|
 Buchholz tossed his fifth career shutout, a three-hitter, while a
balanced offensive attack helped carry the Boston Red Sox to an 11-0
victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday at Minute Maid Park.
Buchholz (4-5) struck out a career-high 12 batters and retired the
last 17 Astros he faced. He allowed three singles and did not issue
a walk while tossing 109 pitches, 76 strikes. Catcher Jason Castro
was the lone Astro to reach third base against Buchholz, doing so in
the fourth inning.
"The change-up was best that it has been all year," Buchholz said.
"The cutter had good bite to it. Whenever you've got four or five
pitches working, it's hard for a hitter to sit on any one of them.
"It's night and day (having a full complement of pitches). It's
tough going out in a big league baseball game with just two pitches
across multiple innings. It makes it a lot tougher on yourself with
two pitches, and I've done a lot of work to get command of those
pitches back."
 The Red Sox (43-52) initiated their offensive onslaught early, with
Brock Holt, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz all reaching to open the
first inning against Astros right-hander Brad Peacock (3-6). Two
batters later Peacock was finished, having surrendered a leadoff
home run to Holt while loading the bases with only one out recorded
on his ledger.
"It was command," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "You look at the
at-bats; it's not like he (Peacock) had command of the strike zone.
At that point, again, you say to yourself, 'Are you going to wait
until it is four or five to nothing or are you going to try to give
us a chance?' I felt like we had a better chance to get another guy
in there at that point."
A parade of five Houston relievers could do little to stem the tide.
Red Sox third baseman Xander Bogaerts walked and scored off Astros
right-hander Anthony Bass in the second; first baseman Mike Napoli
and left fielder Daniel Nava reached in succession and later scored
in the third.
Boston tacked on two more runs in the fifth against Astros
left-hander Darin Downs, with catcher Christian Vazquez delivering a
two-out, bases-loaded infield single that scored Nava and lured
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve into making an errant throw that
eluded shortstop Marwin Gonzalez and allowed Jackie Bradley Jr. to
score from second.
The Astros (40-56) committed a third error in the seventh inning,
this one a throwing miscue by Gonzalez, which keyed a two-run frame
by the Red Sox. Both Red Sox runs came without the benefit of a base
hit: Vazquez drove home Bogaerts with a sacrifice fly while
designated hitter Ortiz worked a bases-loaded walk that scored
Stephen Drew.
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The Red Sox won their second consecutive road series and closed the
unofficial first half of the season with four victories in their
last five games. Holt (5-for-6) finished with a career-high five
hits leading off while Pedroia, Nava, Drew and Vazquez contributed
two hits apiece.
"We need offensive production up and down our lineup, there is no
doubt about that," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Brock
certainly sets the tone but the middle of our order, when they're
producing, that's when we've been most successful. And we'll
continue to lean on that group."
The Red Sox would love to lean on Buchholz, too, particularly if he
can maintain the form he has flashed since returning from the
disabled list last month. Over his last four starts, Buchholz has
produced a 2.73 ERA with 23 strikeouts against just one walk over 29
2/3 innings.
"He did a great job," Castro said of Buchholz. "He was mixing speeds
all game. He did a great job with his command and keeping us
guessing pretty much all game, so you got to tip your cap to him. He
threw a great game."
NOTES: Red Sox manager John Farrell called Mariners RHP Fernando
Rodney on Saturday and informed him that he would serve as the
injury replacement for Rays LHP David Price in the All-Star Game on
Tuesday. Rodney (1-3, 1.98 ERA) leads the American League with 27
saves. ... With CF George Springer slowed by a sore right knee,
Astros manager Bo Porter juggled his defensive lineup and installed
Springer at DH. Kike Hernandez shifted from LF to CF while DH Chris
Carter made his first start in left since Sept. 18, 2013 against the
Cincinnati Reds. ... Former Astros 1B/LF Bob Watson was on hand to
acknowledge 2B Jose Altuve for breaking his club record for hits
prior to the All-Star Game. Watson recorded 123 hits before the 1973
All-Star Game. Altuve entered the series finale against the Red Sox
with a major league-leading 130 hits.
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