Third baseman Pablo Sandoval and catcher Ryan Hanigan had three hits apiece for the Red Sox, who stranded eight runners in the first six innings before Ramirez came through.
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After a predictably unpredictable first half of the 2015 season, conventional wisdom dictates the Astros are due for a market correction.
“In a tie game, not going to pitch two innings”, Boston manager John Farrell said. “Jumped on him when he got in the dugout, pounded his head”.
“That one in particular is a below-the-zone changeup that Hanley got on his front foot, one arm, popped it up to left at the most critical time, ” Hinch said. Masterson gave up five earned runs in the fourth. It was his first three-hit game since April 19, 2014 against the Yankees. Rookie Carlos Correa’s drive went to left-center before Evan Gattis’ barely cleared the wall.
Boston jumped all over Straily during the bottom of the second inning to grab the 2-0 advantage. A double steal capped the rally, with left fielder Domingo Santana stealing home after the throw to second. Center fielder Alex Presly, who replaced George Springer, singled Castro in from second and Presly took second when Altuve extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single. Buchholz (7-6) allowed one run on six hits in nine innings and has posted a 0.87 ERA in his last four starts for Boston (38-45).Center fielder Mookie Betts went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs while shortstop Xander Bogaerts was 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Boston.
Noe Ramirez (0-1), making his major league debut, hit Altuve with a pitch leading off the 10th, and Altuve took third on Napoli’s error.
“I don’t know for sure, but I feel like something a little mechanically may have been off in my windup”, McCullers said, “because I was a little all over the place in my windup, not being able to real consistent with my stuff”. The Red Sox have won five of their last six games when scoring more than three runs.
Right fielder Shane Victorino was back in the Red Sox lineup Saturday against Houston for the first time since May 23.
He was error-free again Sunday before being replaced by Napoli in the eighth inning. He got a standing ovation from the crowd.
Astros: LHP Dallas Keuchel (10-3), who has pitched 17 shutout innings in his last two starts, pitches at Cleveland on Monday against RHP Carlos Carrasco (10-6).
Astros ninth. Altuve singled to left. Hinch said Rasmus will probably play every other day for the next week…. “That’s what we need and I think everybody’s starting to feel it”. When the Red Sox allow one or more homers, they have a 14-36 record.
Astros: RHP Scott Feldman, sidelined since May 27 after right knee surgery, was expected to make a rehab start for Double-A Corpus Christi Sunday night. Red Sox 3, Astros 0. Eduardo Rodriguez takes the hill, and he’s 4-2 with a 3.92 ERA and 36 strikeouts this season. Keuchel has had two straight scoreless starts.
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The Red Sox are a team that could potentially give McCullers some bad rookie memories. They open a two-game inter-league series at home against Miami on Tuesday.
