HOUSTON -- Given a long leash as Boston completed the first cycle through its rotation Tuesday night, Brayan Bello surrendered six runs (five earned) on eight hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings as the Red Sox suffered their fourth consecutive loss, bowing 9-2 to the Astros.
Bello fell behind quickly on a first-inning double by Yordan Alvarez, who has been a Red Sox tormentor throughout his career. A two-out, two-run single by Christian Walker put Boston in a 3-0 hole in the third, and Alvarez made it 4-0 with a towering home run to right field in the fourth.
Alvarez entered the game with a lifetime .404 batting average and .771 slugging percentage versus the Red Sox in 31 games (including the postseason), both records for any opposing player with at least 125 plate appearances.
Boston’s defense didn’t help Bello toward the end of his 92-pitch outing. He surrendered two more runs, one thanks to a play with two errors. With Walker at third and Joey Loperfido at first, Loperfido broke for second, and Connor Wong’s low throw bounced away from second baseman Marcelo Mayer. As Walker sped toward the plate, Mayer made a wild throw that also allowed Loperfido to score.
Compounding matters, the struggling Red Sox offense was rendered ineffective by Astros ace Hunter Brown, who struck out eight while allowing one hit in six innings. Boston didn’t get its first hit until Wong’s fifth-inning RBI double, which followed a two-out walk to Mayer.