The Houston Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Monday night inside Minute Maid Park. The victory, which came via walk-off fashion, was the 11th in the last 12 games for Houston.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Astros had their trade deadline acquisition Yusei Kikuchi on the mound to start. The outing did not begin well for the left-hander, as he gave up a solo home run to Jarren Duran to begin the ballgame. Then, with two outs, an error by third baseman Shay Witcomb allowed another run to score, making it 2-0 Red Sox.
The Sox went with right-hander Tanner Houck. He had a better beginning, putting up a zero in the first inning against the Houston lineup, which was still without the injured Alex Bregman.
Both starters settled in with zeroes put up in the second and third innings. However, the Houston offense got to work in the bottom of the fourth. With two runners on, Victor Caratini delivered a run-scoring single. It then scored a second run after an error, and that tied the game at two.
Kikuchi made it through 5 2/3 innings on this night. Another error put a baserunner on in that final inning. It came back to hurt the Astros when Masataka Yoshida hit a two-run home run off of Tayler Scott, giving the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.
Houston cut into the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Two singles put runners on the corners. Then, Jon Singleton pinch hit and came through with a sacrifice fly for an RBI to make it 4-3.
The score remained that way until the bottom of the eighth. With no one on and two out, Chas McCormick singled off the end of the bat. He then stole second and was driven in by Mauricio Dubon to tie the game at four.
In the bottom of the ninth, Yainer Diaz was the hero. He launched a walk-off solo home run to left to win the game for Houston.
BIG NUMBER: 4
The Astros made four errors, but also only gave up four runs. It was not the prettiest display of baseball, but it led to another Houston victory.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Yainer Diaz
Diaz hit his first career walk-off home run in this one, winning it for Houston. For the day, he went 2-5.
UP NEXT: The Astros and Red Sox will play again tomorrow night, August 20th at 7:10 PM. You can listen to the game on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.