The Red Sox beat the Astros, 8-2, on Tuesday in Game 3 of their American League Championship Series. Boston now holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Below are updates and analysis from the game as it unfolded.
Ninth inning: Red Sox 8, Astros 2
Bottom: Lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez replaced Joe Kelly on the mound. He struck out Tyler White for the first out before Evan Gattis grounded out to short. Rodriguez struck out George Springer to end it.
Top: Righthander Hector Rendon came onto pitch for Houston. Andrew Benintendi singled on a line drive to right field. J.D. Martinez then grounded into a double play, and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to short.
Eighth inning: Red Sox 8, Astros 2
Bottom: Matt Barnes replaced Ryan Brasier on the mound and walked Yuli Gurriel to start his outing. Marwin Gonzalez grounded into a force out, Brock Holt to Xander Bogaerts to get Gurriel out at second. Josh Reddick then struck out swinging. Joe Kelly replaced Barnes, and Gonzalez advanced to second on a wild pitch by Kelly. Carlos Corra then grounded out to short to end the inning.
Top: Righthander Roberto Osuna replaced Ryan Pressly. J.D. Martinez flew out to right before Xander Bogaerts singled. Steve Pearce then grounded into a force out, Alex Bregman to Marwin Gonzalez to get Bogaerts out at second. Pearce was safe at first. Rafael Devers singled to right field before Brock Holt came on to pinch hit for Ian Kinsler and was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Mitch Moreland was then hit by a pitch to score Pearce before Jackie Bradley Jr. blasted a grand slam to give the Sox an 8-2 lead. Collin McHugh replaced Osuna, and Mookie Betts grounded out to end the threat.
Seventh inning: Red Sox 3, Astros 2
Bottom: Righthander Ryan Brasier replaced starter Nathan Eovaldi. Tony Kemp lined out to left field before Brasier stuck out George Springer. Jose Altuve then singled on a bunt. Altuve then advanced on a passed ball by Christian Vazquez, but Alex Bregman flew out to center to retire the side.
Eovaldi’s night: 6 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 4 K, 2 BB.
Top: Righthander Ryan Pressly, replacing Tony Sipp, struck out Jackie Bradley Jr. to start the inning. Then Alex Bregman barehanded a Mookie Betts ground ball and rifled it to first base for the second out. Andrew Benintendi struck out swinging — Brian McCann blocked the ball and threw it to first for good measure — for the third out.
Sixth inning: Red Sox 3, Astros 2
Bottom: Nathan Eovaldi remained on the mound, getting Marwin Gonzalez to ground out to second. Eovaldi then struck out Josh Reddick before Carlos Correa singled on a ground ball to second. Brian McCann flew out to center to end the inning.
Top: Righthander Joe Smith replaced starter Dallas Keuchel. Xander Bogaerts popped out to Carlos Correa for the first out before Steve Pearce blasted a solo home run to left field to give the Sox the lead again. Smith was then pulled in favor of lefthander Tony Sipp, who walked Rafael Devers on an eight-pitch at-bat. Sipp then struck out Ian Kinsler before Christian Vazquez grounded out to third to end the threat.
Pearce’s home run was the first Red Sox home run since Brock Holt’s homer in Game 3 of the ALDS.
Keuchel’s line: 5 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 K, 2 BB.
Fifth inning: Red Sox 2, Astros 2
Bottom: Tony Kemp hit a ground ball down the first-base line, which took a funny hop and forced Steve Pearce to flip it to Nathan Eovaldi for the out. George Springer lined out to Pearce before Jose Altuve drew a walk, the second walk Eovaldi has issued tonight. Rafael Devers then failed to collect an Alex Bregman ground ball, allowing it to trickle into left field as Altuve scored to tie it up. It was officially ruled a double by Bregman, not an error by Devers.
Yuli Gurriel grounded out to short to end the inning.
Top: Dallas Keuchel turned in a 1-2-3 inning of his own: Mookie Betts grounded out to open the frame; Carlos Correa made a nice play to collect a sharp Andrew Benintendi ground ball and zipped it to first to get the out; and J.D. Martinez grounded out to third.
Fourth inning: Red Sox 2, Astros 1
Bottom: It was a three up, three down, nine-pitch inning for Nathan Eovaldi: Josh Reddick grounded out to second; Eovaldi struck out Carlos Correa, getting the shortstop to swing at an 84.9 m.p.h. slider; and Brian McCann lined out to center field.
It was Eovaldi’s third K of the game. He has thrown 65 pitches (42 strikes) through four frames.
Top: Eduardo Nunez singled on a ground ball to third, where Alex Bregman had a bit of trouble fielding it cleanly, allowing Nunez to beat out the throw. Rafael Devers came in as a pinch runner for Nunez. Ian Kinsler flew out to Josh Reddick in right field before Christian Vazquez lined out to Reddick. Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out to short for the third out.
Third inning: Red Sox 2, Astros 1
Bottom: George Springer started the frame with a single to right field. Jose Altuve grounded into a force out, Eduardo Nunez turning a nice play to Ian Kinsler to get Springer out at second. Altuve was safe at first. Nathan Eovaldi then walked Alex Bregman, advancing Altuve to second. (It was the seventh time Bregman has been walked in the series.) Nunez came up with another nice defensive play, collecting a Yuli Gurriel groundout and making a one-hop throw to an out-stretched Steve Pearce first. Marwin Gonzalez lined out to left field to end the inning.
Top: Mookie Betts flew out to left field before Andrew Benintendi grounded out to second, marking eight straight outs for Dallas Keuchel since J.D. Martinez’s double in the first. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts then drew back-to-back walks before Tony Kemp made a tremendous catch at the left field wall on a Steve Pearce fly ball to end the threat.
Second inning: Red Sox 2, Astros 1
Bottom: Nathan Eovaldi got a 1-2-3 inning of his own: Carlos Correa grounded out to third for the first out, then Eovaldi notched his second K of the game, getting Brian McCann out on a 94.1 m.p.h. cutter. (McCann’s at-bat was seven pitches). Tony Kemp flew out to center to end the inning.
Eovaldi is at 44 pitches (29 strikes) through two frames.
Top: It was a three up, three down inning for Dallas Keuchel: Ian Kinsler flew out to right field, Christian Vazquez flew out to center, and Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out to third.
First inning: Red Sox 2, Astros 1
Bottom: Nathan Eovaldi opened his second career postseason start by fanning George Springer, inducing a swing and a miss on a 96.1 mile-per-hour cutter on the third strike. (Two of Eovaldi’s six pitches in the at-bat topped 100 m.p.h., both four-seam fastballs.) Jose Altuve then got on base with a line drive to left field, followed by an Alex Bregman single to left, moving Altuve to second. (It was Bregman’s first hit of the series.) Yuli Gurriel grounded into a fielder’s choice, Eduardo Nunez tossing it to Ian Kinsler to get Bregman out at second. But Gurriel was safe at first and Altuve advanced to third. Marwin Gonzalez hit a line drive to right field, scoring Altuve to make it 2-1 and moving Gurriel to third. Josh Reddick flew out to left field to end the inning.
Top: Mookie Betts opened the game with a base hit to center field. Andrew Benintendi followed that up with a single of his own, this one to left field. Then, J.D. Martinez doubled to score Betts and move Benintendi to third. Xander Bogaerts grounded out, allowing Benintendi to score to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Steve Peace grounded out before Eduardo Nunez lined out to second to end the threat.
Pregame scenes and observations
Lineups
RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 1.29 ERA this postseason) and LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-1, 3.60 ERA this postseason) are the starters.
| RED SOX (1-1) | ASTROS (1-1) |
| Betts RF | Springer CF |
| Benintendi LF | Altuve DH |
| Martinez DH | Bregman 3B |
| Bogaerts SS | Gurriel 1B |
| Pearce 1B | Gonzalez 2B |
| Núñez 3B | Reddick RF |
| Kinsler 2B | Correa SS |
| Vázquez C | McCann C |
| Bradley Jr. CF | Kemp LF |
■ Tonight is Eovaldi’s second career postseason start, his first coming in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Yankees when he earned the win, allowing one run on five hits and striking out five over seven innings. Eovaldi’s one start against the Astros came when he was still with Tampa Bay on June 20. He went six innings and took the loss, allowing four runs (all home runs) and striking out five. Jose Altuve (2), George Springer, and Alex Bregman blasted the homers.
■ Tonight is Keuchel’s ninth career postseason start, second of these playoffs. He faced the Red Sox in Game 2 of last year’s ALDS, picking up the win after going 5⅔ innings, giving up one run on three hits, striking out seven, and walking three. He started against the Sox once in the regular season, a Sept. 9 outing in which he went six innings, gave up five runs on nine hits (J.D. Martinez HR), struck out two, and walked two.
■ Check out Peter Abraham’s full game preview.
Pregame reading
■ Abraham wrote about Alex Bregman, who is 0 for 3 with six walks so far this series, and Bregman’s deep connections to the Red Sox, all the way back to Ted Williams.
■ Bregman took a little shot at Eovaldi by posting a brief video to his Instagram story on Tuesday that was introduced with the title, “lil pregame video work.” The video featured Springer, Bregman, and Altuve hitting back-to-back-to-back homers in that June 20 start in Houston. Bregman deleted it, but not before it was picked up and written about.
■ The Sox are not concerned about the number of walks (15) they have issued in the first two games of this series.
■ Alex Speier wrote about president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and how he is still content with his decision not to add a reliever at the trade deadline.
■ Nick Cafardo wrote that Game 3 is where this series gets even more interesting, with the third and fourth starters now in the spotlight. Whose will be better? Whose will do the better job of keeping his team in the game?
■ Owen Pence wrote about Keuchel and how he is different from the rest of the Astros hurlers: His ball moves differently, his pacing is more deliberate, and strikeouts aren’t his bread and butter.
■ Chris Sale was released from hospital on Monday and expected to join the Red Sox in Houston.
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