The home team has won all three games of this American League Division Series so far, and the Boston Red Sox need that to continue to stay alive against the Houston Astros on Monday afternoon at Fenway Park (1 p.m. ET, FS1).
Boston rallied for six runs in the seventh inning in Game 3 on Sunday, breaking open a close contest to stave off a sweep. The 10-3 triumph for the Red Sox continued a trend of blowouts in this series, with the first three games decided by six, six, and seven runs, respectively.
Rick Porcello gets the start on Monday for the Red Sox. After winning the American League Cy Young Award in 2016, the right-hander regressed this season, posting a 4.65 ERA in 33 starts. Porcello led the American League in hits allowed (236) and led the majors in home runs allowed (38) and losses (17).
He pitched an inning in relief in Game 1, retiring all three batters he faced.
“It felt good to get out there and I guess get my feet wet so to speak in a playoff time atmosphere and that sort of thing,” Porcello said Sunday. “It’s always a different animal in the postseason, so it was good to get out there and get an inning of work.”
ALDS Game 4 time, TV and streaming info
- Teams: Red Sox (93-69) at Astros (101-61)
- Series: Houston leads, 2-1
- Time: 1 p.m. ET
- First pitch: 1:08 p.m.
- Location: Fenway Park, Boston, Mass.
- TV: FS1
- Streaming: Fox Sports Go
- Announcers: Joe Davis, David Cone, A.J. Pierzynski and Jon Paul Morosi
Red Sox vs. Astros news & notes
With Boston’s backs against the proverbial wall, Matt Collins at Over the Monster looked back at some Red Sox comebacks in the postseason:
So, things aren’t going well. The better team is firing at all cylinders and showing off all of their best qualities while effectively hiding any weaknesses they may have. The worse team is struggling in every aspect of the game and look completely overmatched. All hope certainly looks lost for the Red Sox, and it’s hard to blame anyone for having little confidence in their chances of coming back in this series. That being said, baseball is a strange sport and these things happen. In fact, let’s take a look at three relatively recent postseason comebacks made by Red Sox teams and try to find a little bit of hope.
The Astros bullpen allowed seven runs in the Game 3 loss. Jake Kaplan at the Houston Chronicle examined some of the decisions:
Devers also drove in three runs and had two hits, none bigger than his home run off Liriano.
In his 57 regular-season plate appearances against lefthanders, Devers batted .400 with a 1.074 OPS. Liriano held lefthanders to a .247 average and .655 OPS in 100 regular season plate appearances. If Hinch was set on pulling Peacock, Devenski and his .414 OPS against versus lefthanded hitters seemed the best option at the time.
When he got his chance later, though, Devenski didn’t even record an out. Hinch summoned Joe Musgrove to try and clean up his mess. Musgrove allowed a three-run homer to nine-hole hitter Jackie Bradley Jr., who got an assist off the outstretched glove of right fielder Josh Reddick.