Ortiz, Middlebrooks Lead Offensive Charge Over Astros

The Red Sox continue to roll as they have won their fourth consecutive game, and third straight against the Astros. Tonight’s game was a rout, just like the first two games of the series, as the Red Sox just completely overmatched a hapless Astros team. The pitching matchup of Felix Doubront (2-0, 4.32) and Brad Peacock (1-2, 7.50) looked like it had the makings of a rough one for Houston and it was so. However, it didn’t always look that way as the Astros showed a bit of life early on in the ballgame.

That is largely because Felix Doubront looked absolutely horrendous to the first six batters he faced. Through those six batters, he had walked three, hit a batter, allowed a hit, and was down 2-0. From that point forward, however, Doubront was magnificent. He retired the last two batters of the inning and only allowed two more hits the rest of the game. As one could expect, he piled up the strikeouts against a free-swinging Astros ballclub as Doubront recorded eight punchouts to four walks. He would earn the win to improve to 3-0 on the year and lowered his ERA to 4.24 on the year.

Apr 27, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter

reacts by flexing his muscles after hitting a two-run double against the Houston Astros during the second inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Brad Peacock was not so lucky on the other side of the field, however. He managed to escape the first inning unscatched, but he was rocked in his second inning of work. The Red Sox batted around and scored four runs on two-run hits by Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz. They also worked Peacock to the tune of four walks and 42 pitches in the inning alone.

That was enough to tire Peacock out for the rest of the game, as he only lasted 3.1 innings; however, the Red Sox weren’t done scoring runs. They picked up one more in the fourth before putting together another rally in the seventh inning. Five of six batters reached after a leadoff out and RBI’s by Stephen Drew, Daniel Nava, and Dustin Pedroia put the Sox up to 8-3.

The bullpen was generally good after Doubront’s departure after 6.2 innings. Apart from Daniel Bard‘s two walks to two batters, Junichi Tazawa, Alex Wilson, and Andrew Miller got the job done out of the ‘pen. The Red Sox didn’t have to turn to any high-leverage relievers (except Tazawa, who only threw to two batters). All in all, it was a good game as the Red Sox improve to 17-7 on the year.