The Houston Astros were up against the ropes for much of Tuesday night’s contest against the Boston Red Sox, but a six-run rally in the ninth helped them even up the series with a 9-2 victory.
How It Happened
The Astros did strike first on Tuesday night with Alex Bregman hitting a two-out solo shot over the Green Monster to take an early 1-0 lead. That lead didn’t last long though because after Rafael Devers was walked with two outs, Xander Bogarts lifted one out to left-center field to take a 2-1 lead.
The score remained that way until the top of the eighth when Jose Altuve led off the eighth inning by sending the first pitch he saw to right field, tying things up at two runs apiece. After another great inning by Houston’s bullpen in the bottom frame, the offense came alive for the first time since game one of the ALCS.
It all began inconspicuously enough with a leadoff double from Carlos Correa and after Aledmys Diaz struck out swinging, it all came down to Jason Castro. He delivered with a line drive to Kike Hernandez that got Correa across home plate to take a 3-2 lead.
After Jose Altuve was walked by Nathan Eovaldi to load the bases, Michael Brantley hit a bases-clearing double to firmly put Houston out in front 6-2. But they weren’t done just yet. After the Red Sox intentionally walked Bregman, Yordan Alvarez made it a 7-2 ballgame with a well-hit single to left field. Correa returned to the plate and nailed a swinging bunt and was able to keep the rally going after a fielding error allowed Bregman to score.
Kyle Tucker punctuated the seven-run inning with a sharp ground ball to second base to get Alvarez home safely.
Big Number: 7
The Astros offense needed a big boost and got that with a seven-run ninth inning, evening the series in the process.
Player of the Game: Astros Bullpen
This usually would go to an individual player, but the entire bullpen deserves all the credit in the world for what they did after Zack Grienke was pulled early. The other six pitchers for Houston threw 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball and struck out 10 batters. After what the last couple of games had looked like this was refreshing to see.