BOSTON -- In a hard-fought American League Division Series presented by Doosan that saw the Astros beat the Red Sox, 5-4, in Game 4 on Monday, Boston right fielder Mookie Betts may have summed up best what it was like facing Houston.
"We got down early a lot of the times, and when we did, they kept their foot on the gas," said Betts.
:: ALDS schedule and coverage ::
The Astros scored first and had 10 or more hits in all four games. The club also homered eight times during the series.
"Very deep. Tremendous offense. Their performance all year long showed that, proved that," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "They're a quick-strike offense, two-out capability. You're never out of an inning."
Houston hit .333 during the series, and it had a .402 on-base percentage, the highest marks ever in a single postseason series for the club.
The Red Sox were most impressed by the way the Astros came back in Monday's series-clinching game.
"They had guys that have just been killing us the whole series. [Alex] Bregman is swinging a hot bat right there. Everyone in that lineup seemed pretty hot. They're swinging good," Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. "We still stayed right in there with them. We had our chances. You've got to give them credit. They fought back, man. Some teams would just give in and give us the win and we could go back, 2-2. They fought back."

Yet it wasn't just the Astros' hitting that hurt the Red Sox -- Houston's pitching staff stymied Boston's bats for three of the four games. All four starters allowed three runs or fewer.
"They did a great job pitching," Betts said. "We also just had to hit some more. We were a little inconsistent."

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia knows what a threat the Astros are, not just because of their postseason play, but also because they won 101 games during the regular season.
"We're a couple balls here and there, but that team that beat us won 102 games or whatever," Pedroia said. "We were right there with them. We fought to the last out."