With a one-run lead into the late innings on Tuesday night, Red Sox manager Alex Cora had a plan of attack, his two best pitchers rested and ready, needing six outs from them to take a commanding lead in this American League Championship Series.
The Houston Astros, however, had other plans.
Leading narrowly all night, the Red Sox had little margin for error that not even Garrett Whitlock or Nathan Eovaldi could protect them from. One game-tying home run and one stunning ninth-inning implosion later, the Red Sox suddenly found themselves deadlocked in the ALCS, tied two games apiece after a crushing 9-2 loss to the Astros in Tuesday nightap Game 4 at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox will now turn to Chris Sale for a pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday night, needing a big performance from him to put them back in front of this series before it shifts back to Houston.
“We’ll be ready tomorrow,” Cora said. “Just like every day. You win, you turn the page. You lose, you turn the page, and be ready.”
With a 2-1 lead going into the seventh, Cora turned to Whitlock, his most reliable pitcher all season. A scoreless seventh put them six outs away from being one win away from the World Series. But thatap when it all went wrong.
The Red Sox were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position to that point and it caught up to them. Jose Altuve hammered the first pitch of the eighth into the Monster seats to tie it, suddenly taking all the air out of Fenway. Then, they started emptying the ballpark. In the ninth, Cora went to Eovaldi, who gave up a leadoff double to Carlos Correa, but the right-hander nearly — and should have — walked away unblemished.
After striking out both Kyle Tucker and Aledmys Diaz, Eovaldi had a 1-2 count on Jason Castro. His fourth pitch of the at-bat, a breaking ball that painted the outside corner, had Eovaldi taking at least three steps to the dugout thinking he had strike three. But home plate umpire Laz Diaz ruled it a ball.
“I thought it was a strike,” Eovaldi said. “But, again, I’m in the moment. … I had two strikeouts, and then facing Castro I felt like I was in control of the at-bat. I felt like I made a good pitch on the outside corner, and it didn’t go my way, but I got to come back and I got to answer back and make another good pitch.”
Cora said he needed to take another look, but asked if Eovaldi was deflated by the call, the manager said he was upset.
Two pitches later, Castro took advantage of his second life as he sent a 2-2 splitter into the gap in right for the go-ahead run. Instead of a tied game with the Red Sox having a chance to walk off, the Astros had a lead and never gave it up. Eovaldi then walked Altuve, which ended his night.
Eovaldi pitched 5 1/3 innings in Saturday’s Game 2 win, but Cora was only looking for an inning out of him. He liked the matchups for the right-hander, and it nearly worked right to his plan.
“He was going to give us one inning and we felt right there in that pocket it was good for him,” Cora said. “I wasn’t going to use him in extra innings because then I get tempted to use him for six, so I decided to use him in the ninth, and it didn’t work.”
It got away from the Red Sox after that. Martin Perez was asked to keep it a one-run game. But his first pitch was crushed by Michael Brantley for a three-run double that ended any hopes of a comeback. With a seven-run ninth, the Astros took back home field advantage and the momentum in this series.
“That was a huge win,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “To tie that up, to guarantee us to go back home and have some more games at home, so we got another big game tomorrow.”
It probably shouldn’t have gotten to that point in the ninth. Despite chasing another Astros starter early — this time sending out Zack Greinke after 1 1/3 innings — the Red Sox were unable to produce the kind of damage they did in their Games 2 and 3 victories. Xander Bogaerts’ two-run homer in the first inning was all they could produce despite having at least one baserunner in all but one inning. They took seven walks.
In the third, with a runner on, J.D. Martinez struck out on a poorly missed strike three call, which should have been ball four, by Diaz, which earned the ire of Martinez and Alex Cora, who was emotional in his argument.
In the fourth, Christian Arroyo hit a one-out triple to the right-field corner, but Schwarber grounded out with the Astros’ infield in, and Kiké Hernández popped out.
Bogaerts hit a one-out double in the fifth that nearly missed being a homer, and he couldn’t get in either.
The Red Sox finished the night 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“We didn’t get hits,” Cora said. “We didn’t produce too much, but I think the approach was good.”
It was a brutal loss, but thatap been nothing new for this Red Sox team this season. They’ve made a habit of turning tough defeats away quickly, and now they have to do it again with their season on the line. Their faith hasn’t been shaken.
”We’re feeling pretty confident,” Eovaldi said. “Tonight we had to battle. We had to work. We were in the game all the way up until the ninth inning. … I think that’s been one of our strengths is being able to turn the page and come in tomorrow. We’re here tomorrow, and we got to make sure we win tomorrow to be able to take Game 6 in Houston and be ready to go.”
