Huge Eighth Inning Keys Red Sox Win
The Boston Red Sox knew they had to accomplish something they didn’t last year in the postseason if they wanted to avoid having this season end like the last.
Proving their resiliency as a baseball team and playoff metal, they now find themselves in prime position to take control of the ALCS.
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Houston Astros 8-2 on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park in Game 3 of the ALCS to take a 2-1 series lead.
The Red Sox took advantage of the Houston Astros mistakes late and made them pay in grand fashion to take away home-field advantage from the Houston Astros.
Jackie Bradley Jr. blasted a grand slam in the eighth inning that put distance between the Red Sox and the Houston Astros and sunk a sold-out Minute Maid Park.
Bradley Jr. had only hit one grand slam in his career before the at-bat against Houston Astros reliever Roberto Osuna.
It’s the second consecutive game where the Red Sox outfielder has haunted the Houston Astros with the bases loaded as his bases clearing double in the third inning of Game 2 gave Boston a 5-4 lead.
The Red Sox got a boost from right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (2-0), who followed a strong start in Game 3 of the ALDS vs the Yankees with another one on Tuesday night.
Boston went on to outhit the Houston Astros 9 to 7. For a second consecutive game, Houston failed to get much done with men on base as they hit 1-for-8 with RISP.
The Boston Red Sox, looking to snatch away home-field advantage from the Houston Astros, jumped out to early 2-0 lead. The Red Sox opened the game with three consecutive hits.
J.D. Martinez’s RBI double and a RBI groundout would give Boston the early cushion over left-hander Dallas Keuchel.
The Astros would get a run back in the first inning as Marwin Gonzalez produced a two-out RBI single to make it a 2-1 game.
Nathan Eovaldi would be on the mound for the Red Sox and he would be locked in early after giving up an early run.
He would pitch around runners on second and third with two-outs in the third inning and would produce 1-2-3 innings in the second and fourth innings to preserve Boston’s lead.
His counterpart Dallas Keuchel would recover from his rough first inning start to throw four scoreless innings.
Keuchel would finish the game allowing two runs on four hits and two walks and did not strikeout a batter in five innings of work.
The Astros would tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning after Alex Bregman chopped a fair ball past third baseman Rafael Devers for a double as Jose Altuve scored from first on the RBI double.
Eovaldi would finish the game allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four over six innings of work.
Answering the Astros fifth inning run to tie up the game, veteran Steve Pearce would give Boston back the lead with a leadoff home run in the sixth inning off Astros’ reliever Joe Smith to give Boston a 3-2 lead.
Nathan Eovaldi would return to the sixth inning and would leave the sixth with the lead preserved. He would be relieved by Ryan Brasier in the seventh, who stranded a runner on second base after getting Alex Bregman to lineout to center to end the inning.
With Boston clinging to a one-run lead, Astros manager A.J. Hinch would go to Roberto Osuna out of the bullpen.
That would be a move that would backfire on Hinch and the Astros as the Boston Red Sox would be the beneficiary of two hit batsmen that would load the bases and increase the lead to 4-2.
After hitting Mitch Moreland with the bases loaded, Osuna would be on the receiving end of a grand slam by Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., who ballooned the lead to 8-2 and put a dagger in the Astros hopes of a Game 2 victory.
The Boston Red Sox have shown now on two occasions this postseason that they can quickly change the momentum of a series.
They did it by winning two straight in New York after losing Game 2 in the ALDS and now they have flipped the switch again in the ALCS by going into another gear to take a 2-1 series lead over the Houston Astros.
Now on the verge of a commanding 3-1 lead, Boston’s self-belief in their ability to defeat the defending champions is as high as ever.
Houston put tremendous pressure on Boston to begin this series with a 7-2 Game 1 win, but it’s now the Astros who must carry the weight of pressure heading into Game 4.
This is unfamiliar territory for the Houston Astros, who dating back to last year’s postseason went 10-1 at Minute Maid Park.
The Houston Astros won’t be shaken by a deficit in the ALCS, however, as the team overcame a 3-2 deficit to the New York Yankees in last year’s playoffs.
Looking to avoid a 3-1 hole, the Houston Astros will hope to get a strong effort out of Charlie Morton as he takes the ball for Houston vs the Boston Red Sox, who will start right-hander Rick Porcello.
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