Sox top Astros 9-4 to open series

The Red Sox kicked off their homestand with their fourth straight win Thursday night, taking down the Astros 9-4.

The Astros jumped to the early lead in the second, scoring a run on a fielding error by Mike Napoli. They added to the lead in the third on a Robbie Grossman single, then followed up with a two-run home run by Matt Dominguez in the fourth to make it 4-0.

Boston (sort of) answered in the bottom of the fourth, when Yoenis Cespedes grounded into a double play to score Dustin Pedroia.

However, the real damage was dealt in the sixth inning, when the Red Sox offense exploded for seven runs.

David Ortiz  singled in Brock Holt to make it 4-2, and then Napoli drove in Pedey to make it a one-run game. Will Middlebrooks tied the game with a single to center, bringing in Cespedes, and Jackie Bradley Jr. followed up with a walk to take the lead.

Christian Vazquez added to the lead with a sac fly to score Nava to make it 6-4. A passed ball, walk, and pitching change later, Pedroia hit a ground-rule double over the right field wall to make it 8-4.

The Sox added one more in the eighth to make it 9-4, and brought in Tazawa to finish off the ninth.

Allen Webster recorded his third win of the year, improving to a 3-1 record on the season.

The Red Sox and Astros return to action at Fenway Park on Friday at 7:10 for game two of the four-game series.