Red Sox 2, Astros 1

 

The new guy, rookie phenom Roman Anthony, wins the game for the Sox with a walk-off single in the 10th.

What a day! For most of the game, we had a good, old-fashioned pitcher's duel between Cooper Criswell, making his first appearance on the mound since a relief appearance on July 2, and the Astros' Hunter Brown. They gave up only one run each over seven innings and the bullpens prevented either team from scoring again before extra innings. 

In the 10th, the teams tied at 1-1, the Astros advanced a base runner to third with only one out, but the Sox tagged him running for home on a fielders' choice and Weissert got Houston out without any runs.

Then, in the bottom of the 10th, Anthony hit a single into deep center field, scoring baserunner Wilyer Abreu and winning the game. Not bad, rook! Not bad at all!

The people rejoiced. Conveniently, every other team in the AL East lost last night, so the third-place Sox are now only four games out of first and a mere half game behind the Yankees. 

Walker Buehler (6-6, 5.72) starts this afternoon (4:10 pm) against the Astros' Colton Gordon (4-3, 4.74). Buehler hasn't gotten a win since July 5, although the Sox did win some of the games he started since then, while rookie Gordon lost his last start, giving up four runs, including two first-inning homers, in a  7-1 loss to Oakland.