Blog

Jul 23, 2023

Red Sox 7

HOUSTON -- — Boston's Adam Duvall was shaken up after fouling a ball off his foot in the 10th inning Wednesday night against the Houston Astros. After composing himself he was able to put a much

HOUSTON -- — Boston's Adam Duvall was shaken up after fouling a ball off his foot in the 10th inning Wednesday night against the Houston Astros.

After composing himself he was able to put a much better swing on the next pitch he saw.

Duvall hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning to lift the Red Sox to a 7-5 victory.

Rafael Devers started the 10th as the automatic runner on second, and Kendall Graveman (3-6) walked Triston Casas with one out. Duvall fouled a ball off his foot for the second strike of his at-bat and took a couple of minutes to shake it off and was checked on by a trainer before stepping back into the box.

He then smacked his 14th homer into the seats in left field to put the Red Sox on top 7-4.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I hit it after what I did,” Duvall said. “It squared me up (but) I put a good swing on it.”

It's Duvall's third home run of the series after he had a three-run home run Monday and a solo shot Tuesday.

“I wanted to start driving the ball more,” Duvall said. “I felt like I was getting some hits but I really wasn’t driving the baseball and driving guys in so that’s what we’ve been working on.”

Chas McCormick singled with Kyle Tucker on second to start the 10th before the Astros cut it to 7-5 on an RBI single by Yainer Díaz. There was one out in the inning when Jeremy Peña singled to load the bases. But Josh Winckowski struck out pinch-hitter Mauricio Dubón, and pinch-hitter Corey Julks grounded out to end it.

The Astros, who won the first two games of the series, could have moved into a tie with the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West with a victory. But instead fell a game behind the Rangers, who were off Wednesday after losing six straight.

“It’s a little disappointing ,” manager Dusty Baker said. “But sometimes you can’t always get what you want at that point in time. But we’re still right there.”

Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen retired pinch-hitter Jon Singleton on a fly out to start the ninth before leaving with right hamstring tightness. He was replaced by Nick Pivetta (9-6), who walked Jose Altuve before striking out Alex Bregman and Tucker to send it to the 10th.

Martín Maldonado hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0 in the second and José Abreu had an RBI double in the third in his return from the injured list.

Boston scored two in the third and tied it with a two-run fifth featuring RBI from Trevor Story and rookie Wilyer Abreu.

Houston starter José Urquidy allowed a season-high eight hits with four runs in 4 2/3 innings in his return to the rotation after pitching in relief in his last outing.

Boston’s Chris Sale yielded six hits and four runs with nine strikeouts in five innings.

GETTING DEFENSIVE

José Abreu also looked good on defense in his return from the injured list, making a nifty play to retire Rafael Devers in the sixth inning. Abreu made a diving stop on a grounder hit by Devers and then tossed it to first from the dirt to get the out.

But perhaps the best defensive play of the night came on a catch that didn’t even count. The Astros had runners at first and second with one out in the seventh when Bregman hit a pop up that sailed high above home plate.

As Bregman stood at the plate looking to see where it went, catcher Connor Wong crashed into him trying to make the catch. As this was happening, pitcher Garrett Whitlock sprinted before sliding to the ground on his back in foul territory behind the plate to make the catch.

But Bregman was called out for batter’s interference making all that work on the grab unnecessary.

“They're joking with him because it supposedly doesn't count ... all that effort for nothing," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Whitlock was shaken up on the play but remained in the game after some warmup pitches and struck out Tucker to end the threat.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: DH Yordan Alvarez was out for a second straight game after slamming his hand in a door and injuring his left index finger Tuesday. Baker said Alvarez was doing much better Wednesday and could return to the lineup Thursday. … OF Michael Brantley (right shoulder surgery) continued a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Sugar Land Wednesday and Baker said he could come off the injured list soon. Brantley hasn’t played since June 26, 2022. … INF David Hensley was optioned to Sugar Land to make room for Abreu on the roster.

UP NEXT

Houston RHP J.P. France (9-4, 2.75 ERA) opposes RHP Brayan Bello (9-7, 3.70) when the series wraps up Thursday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb