For the second night in a row, the Astros combined shutdown starting pitching with an Earth-shattering offensive barrage. Tonight, it was ace Hunter Brown flashing mid-season, All-Star form, allowing only one run and one hit in six innings. And Yordan Alvarez did it again. He’s making home runs look easy. Tonight was his third and second in two games.
And for the second night in a row, the Astros drew first blood in the first inning. Jeremy Pena, back at shortstop, led off with a single to center. Yordan Alvarez knocked him in with a double off the wall to the longest part of Daikin Park in center field.
The Astros added two more runs in the third inning. Red-hot Christian Walker’s two-out single knocked in Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, who walked and doubled, respectively, ahead of Walker.
Astros starter Hunter Brown took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but the Red Sox spoiled both the no-no and the shutout on a Connor Wong RBI double to left-center.
But Yordan got the run back with a solo shot, his team-leading third of the season. It was a two-strike curve at the bottom of the zone, another shot to the second deck.
And that’s not all. With two outs, Carlos Correa started a rally with a walk, followed by another double by Walker, his league-leading fifth of the season. Joey Loperfido scored Correa with a bloop single to left, and Walker scored on a throwing error on a Fido steal by catcher Wong. Astros 6-1.
The Astros’, and especially Jose Altuve’s, newfound patience at the plate paid off in the sixth inning when a leadoff single by Jake Meyers, followed by Alvarez and Altuve walks, yielded two more runs off a bases-loaded Correa single.
Cody Bolton had an impressive Astros debut, replacing Hunter Brown in the seventh inning, striking out the side. Brown finished with six IP, allowing one run on one hit and two walks while accumulating eight Ks.
It was the second “better-than” quality start by Astros starters, and after two starts, Brown has a 0.89 ERA. But for the best start of the young season, my vote still goes to Lance McCullers on Monday.
In the seventh inning, the Astros piled on some more, this time with a lead-off Cam Smith homer, his season’s first.
Bolton came back out to pitch the eighth and ninth innings. He got two more Ks but allowed a bloop single, a walk, and a solo homer to Ceddanne Rafaela in the eighth inning. Overall, he showed great command and good velocity, throwing 34 strikes out of 50 pitches and earning his first Major League save.
The Astros have scored more than eight runs in the last four games, all wins. The last time the team managed that was in April 2023. Tonight they scored nine runs on 11 hits with three doubles and two homers. The Astros appear to be showing considerably more patience at the plate, with five walks tonight and 30 for the season in six games. That ranks them second in the MLB behind the Angels. Jose Altuve, yes, that Jose, leads the team with eight.
And despite the terrible first two games, the Astros are also second in OPS at .829.
Tomorrow, Mike Burrows seeks to atone for his poor first start with the Astros against Sox ace Garrett Crochet—1:10 Game Time.
