For the Houston Astros, Alex Bregman accomplished a lot. He will go down as one of the most significant players in franchise history, having been a two-time All-Star and a two-time World Series champion in his nine seasons with the team.
When Bregman returned to Houston as a visiting player for the first time, his former fans gave him a standing ovation at Daikin Park. Then he wasted no time in torturing them in the same manner that he had tortured others for years on their behalf.
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In his first at-bat since returning to Houston, Bregman hit a home run on Monday, hitting a 1-1 sweeper into the Crawford Boxes for a two-run blast. After that, though, it was all Astros as they defeated Garrett Crochet and thwarted a late comeback by the Red Sox to win 7–6.
Despite the defeat, Bregman expressed his pride in the club’s efforts to come back from a five-run deficit against a postseason-caliber team like the Astros.
Bregman described his home run as “a really cool, great moment, just tried to soak it all in.” Although it was a memorable event, I believe the group fight today made me most proud. We clearly lost 7–2, but we fought back, and it was excellent. It was very amazing to have a shot there in the ninth with guys in scoring position because that’s what strong baseball teams do.
Bregman faced former Astros teammate Cristian Javier, who was making his season debut after 14 months out recuperating from Tommy John surgery, after Roman Anthony hit to start the game. Bregman lofted one into the shallow left field stands, like he has done so many times in his career.
It was Bregman’s first home run as a member of an opposition team and his 95th career home run at Daikin Park, formerly Minute Maid Park.
To enjoy it, I made sure to let him know before anything began. Red Sox manager Alex Cora added, “He’s been very serious about the whole thing; we’re coming here against a playoff team and we have to win games, but he earned the right to enjoy it.” He hit the home run and is a Red Sox, and the Astros did a fantastic job with that video homage.
He was met with jeers the next time he took the plate.
Bregman responded, “That was fantastic.” I adored it. I hoped they would.
The Astros came out firing against the Red Sox ace and rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third to grab the lead, even though ordinarily Crochet would be content with a two-run advantage. After three consecutive hits from Cam Smith, Jeremy Pea, and Carlos Correa—who was also playing his first game back in Houston since being re-acquired at the trade deadline—cut the deficit to one, Christian Walker doubled to put the Astros ahead.
When Chas McCormick hit a two-run homer to left and Ramon Urias doubled in the fourth, Houston continued to apply pressure, making it 5-2 Astros.
Crochet’s shortest outing of the season ended with his removal after just four innings. The left-hander threw 86 pitches, 61 of which were strikes, and gave up five runs on seven hits and a walk while earning five strikeouts.
Crochet gave up five runs in his third start of the season on Monday, and it was the first time in 24 outings that he had failed to finish five innings.
They performed admirably at bat, particularly with two strikes, which suggests that they adopted a modest strategy rather than aiming for greatness. Then, of course, the sinker hit the homer in the middle of the plate, Cora added, adding that he thought Crochet’s fastball command was incorrect. We’ll examine it, make the necessary adjustments, and he’ll be prepared for the next one. It’s just one of those days.
Urias’ two-run home slam against Jordan Hicks in the fifth inning gave the Astros a 7-2 lead as they continued to attack the Red Sox bullpen.
The Red Sox struggled to get anything going for a while, but in the top of the seventh inning, the bats finally came alive.
Hector Neris, a right-hander for Houston, made two fast outs to begin the inning. Abraham Toro then hit a long solo shot, and Masataka Yoshida and Ceddanne Rafaela both collected consecutive doubles. Yoshida’s double reduced the score to 7-4.
To face Anthony, the Astros sent him to Steven Okert, but the rookie prevailed in the lefty-on-lefty contest and hit a two-run home run off a slider over the center deep.
It was suddenly a one-run game.
Jeremy Pea misjudged Romy Gonzalez’s soft grounder to shortstop in the top of the eighth inning, giving the Red Sox the possible tying run on base with two outs. However, Gonzalez was thrown out attempting to steal second, and the team was unable to capitalize.
The Red Sox had another chance when Pea booted a sharply hit ball by Connor Wong, who advanced to second base to give his team a chance to tie the game with two outs in the ninth. Garrett Whitlock ended his second scoreless inning to maintain the score at 7-6.
That led to Anthony, and the Astros’ decision to use a lefty again this time paid off. Boston lost for the third time in a row when Bennett Sousa struck out the youngster to close the game.
According to Cora, the game was enjoyable, challenging, but we persevered. We just need to show up tomorrow and try to win the game, even though we accomplished some excellent things today.
The Red Sox optioned infielder David Hamilton and left-hander Chris Murphy to Triple-A and added catcher Ali Sanchez and left-hander Jovani Moran to the active roster ahead of Monday’s series opening.
In order to free up a 40-man slot for Moran, the team also assigned Nick Burdi, a right-hander in the minor league.
Since Sanchez has run out of minor league options, he had to be placed to the active roster within a few days after being claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. However, the Red Sox chose to carry three catchers instead of placing Carlos Narvaez (knee pain) on the injured list or optioning Connor Wong. Manager Alex Cora told media in Houston prior to the game that this was done to enable Narvaez get additional rest.
Hamilton ended up becoming the odd man out as a result.
Additionally, Moran’s call-up completes an unlikely comeback to the major leagues. The left-hander has missed the majority of the past two years recuperating from Tommy John surgery, and he last pitched in the major leagues in 2023. He has a 3.44 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 18.1 innings at Triple-A Worcester since being acquired from the Minnesota Twins this offseason in exchange for Mickey Gasper.
Murphy, who has recently struggled with command and recorded five walks in his last two outings, will be replaced by him.
