BOSTON --- It was a chilly Saturday night at Fenway Park where two ace pitchers suddenly lost their command and Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected for just the second time in his debut season.
There were only four combined hits through eight innings and a rash of calls by home plate umpire James Hoye drew howls from the sellout crowd of 38,007 fans on hand.
These were all ancillary details. The end result in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series was similar [...]
BOSTON --- It was a chilly Saturday night at Fenway Park where two ace pitchers suddenly lost their command and Red Sox manager Alex Cora was ejected for just the second time in his debut season.
There were only four combined hits through eight innings and a rash of calls by home plate umpire James Hoye drew howls from the sellout crowd of 38,007 fans on hand.
These were all ancillary details. The end result in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series was similar to the last time Boston hosted the Astros in the postseason. The extra spice that accompanied nine innings did nothing to slow the defending World Series champions, who picked up right where they left off in a playoff rematch between the two clubs.
Carlos Correa’s looping single to center plated an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning and Josh Reddick wounded his former club with a solo home run to deep right center leading off the ninth. Yuli Gurriel’s three run shot out towards the Pesky Poll was the knockout blow, as relentless Houston pulled away for a 7-2 victory over the Red Sox.
“It’s kind of embarrassing that it happens in the playoffs,” Cora said. “That wasn’t cool watching the game from the clubhouse. I’ve got a job to do – manage the team in the dugout.”
Correa’s base hit came on a 100-mph fastball high and tight from Joe Kelly, as the shortstop pulled his hands tight to his body on the swing and dunked one in front of Jackie Bradley Jr. Alex Bregman, who had been hit by another Kelly fastball to lead off the inning, raced around from second base. Reddick connected on another pitch some 10 mph slower from Brandon Workman, crushing a drive beyond the home bullpen and into the bleachers.
Gurriel’s three-run shot effectively finished Workman and any realistic hopes of a Boston comeback. The Astros set a new A.L. record by homering in their 13th straight playoff game, and this sort of power might explain why Red Sox pitchers felt the need to nibble at the strike zone’s edges. Six different men took the mound for Boston, combining to hit three batters and set a new franchise record for a postseason game by issuing 10 walks.
“They finish games,” Cora said. “They're pretty tough in bullpen. And they grind out at-bats. I think it was 10 walks, three hit batsmen – we didn't make plays.”
George Springer’s two-run single to left in the second ensured Houston would never trail in this one, something they rarely did while dispatching Boston in four games last season in the A.L. Division Series. The Red Sox only replied in the fifth when Mitch Moreland drew a pinch-hit walk to force in a run and Jackie Bradley Jr. scampered home from third on a wild pitch. It was an odd loss of command from Houston starter Justin Verlander, who was otherwise dominant over his six innings of work.
“This team finds a way,” Verlander said. “In big moments, they show up. From top to bottom, like I’ve said before, nobody cares who the hero is.”
The final at-bat of the fifth was also the end of the night for Cora. Andrew Benintendi struck out looking on a borderline 3-and-2 fastball down and away, stranding a pair in scoring position and testing Hoye’s patience by slamming his shin guard and helmet. That prompted an upset Cora to protect his player by coming out of the dugout, and he was sent for an early shower after trading words with Hoye and other members of the umpiring crew.
“I was arguing balls and strikes and he threw me out,” Cora said. “I guess Verlander executed his pitch and he called it a strike. Andrew didn’t agree. I didn’t agree.”
Chris Sale’s lone hit allowed came after a mess of his own making in the second. Correa and Reddick sandwiched two-out walks around Martin Maldonado’s hit by pitch, loading the bases and setting up a threat out of nowhere. Springer’s sharp two-hopper to the left side went under the glove of Eduardo Nunez at third base and into left field, a play that was scored a two-run single to make it 2-0.
“This is a clubhouse that believes in every guy,” Springer said. “It doesn’t matter who gets it done – just get the job done. Pass the torch to the next guy.”
Maldonado was drilled on the base of the right hand by Sale’s hardest pitch of the night, a fastball at 96 mph. Verlander had the market cornered in the velocity department at that point, throwing the game’s other 24 hardest pitches through the end of the third inning. Sale departed after just four innings and 86 pitches, walking four men for the first time in exactly four months to match his season high.
“It was more about where we were in the game and the way they were grinding at-bats,” Cora said. “It was hard for him today. He was a one-pitch pitcher.”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25