The Boston Red Sox's first series against the Houston Astros ended in a sweep, and the Astros collected their fourth win over the Sox on Aug. 19.
Kenley Jansen fanned the fearsome Yordan Alvarez on three pitches to begin the ninth inning of a tie game. Yainer Diaz was the nail in Boston's coffin shortly after, though, as he mashed a walk-off homer to secure the series opener.
Jarren Duran crushed a home run on the first pitch of the game and the Astros committed four errors that gave the Red Sox comfort at the beginning of the matchup. But Alex Cora's former squad is dangerous for his current team's playoff hopes.
Boston is cursed with MLB's hardest second-half schedule, and Houston has been a huge part of its struggles. It's beaten multiple playoff teams since the second half began, including the Rangers, Royals and Mariners — all teams close to the Sox in the American League wild card race. They even claimed a series split with the Orioles, who have beaten Boston severely in the past two campaigns.
Red Sox need to pull off series win against the Astros to stick it out in the playoff race
GAME OVER 🚀
— MLB (@MLB) August 20, 2024
Yainer Diaz calls game for the @Astros! #Walkoff pic.twitter.com/ZJ2J6qSZkY
But the Astros remain its kryptonite. They've shot into the lead in the AL West and their sweep of the Red Sox from Aug. 9-11 helped push them further into first place.
The bullpen has been Boston's biggest issue since the All-Star break. Trade deadline acquisition Lucas Sims surrendered a game-tying single to Mauricio Dubón in the eighth inning on Aug. 19 and Diaz finished the job two frames later. Houston is on its way to another series win against the Red Sox after it took a game it had no business winning.
Two more losses to the Astros could bury the Red Sox for good. They sit 4.5 games behind the tied Twins and Royals for the third wild card spot. Boston has to face the entire AL East and Minnesota before the season ends, among some other contending teams, and two series losses to the Astros may be too big a deficit to recover from.
The difficulty of the Red Sox's remaining schedule makes a series win against Houston imperative. But after the series-opening loss and the club's 12th blown save since the All-Star break, things aren't looking good for Cora and Boston.