Houston Astros’ Evan Gattis is greeted in the dugout by Jose Altuve after his solo home run against the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 22, 2015, in Houston.
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Rookie left fielder Preston Tucker socked two home runs and right-hander Collin McHugh proved elusive enough to help the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park. He’s now 2-for-21 since the All-Star break.
The Red Sox did nothing offensively after the third inning.
The Red Sox countered with three runs in the third inning to go ahead 3-1. He added another run and an RBI single later in the game. Marisnick’s helmet came off while sliding into second, but he popped to his feet and scored the tying run in the fifth inning, reaching a top speed of 20.4 miles per hour on the play, according to Statcast™.
Correa, who has a career-long six-game hitting streak, put Houston up 1-0 with a sacrifice fly in the first. Johnson struggled in the first inning, walking leadoff man Jose Altuve who promptly stole second.
The Red Sox have punched out double-digit hits in 14 of their 17 games against the Astros since the beginning of the 2013 season. Justin Masterson offered little in form of relief, allowing the inherited runner to score plus three more over his 1 2/3 innings. Marwin Gonzalez singled to center field but Altuve held at third, placing runners on the corners with nobody out. Carlos Correa (2 RBI) drove in the first run of the game by ripping a hard line drive to deep center which Mookie Betts made a fabulous catch on.
Masterson’s performance undid any optimism from his three terrific innings in Anaheim over the weekend. Alejandro De Aza led off the third with a single to right. After Johnson walked Altuve, he exited, having thrown 87 pitches.
Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia is 0 for 18 in five games after missing 16 due to a right hamstring strain. But the ball tailed badly away from the bag and the outstretched glove of Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, and it struck the extended left elbow of Marisnick, who had dived headfirst into the base. Astros rookie RHPs Lance McCullers and Vince Velasquez might have their turns in the rotation skipped in the coming weeks with the club facing four off days through the end of August. Ortiz flied out to center fielder Marisnick. “Especially today my stuff felt good out there”, he said.
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Chris Carter, fresh off his minor ankle sprain, led the way with a two-run home run in the sixth and he scored another run in a 2-for-3 night that included a walk.
