Astros 3, Red Sox 1 (10)

 

We got Zack Kelly-ed. 

It was all going so well until it didn't anymore. Ranger Suarez pitched four innings of shutout baseball - three hits, no runs, three Ks. But then he didn't come back on in the fifth. It turns out he was suffering from tightness in the left hamstring. He's not on the IL (at least not yet), which is good because Crochet and Gray are both already there and Bello is struggling, if still putatively healthy.

But no problem - Duran hit a homer to deep right in the bottom of the fifth, and the Sox took a 1-0 lead. The Astros tied it up in the sixth with a run off of Weissert, but the bullpen kept it tied the rest of the way and Chapman closed out the ninth.

Then Zach Kelly came on in the tenth and loaded up the bases with two walks, and despite a double play that should have bailed him out, allowed a two-run single to give Houston the lead. For their part, the Sox managed to load the bases up themselves in the bottom of the tenth, not by hitting, of course - that would take offensive strength - but a ghost runner, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch. But then Rafaela hit into a double play and the game ended, 3-1, Houston.

The Boston Red Sox lost a home series, 2-1, to the worst team in the American League. Let that sink in.

Of course, with the wins over Boston, the Astros are no longer the worst in the AL. Their 14-21 (.400) record is now better than the Red Sox (13-21, .382). However, the Angels, who somehow figured out a way yesterday to lose to the Mets, the worst team in all of MLB (12-22, .353), are now officially the worst in the AL at 13-22 (.371).

The Bruins are eliminated. The Celtics are eliminated. And now, even though they've only played 34 games of a 162-game season, the odds are that the Red Sox will finish the season dead last in the AL East. 

But every game is a chance to turn things around, and there's always one more game. Today, the Sox begin a three-game home series against the Detroit Tigers (18-17). The Sox went 2-2 against the Tigers in Detroit last month, and right now, playing .500 baseball sounds like a dream come true. But the series will open with Payton Tolle (0-1, 3.38) taking the mound against Detroit's Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.70). Tolle didn't face the Tigers last month, but Skubal struck out 10 and gave up only one run through six innings back on April 18.

Wonder if he'll pitch a no-hitter tonight?