The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros will continue a high-profile three-game series on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. Monday's series opener finished by a 3-2 final in favor of the Red Sox, who pulled off the upset as a +153 underdog. Boston gets back to .500 at 52-52, while Houston remains comfortably atop the AL West at 67-37.
These teams met at Fenway Park back in mid-May, with the Red Sox taking two of three.
On a day that saw them both deal starting catcher Christian Vazquez while adding to the roster elsewhere, the Red Sox picked up a huge win to open this current series in Houston as they continue to hang around three games back in the Wild Card race despite a horrendous month of July. It was all about Jarren Duran on Monday, as the promising young outfielder opened the scoring with an RBI double in the third before launching a two-run homer in the fifth.
Nathan Eovaldi went 6.1 strong innings in the win, allowing two unearned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out six. Tanner Houck shut things down in the ninth inning for his seventh save. Bobby Dalbec added a double, a walk and two runs scored.
The Red Sox remain down some on the money line for the season while going 54-50 on the run line. Overs are 46-49-9 for Boston, with four of its last five games going under t he betting total.
Boston's offense has been solidly above average for the season overall at 4.54 runs per game on a .726 team OPS. Pitching has been much more of a problem, ranking seventh-worst with a 4.33 collective ERA including a mark of 4.27 from a struggling bullpen.
Rafel Devers, who is expected to return from a strained hamstring on Tuesday, has been terrific with a .324/.379/.602 line, 22 homers and 55 driven in. Xander Bogaerts is also having another strong season with a .316/.392/.459 line, eight homers and 45 driven in.
Kutter Crawford will make his 16th apparence and seventh start of the year, having gone 2-3 with a 4.15 ERA and 50 strikeouts across 47.2 innings. The 26-year-old rookie went 5.2 innings against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, allowing one run on three hits and no walks, striking out two in a solid performance.
Second baseman Trevor Story (fractured wrist) and utilityman Enrique Hernandez (strained hip flexor) remain out. The rotataion is down Chris Sale (fractured finger), James Paxton (Tommy John surgery) and Michael Wacha (shoulder inflammation). Relievers Matt Barnes (shoulder inflammation), Tyler Danish (elbow discomfort), Matt Strahm (wrist contusion) and Josh Taylor (back discomfort) are also on the IL.