If the Houston Astros needed a tonic for their offense, then they found the right opponent. Sweeping a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox, in Boston at Fenway Park, did the trick.
Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Jeremy Pena hit home runs en route to a 10-2 Sunday afternoon victory. This keeps the Astros atop the American League West Division standings. Seattle played later on Sunday night and, if the Mariners win, will keep pace with the Astros for first place.
Houston Astros Hitters Stay Hot
Hunter Brown provided 5 1/3 innings of solid work as Houston’s starter. He struck out nine while giving up just two runs. Brown runs his record to 10-7 this season. Red Sox starter James Paxton left the game in the first inning after suffering an injured leg. Lucas Sims (1-6) took the loss in relief for Boston.
But it was the Astros’ offense that made headlines yet again. Bregman hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning, followed by a solo home run from Alvarez.
“Big swings, a ton of good at-bats throughout,” Houston Astros manager Joe Espada told The Associated Press after the series win. He had a front-row seat as Alvarez went 2-for-2 at the plate. In 15 career games at Fenway Park, Alvarez has eight home runs and 20 RBIs. He’s hitting .482 lifetime there as well.
Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez, after their back-to-back homers, posed with their backs to one another in the Astros dugout. Yet Bregman is dead serious about watching his teammate take his swings at the plate. “Just to be able to be his teammate and be able to watch what he does on a day-to-day basis is special,” Bregman said. “He hits for average line-to-line, hits the ball out of the ballpark anywhere, so he’s always fun to watch and he’s very clutch, too. … He always gets his ‘A’ swing off.”
Yanier Diaz added a two-run double as the Houston Astros are now seven games over .500, a season high for them.
Boston Red Sox Suffer Setback
It was a tough series for the Red Sox. Boston lost its fourth in a row and has surrendered 47 home runs since the All-Star break. That’s an MLB high right now. Sundays have been great for Boston, too, going 16-3 in their games. Well, Houston put that record to shame.
“Big swings, a ton of good at-bats throughout. But it starts with the guy on the mound for me, always,” Espada said, according to MLB.com. “Hunter Brown, another great outing. Nine punchies, navigated a tough lineup. Really good. Starts with that guy on the mound, and then our bats … big hits, homers, walks. [Mauricio Dubón] scoring on that ball in the dirt to get our first run through, that was an impressive offensive — and pitching — series.”
Despite posting a series sweep of the Red Sox, Bregman was all in to give them respect. “That’s a playoff team over there,” Bregman said. “They’re a really good ballclub. To come in and play well … our pitching threw the ball well, I thought we put together quality at-bats all three days and we got to continue to do that. Especially when we play against really good teams.”
The Houston Astros now go to St. Petersburg, Fla., for a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
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