#RedSox Game Summary (October 13) ALCS Game 1: Stopped in Their Tracks

The Red Sox seemed to have good momentum heading into this series game against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park, but that evaporated quickly. Odd moments, such as Sandy Leon’s wild toss to 2nd that hit umpire Joe West in the shoulder, and Alex Cora’s questioning of something about Astros catcher Martin Maldonado’s mitt seemed to highlight a kind of helplessness that characterized this game for Boston. Cora was subsequently ejected for arguing a strike call against Andrew Benintendi in the 5th inning. Houston got on the board first in the 2nd inning, when Carlos Correa walked, Red Sox starter Chris Sale hit Martin Maldonado, and walked Josh Reddick to load the bases with 2 out. Then, George Springer hit a 2 RBI single. The Sox got those 2 back in the 5th when Steve Pearce singled off  Houston starter Justin Verlander, who then walked Eduardo Núñez and Jackie Bradley, Jr. to load the bases with 1 out. He then also walked Mitch Moreland to force in a run, and after a force play eliminated Núñez, JBJ scored on a wild pitch. In the very next inning, Joe Kelly hit Alex Bregman, who reached 2nd on a fielding error by Núñez, and scored on a Carlos Correa single to put the Astros on top, 3-2. That’s how things remained until the top of the 9th, when our old friend Josh Reddick hit a solo jack off Brandon Workman, who then walked José Altuvé and Bregman, and gave up 3 run bomb to Yuli Gurriel. The only extra base hit was a double by the Astros’ Tony Kemp, but he did not score. Chris Sale did not look super sharp on this one, going just 4 innings while giving up 2 runs on 2 hit and 4 walks. He did punch out 5. Justin Verlander, on the other hand, was coasting, with the exception of his one bad inning in the 5th. So, the Sox need something from David Price to help them even the series, because going to Houston down by 2 is a pretty dreadful prospect. Houston beat Boston, 7-2, at Fenway Park. Houston leads the ALCS, 1-0.