May 15, 2016

Red Sox 10, Astros 9

W – Hembree (2-0)
L – Feldman (2-3)
S – Kimbrel (10)

Box Score

GameZone thread

I’m going to put a lot less effort into this recap than the team put into today’s game.  Clearly losing 10-9 means you’re doing a few things right, but it also means you’re doing a lot of things wrong as well.  Feel free to go read the official recap if you wish, but here are the highlights and lowlights:

• Defense was sloppy: two Astro errors plus a costly missed fly ball in the outfield; five total errors for both teams
• Both starters sucked: Devenski gave up six runs in two innings; Sean O’Sullivan allowed as many in 4+ innings
• Valbuena and Correa both homered in the game; Valbuena drove in five of the team’s nine runs
• The Astros clawed and scraped their way to a 9-8 lead after six, but they gave two runs back in the 7th

Dropping three of four from a good Sox team in Boston is not entirely unexpected, but it burns when it could’ve been 3-1 the other way.

May 14, 2016

Red Sox 6, Astros 5 (11 innings)

W – Uehara (2-1)
L – Feliz (1-1)

Box Score

GameZone thread

We shouldn’t be surprised by any of this anymore.  After being nails on Friday night, Gregerson brought absolutely no command in Saturday’s save situation, allowing Boston to send the game to extras and ultimately win it.

Correa started the scoring in the first with a solo blast that cleared the Green Monster and left the damn building.  In the bottom of the inning the Sox loaded the bases knocked in a run with three straight hits and then loaded the bases with nobody out.  After a grounder to third that resulted in a force play at home, McHugh walked Travis Shaw to make it 2-1 Boston.  McHugh then induced an inning-ending double play.  All things considered, it could’ve been a lot worse.

In the 2nd Springer bested the Green Monster for the second time in as many games, this time with the bases juiced.  Clay Buchholz had walked a couple of hitters before getting to Springer, and when Springer worked the count to 3-1 Buchholz was clearly frustrated with the strike zone.  His next pitch landed 370+ feet away.

The Astro bats cooled afterward, and the Red Sox chipped away at the deficit, scoring a run in each of the 3rd and 4th innings.  Given his early struggles, though, McHugh pitched a tough six innings and was in line for the win, one that would have been well-deserved given the potency of the Boston lineup.  Neshek and Harris pitched scoreless 7th and 8th innings respectively.  The Astros threatened to add an insurance run a couple of times but never managed to.  Of particular suckage was in the 8th inning: with runners at the corners and one out, Castro missed the bunt signal for a squeeze play and Marwin was dead meat coming in from third.

Gregerson pitched the 9th and couldn’t have found the strike zone with Google Maps, throwing more balls than strikes.  Somehow he almost weaseled his way into a save anyway, getting a runner at first with two outs.  Then David Ortiz happened, tripling to deep left-center a couple feet past a diving Marisnick’s glove and tying the game.  Remarkably, Hanley Ramirez might have let the Astros off the hook by unsuccessfully trying to bunt his way on base and win the game.

In the bottom of the 11th, with Michael Feliz on the mound, Xander Bogaerts singled and reached second on a wild pitch to Ortiz.  Rather than walking Ortiz with first base open, Hinch elected to have Feliz continue pitching to Ortiz, who already had two RBI on the day.  This proved to be a mistake: Ortiz drove a double to center to win it.

Instead of being in the driver’s seat and having a legit shot to steal three out of four in Boston, the Astros now hope to split the series tomorrow.

May 13, 2016

Astros 7, Red Sox 6

W – Feldman (2-2)
L – Barnes (2-2)
S – Gregerson (8)

Box Score

GameZone thread

The Astros were down 5-1 after two innings.

And won.

Yes, that happened.

In a steady rain that lasted the entire game, the Astros staked a 1-0 lead in the 1st when Marwin singled in Altuve.  Making his 2016 debut, Lance McCullers looked pretty sharp in the 1st, but the wheels came off big time in the 2nd.  McCullers lost all semblance of control, giving up a single, two walks, back-to-back doubles, a run-scoring wild pitch, and an additional RBI single.  The Red Sox had five runs in before the Astros had even recorded an out in the inning.  We were going to let our seven-year-old son stay up to watch the entire game, but at 5-1 I asked him if he wanted to do something else instead.  To his credit he still wanted to watch the game, so I settled in for seven innings of shit.

I’m glad I didn’t try to talk him out of it.  McCullers regained his control, facing the minimum in the 3rd and 4th innings.  This was thanks in part to Travis Shaw trying to leg out a double to left but getting gunned down by a Rasmus/Correa alleyoop at second.  Then the Astros got payback in the top of the 5th: Castro led off with a double, Marisnick bunted a single between the mound and first, Altuve drove in Castro with a double, and Springer doubled home Marisnick and Altuve to cut Boston’s lead to 5-4.  It was particularly nice to see Houston bang up Steven Wright, a pitcher who has had the Astros’ number and has pitched very well this year.  After Correa walked and Rasmus advanced both runners on a groundout, Wright left the game and Marwin lined a single up the middle off Matt Barnes to knock in Springer tie it up.

McCullers got two outs to start the 5th, but after Xander Bogaerts doubled to center Big Papi was intentionally walked with first base open.  With McCullers’ pitch count already at 88 pitches and with the team probably wanting to be careful with him, Hinch ended McCullers’ night.  Feldman induced a routine grounder to get out of the jam.

Castro led off the top of the 6th with another knock and three batters later Springer blasted off over the Green Monster for a 7-5 lead.  The Red Sox got one back from Feldman in the bottom half on a solo shot to center by Shaw, but they didn’t manage anything else.  Although the Red Sox threatened in the 7th with a couple runners on, Feldman, Sipp, and Giles combined for a scoreless inning.  Harris and Gregerson made the Sox look absolutely silly in the 8th and 9th innings, combining for five strikeouts.

Altuve (3×4), Springer (3×5), Marwin (2×5), and Castro (2×4) all had multi-hit games.  Carlos Gomez was 0x5 with… sigh… three K’s.

Or, “Do Not Adjust Your TV Set; The Unis Actually Are Pink”

May 8, 2016

Astros 5, Mariners 1

W – McHugh (4-3)
L – Iwakuma (1-4)

Box Score

GameZone thread

It’s hard to complain too much about splitting a four-game series with the first-place team in the division.  It stings a little that the Astros had a legitimate chance at sweeping the series if just a couple of things had gone differently, but at least they’re not any worse off than they were Thursday afternoon.

Collin McHugh turned in what was undoubtedly his best outing of the season aside from his appearance in the home opener.  A 4th inning solo homer by Robinson Cano was the only black mark on a pretty good day on the mound, throwing seven innings of one-run ball.  (Speaking of Cano, can we get a break from this guy?  Dude is 13×26 with 16 RBI and slugging 1.000 against Houston this year.)  The Mariners got a runner to third in the 3rd inning but weren’t able to plate him, and they never really put up much of a fight otherwise.  Sipp pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings to seal the win.

Offensively, the Astros relied on smallball: singles, doubles, and stolen bases were the order of the day.  Back-to-back doubles by Luis Valbuena and Tyler White started the scoring in the 2nd.  They put up another pair of runs in the 3rd.  Altuve reached base on a single, stole second and then third; Correa walked and stole second; and back-to-back singles by Rasmus and Marwin scored them both.  They added a pair of insurance runs in the 7th, largely aided by some Mariners brain farts.  Altuve stole second and advanced to third on a high throw, then Springer hit a grounder right to Ketel Marte at short; Marte didn’t even get his glove on the ball and the ball dribbled into left-center, allowing Altuve to score easily.  Springer then stole second and scored when Correa singled to center.

One last thing: I think we can all agree that moms are great and breast cancer is bad, but can the pink uniform/equipment trend please stop once and for all?  I turned on the game and thought my TV’s color chip had failed when I saw pink “ASTROS” lettering and a pink “H” on a gray cap.  Yes, the only good thing about today’s unis were that the Astros got a win while wearing them.  The cynical part of me also feels like organizations do this largely for self-serving purposes, saying, “Hey, look at us, we respect women and hate cancer too!”  At least it certainly feels that way when the NFL turns the shield pink for the entire month of October.