Wednesday night could have very well been the last Boston Red Sox game played at Fenway Park this season.
The Sox were blown out, 9-1, by the Astros, which gave Houston the 3-2 series lead going into Game 6 and 7 at Minute Maid.
The ‘Stros were up first and never looked back, as Yordan Alvarez socked a solo homer over the Green Monster in the second inning. Chris Sale was able to strand two (on the corners) in the fourth by striking out a pair of batsmen to retire the side, with Sale getting immensely energetic — yelling into his glove (likely an expletive) as he was pumped up.
But the big inning would go to waste, as after a 1-2-3 fifth, Sale walked Jose Altuve to begin the sixth before Michael Brantley reached base on Rafael Devers’ throwing error. The lefty then yielded a one-out double to Alvarez that brought home both Altuve and Brantley, in which he was relieved by Ryan Brasier.
Brasier salvaged the fanning of Carlos Correa, but a two-out single from Kyle Tucker led to a pair of doubles from Yuli Gurriel and Jose Siri, making it 6-0.
Hansel Robles had the seventh, and he allowed an RBI single to Brantley which brought home Altuve, who singled before moving up to second after an error on a pickoff attempt, to make it 7-1.
Darwinzon Hernandez and Hirokazu Sawamura combined for a scoreless eighth. Martin Perez yielded a leadoff single to Brantley before walking Alex Bregman, and the lefty intentionally walked Carlos Correa before Gurriel plated two more with a single — making it 9-1.
Devers’ 402-foot solo blast in the seventh was Boston’s only offense, as they were held to just three hits — one of which was a Devers single, and the other was a Christian Vazquez double. Framber Valdez through eight one-run innings for the ‘Stros.
The Sox will spend a day packing before they play Game 6 on Friday at 8:08 p.m. EST, and if they win they’ll play Saturday at the exact time — both are in Houston, at Minute Maid Park.
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)