HOUSTON --- That this outing represented progress for Drew Pomeranz is more a reflection on the quality of his previous three.


The Red Sox left-hander recorded at least one out in the fifth inning for the first time since May 8, a span that covers four turns of his club’s rotation. That’s hardly the standard required to beat the defending World Series champions on their home field, and the result was a somewhat predictable one Thursday night at Minute Maid Park. [...]

Bill Koch

HOUSTON --- That this outing represented progress for Drew Pomeranz is more a reflection on the quality of his previous three.

The Red Sox left-hander recorded at least one out in the fifth inning for the first time since May 8, a span that covers four turns of his club’s rotation. That’s hardly the standard required to beat the defending World Series champions on their home field, and the result was a somewhat predictable one Thursday night at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros used a pair of two-run innings to spoil Boston manager Alex Cora’s return, holding the visitors mostly in check in a 4-2 victory.

Carlos Correa’s two-run homer in the first and some resourcefulness that would have made a fast-pitch softball team proud in the fourth accounted for the damage against Pomeranz, who was bested by Houston right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. The crowd of 30,658 settled in under the closed roof for the opener in this American League Division Series rematch, happy to be both out of the blistering heat outside and in early control of the four-game set.

The Astros never trailed after jumping on Pomeranz in the first, with Alex Bregman working a one-out walk and Correa stepping in as the cleanup man. He got on top of a fastball up in the zone and lined it to the Crawford Boxes in left, making it 2-0. Pomeranz missed to his arm side early with several off-speed pitches, almost forcing him to deliver a 91-mph heater the young slugger had to be expecting.

There was more to come in the fourth, this more of the nick and cut variety from the Houston offense. J.D. Davis singled to the shortstop hole and Tim Federowicz sent a ground-rule double to right center, putting two men in scoring position with one out. Tony Kemp beat out an infield dribbler up the line at first and Jake Marisnick dropped a safety squeeze bunt to the right side, plating the eventual winning and insurance runs.

Boston’s only answer came in the third, with a defensive mistake by Houston opening the door. Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled off the wall in center, Andrew Benintendi walked and Xander Bogaerts smoked a one-out liner to left field. Kemp took a poor angle and allowed the ball to carry over his outstretched glove, gifting Bogaerts a two-run double that made it 2-2. McCullers shut things down from there, allowing just two more baserunners while finishing six strong innings.

Pomeranz required 273 pitches to record 32 outs in his previous three starts. He worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth before giving way to knuckleballer Steven Wright, the in-house favorite to take the ball should Cora eventually opt to skip Pomeranz for a turn in the rotation. Left-hander Jalen Beeks also fired seven scoreless frames at Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday, continuing to knock on the door while angling for a promotion to the big club.

McCullers had no such issues on his favorite diamond, remaining the all-time leader in earned-run average among pitchers who have thrown at least 175 innings here. He entered the evening at 2.30, sitting ahead of established former Houston stars like Roger Clemens (2.55) and Roy Oswalt (2.92) and a fair distance in front of current teammate Dallas Keuchel (2.94). Will Harris, Hector Rondon and Ken Giles handled the final nine outs.

 

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25