all the adversity, and I think that’s where the good teams show up.”
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