Boston Red Sox: 3 players who rocked in impressive victory over Astros
Behind outstanding starting pitching and timely hitting, the Boston Red Sox handed Astros starting pitcher Charlie Morton his first loss in a 9-3 victory in Houston.
How quickly a weekend series can change a team’s confidence. Following Friday’s loss to the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox had to wonder if they just didn’t have what it takes to bead the defending World Series champions.
Already without right fielder Mookie Betts heading into the series, the team lost the first two games of the four-game series after quickly falling behind in each game. The first game saw Drew Pomeranz continue his struggles and the following game watched Chris Sale struggle in the early innings.
The two losses concluded that maybe the Astros just have the Red Sox number.
Not so fast.
Following a comeback win on Saturday in which David Price out-dueled Justin Verlander, Alex Cora’s team continued the momentum and handed Astros starter Charlie Morton his first loss of the team as the team ran away with a 9-3 victory Sunday night.
Behind the strong pitching effort of Rick Porcello, the Boston Red Sox bat combined power with timely hitting to leave the state of Texas feeling pretty good about themselves.
Overall, the split of the four-game series showed the 2018 Red Sox can compete with the World Series favorites. It also left the Red Sox manager with some hope and confidence for a potential meeting in October.
"“We know we’re a little bit banged up, but guys stepped up, and the energy was great,” Cora said following the game, via MLB.com. “We faced four of the best righties in the big leagues, and we did a good job with them. We know that team is going to be around, and they’re going to be around in October, where we want to be, so we’ll probably have to go through them. So, it was a great series.”"